Arthur Avenue dishes up Italian American classics in Birmingham

Executive Chef Mark Barbarich prepares "classic simple American Italian" fare for the restaurant that opened in December. He works double duty creating French dishes for neighboring eatery Au Cochon, which shares kitchen space, a wall, and an indoor patio with Arthur Avenue.

On the dinner menu, the eggplant parmesan is fried-to-order. Beef tenderloin with herb and garlic fries, whitefish piccata with broccolini, and chicken Marsala and egg noodles are also offered in the evening along with pastas like fettuccine Alfredo.

Huge windows overlooking North Old Woodward mark the casual cafe area at the front of the restaurant where guests sit at bare-topped tables in benches made from real truck tailgates.

The lunch menu offers a half-dozen appetizers for $5 each, and a dozen main dishes, like this classic lasagna with its beef ragu and balsamella sauce, for $10.

In the cafe, server Michele Floreno delivers lunch to Matt Koziarz, left, David Gaskey, Todd Barrett and Stephen Burch.

Spaghetti and meatballs with marinara. The restaurant is named for a street in the Bronx famous for its cluster of Italian eateries.

Tomato-red is the color of choice for food and decor and it shows up in the checked tablecloths, cafe chairs, napkins, placemat menus, wait staff aprons and in slivers of salami and mortadella in the chopped salad.