Eastern Approaches Here's A Good Place To Dine When You're Visiting Tucson's Mysterious East Side. By Rebecca Cook WHILE IT'S TRUE that I thoroughly enjoy dining at the so-called "best" restaurants in town, I must confess that one of the delights of this job is staggering across the less traveled, out-of-the-way places that turn out to have pretty good eats. In said pursuit, I largely depend on serendipity-- although the advice of knowledgeable friends and readers helps immeasurably. Thanks this week goes out to Mrs. Connie Smith of Tucson, who took the time to write a letter about one of her favorite local restaurants, Capri. Because it's on the far east side at Broadway and Camino Seco, I was unlikely to have found it without her tip. What is it with mini malls and Italian restaurants? Like its counterpart Gavi, Capri is snuggled comfortably among several other going concerns, including a grocery, a sporting goods store and a Planned Parenthood office, creating some rather unlikely possibilities for one-stop shopping. Perhaps inured by having eaten too many good meals in dubious surroundings, it was not a shock to find Capri serves decent food at modest prices. Although I wouldn't say it knocked my socks off, Capri nevertheless has plenty to recommend it. As the parent of young children, I'm always impressed by a kids' menu that exceeds the traditional hot dog and grilled cheese sandwich. I mean, these are fine as far as they go, but if you find yourself dining out with any frequency, it's easy to understand why the little tykes get restless when they see the same thing on their plates night after night. At Capri, children 12 and under go top flight and, for around three dollars, get to choose from a "bambini" menu of Italian favorites that are just scaled-down versions of the adult dishes. Not only can your kids sample spaghetti, ravioli and tortellini, they also get the chance to explore the wonders of gnocchi and mostaccioli (which, although it sounded exotic, was disappointingly pronounced by my 5-year-old to be "just big noodles.") Served with a choice of soup or salad, it's not hard to keep the kids busy eating while you savor your own meal. To begin with, you may want to sample one of Capri's appetizers, which included sautéed mushrooms, polenta, focaccia, crostini or fried zucchini. Maybe because we were lured into thinking more fall-like thoughts by the thunderstorm outside, we opted for the minestrone ($2.25 a cup). Capri's minestrone (translation: big soup) consisted of garbanzo beans, pasta and chunks of onion, zucchini and carrots in a light tomato-based broth accented with oregano, basil and thyme. Some restaurants serve this dish so thick with vegetables and pasta that it could easily be a meal unto itself. Capri's minestrone was less filling and managed to whet the appetite without squelching it entirely. The house salads are large and standard: a solitary cherry tomato and cucumber slice rest atop some iceberg lettuce and a few leaves of a darker, leafier roughage. I was, however, very pleased with the dressing, which was studded with bits of blue cheese, creamy and heavily infused with garlic. Main courses at Capri can be any of several pastas as well as dishes featuring chicken, veal, Italian sausage and seafood. After sampling the fare on two occasions, I offer this advice: Stick to the pasta. It's not that the other dishes are bad, they just don't impress like the pasta selections do. For example, one evening we tried the pollo alla calabria ($9.95), a marinated boneless chicken breast seasoned with rosemary and thyme, sautéed in olive oil, butter, lemon juice and white wine and served with a chopped green onion and bacon garnish. It sounded good, and the first few bites were indeed tasty, but after a while the oils of the various ingredients began to congeal slightly, which was not a pretty--or appetizing--sight. A veal parmigiana ($10.99) was just adequate--nothing to offend by any means, but also nothing to inspire Caruso-like outbursts of song. A good cut of veal, lightly breaded and fried, served with a mild tomato sauce and topped with melted parmigiana cheese. What else can you say? Ah, but the pasta is another matter. Using a combination of homemade and imported pastas, Capri offers a tantalizing array of high-carbo dishes. I'm always a sucker for manicotti ($8.75), those large pasta tubes--in this case, homemade--stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella cheese and covered with a savory tomato sauce. Capri's generous version of this specialty did not disappoint. The ravioli ($8.50), modest pockets of pasta that can be ordered with either a meat or vegetable filling, is also a winner and became a particular favorite of my hard-to-impress kindergartner.

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