File photo Although Bertucci's pizzas speak for themselves, we could not get permission to photograph one.

The décor now is less upscale, the atmosphere more family friendly. Large sepia photographs create an old-time look. A dark wood bar and a takeout counter precede the dining room with an open kitchen as its center of activity.

Famous for brick oven pizza, large portions and reasonable prices, Bertucci's has the backup of an East Coast empire -- 84 restaurants from New Hampshire to Virginia, and growing. Locally, Bertucci's is in Dupont Circle and on Pennsylvania Avenue and regionally, in Annapolis and Columbia.

From previous experience, a meal at Bertucci's without pizza or mussels is unthinkable. Pizza Margherita is fit for, well, the queen for whom it is named. The Neapolitan-style pizza, with its thin crisp crust, sweet tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, brought back memories of dining on the Amalfi Coast.

Mussels Caruso have a kick to them. Hot cherry peppers enliven the white wine sauce with olive oil, garlic, fresh oregano and capers. Breadsticks do valiant duty with the sauce.

The antipasto arrosto is a head-turning appetizer -- a large plate of roasted peppers, zucchini, onions and artichoke hearts complemented by tomato and mozzarella salad and eggplant caponata. It's a good vegetarian alternative for an entrée. The basket of warm chiabatta-like rolls is welcome.

Salads shine, too. In the entrée-size salad Vivaldi, baby field greens with grilled chicken, roasted portobello and fresh breadsticks, work beautifully in concert. Some entrées come with a choice of soup or salad.

After pizza, pastas are the prime movers here. From the simple pasta al pomodoro (your choice of rigatoni, trenette or gemelli in a fresh-tasting plum tomato sauce) to the rustic seafood puttanesca (scallops and shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce with black olives), pastas are plentiful and bound to please.

New to the standard menu are scallops a cappella, a generous half pound of broiled Atlantic scallops accented with the Italian triumvirate of roasted garlic, rosemary and extra virgin olive oil. I prefer pasta or a vegetable to the bruschetta that accompanies it.

Spinach and ricotta gnocchi (Italian dumplings), bathed in butter, Romano cheese and sage, are knockouts. Applewood smoked bacon stands in for Italian pancetta to wonderful effect in the pasta carbonara with grilled chicken.

If you didn't get your fill of sausage with the sausage soup, baked rigatoni rustica offers a chance to savor sweet Italian sausage in a pomodoro sauce topped with ricotta, mozzarella and Romano. Another brick oven winner, salmone Adriatico pairs spinach, feta and salmon with creamy rigatoni.

Scallops al forno goes over the top on the cheese sauce. Without it, however, the dish was terrific when eaten the next day.

Pork chops piazziola, two eight-ouncers with sautéed sweet peppers, onions and mushrooms, oregano and olives, is bound to please the hearty meat eater.

Chicken Anna Marie, a scaloppine flavored with sage, mushrooms, artichokes and plum tomatoes, is a treat for the taste buds.

The easily sharable dessert trilogy has something for everyone: creamy tiramisu, sophisticated tartufo (chocolate hazelnut ice cream wrapped around a zabaglione core, topped with hazelnuts and powdered chocolate) and a chocolate torta (chocolate mousse between layers of dark chocolate cake served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, as if there weren't enough calories).

The restaurant can be noisy when filled; the quietest spots are in the room adjacent to the mall. Our server was exceptionally poised, enthusiastic and knowledgeable, hallmarks of good training -- and in her case, a lot of experience.

Bertucci's does not take reservations, but suggests patrons call ahead a half hour before they plan to arrive to put their names on "the list." There is no list yet when I call, but a half-hour later (still early on a Friday night), the wait for a table is 20 minutes. C'est la vie!

Bertucci's

11301 Rockville Pike,

White Flint Mall, Rockville

Hours: Sunday noon-10 p.m., Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-midnight

Entrée prices: $8.99-$13.99

Credit cards: All major cards

Carry out: 301-230-3160

Accessible, no smoking