I ate at Anna Maria’s once — in 1980. The same sign that PoP loves was hanging outside then, too. The food wasn’t awful, but I haven’t found any compelling reason to return there during the last 29 years. I was always under the impression about the only people who ate there were conventioneers from the Washington Hilton who didn’t know anything about local restaurants and would settle for the first non-chain (once Buca di Beppo opened) Italian place they found down the hill. One wonders whether the Hilton’s current renovation (which appears to have closed half the hotel), in conjunction with the current recession, has caused Anna Maria’s patronage to decline severely.

i always thought that sign was advertising a beauty salon for those big-haired, Jersey gals!

Ana Marias has been around forever. Old school red check tablecloth Italian. If you just want spaghetti and meatballs, you could do a lot worse than this place. A great little relic from a bygone, less pretentious era. I hope they don’t get rid of the dank. Half the charm was the slight mafioso atmosphere.

if they do get rid of the sign, I think PoP should get it. he could start a “sweet sign” collection in his house!