Dining Out Review: Ledo Pizza & Pasta

I don't live in Short Pump. I don't have children. And I don't usually frequent Italian chain restaurants.

However, if any of the above applied to me, Ledo Pizza might make my list of places to go for a quick, affordable and family-friendly meal.

Located in West Broad Village between Kona Grill and Whole Foods, Ledo Pizza is part of a regional pizza-and-pasta franchise stretching from Maryland to Florida. As far as chain restaurants go, it's not as expensive as, say, Olive Garden, but it has more to it than CiCi's Pizza.

When I proposed to two of my friends a Friday night sojourn to Ledo in the wilds of Short Pump, I wasn't expecting a memorable culinary experience.

I was pleasantly surprised. My dining companion who has two young daughters said, "My girls would totally love this place."

And he's right. As I looked around, the bright dining room was filled with families arriving fresh out of soccer games, groups of neighbors taking their kids out for a casual bite and fresh-faced tweens chowing down on Ledo's signature square pizza.

But Ledo isn't entirely a kiddie place. The bar offers a small wine list and beer on tap to keep the adults entertained.

After passing through Ledo's carry-out area, we seated ourselves at one of several striped booths and started perusing the plastic menus already stationed at the table.

Before we had a chance to get too far into the offerings, our cordial waiter approached ready for drink orders and armed with suggestions for appetizers.Options include kid-friendly favorites, such as mozzarella sticks and cheese fries (both $4.99), but after our server recommended the spicy Ledo tartar sauce with the calamari ($5.99), we ordered up, along with spicy toasted ravioli ($4.79).

Despite being outnumbered by the accompanying pile of waffle fries, the calamari were better than I expected. Tender and delicately breaded, they weren't at all rubbery. And our server was right: The spicy tartar sauce was a welcome alternative to typical marinara.

The ravioli were good -- although tasting somewhat freezer-burned -- their ricotta and mozzarella filling jazzed up with bits of jalapeño.

Ledo's main menu features pizza, calzones, subs and traditional entrées, such as chicken Parmesan ($8.99) and spaghetti ($6.99). We tried the Spicy Meatlovers calzone ($6.99), small Meatlovers pizza ($7.74) and shrimp and spicy chorizo rigatoni ($9.99).

As soon as our main courses arrived, I was disappointed to find that Ledo uses so many similar ingredients across its menu that there isn't nearly as much variety flavorwise as the number of options implies.

For example, the calzone and pizza both featured an oily mélange of sausage, pepperoni, meatballs, melted Provolone and signature Ledo sauce, an overly sweet concoction that didn't work as well as a dipping sauce for the calzone as it did on the pizza. Granted, we ordered two similar items, but I expected some differentiation.

I'm usually wary of anything advertised on a laminated picture insert, but the shrimp and chorizo rigatoni was quite good. The Alfredo sauce was light enough to let the other flavors have a chance to shine. The only drawback was the overly aggressive dousing of zesty seasoning typically used on seafood that worked on the calamari's fries but should have been lighter here.

We didn't leave room for dessert, but our server stuck around for a bit explaining the options and politely encouraging us to return.

Ledo Pizza is a pleasant addition to Short Pump's chain-restaurant lineup, a nice middle ground for families looking for something on which both kids and adults can agree.

Freelance writer and graphic designer Dana Craig considers dessert the most important food group. The Times-Dispatch pays for the meals on her unannounced visits to restaurants. Contact her at .