This list includes what are in my opinion the top 5 Italian restaurants in the Glen Burnie and Annapolis areas. Keep in mind I rate restaurants on quality that is affordable. You won’t see restaurants on this list where all their entrees are $25 or above, I’d rather bring you a list of places that are tasty and won’t take all your hard earned cash. Without further rambling let’s start the list:
5. Maria’s – This is a traditional top choice for people in Annapolis. The bread is tasty and the sauce is very good for all their entrees. The location is great with it being on the docks in downtown Annapolis, a nice fancy dinner while you are downtown enjoying the summer months. The reason though it is not ranked higher is because of that one word “fancy”, which correllates with expensive. Many of their entrees are over my $20-25 guideline for the line between monderate and overpriced. I do encourage you to try the home made desserts though.
4. Ledo’s Pizza- Okay, I know many people right now are probably going “How in the world can you rank a pizza chain restaurant above Maria’s?”. Well, remember this list is based on quality and cost. The entrees at Ledo’s pizza are almost all under $12 which is quite a bargain for Italian food. Add in the fact that if you have picky eaters in your group (aka kids), they have great pizza to keep them happy. Recently Ledo’s has also started to expand their bar offerings into seasonal microbrews which will be appealing to us beer snobs. Granted, you can bet none of the desserts are made on premesis, but hey if you want a nice cheap meal with better than average quality Ledo’s is your choice.
3. Squisito- This is another chain restaurant of sorts in that they have four locations in the area. Their entrees though are a bit closer to the traditional italian restaurants in both quality and price than Ledo’s though. They have a good selection of pasta dishes, chicken dishes, and seafood dishes. The sauce is not overpowering but has just enough of a kick to make you know it’s definitely home made. Again, they serve pizza as well so it is a place you can take the kids to with you. A great bonus about this restaurant is their weekly bonuses. On Mondays they have “buy one pizza get one 1/2 price” special and on Tuesday if you get one pasta entree the second one is just $1.99!
2. Mezzanote- This restaurant on Ritchie Highway at one time would have been my #1 choice. They used to have all their entrees between $10 and $15. But over the years the prices have slowly crept up to the point where they are now. Today the prices are generally between $15 and $20 per entree with their daily specials usually topping the $20 mark. Everything is home made and fresh here, actually I recently found out it is owned and operated by the same family that runs Squisito. The biggest treat though about Mezzanote are the incredible home made desserts made by the owner’s wife. It’s always a let down if you end up there one night and find out she is out of the country because her desserts are the best I have tasted.
1. Olive Tree- This restaurant also located on Ritchie HIghway takes the concept that Olive Garden started with the unlimited salad and breadsticks and combines it with food that is several steps above what you would get at The Olive Garden. First of all you get larger first servings of both the breadsticks and salad than at The Olive Garden so it takes longer before you need a refill (many times we don’t even need one). They also have very large entrees, I don’t think I’ve ever left without a doggy bag. The sauce is sweet and a little spicy. They have a large variety of pastas for you to choose from and several different meats that can go on your pasta dish. My wife has said the alfredo sauce is very good and she loves their Tour Of Italy entree offering three italian favorites. My favorite is the sausage and pasta, it might sound basic but when done right sometimes the simplest dishes don’t need to be complicated by additions. Oh, and by the way, the desserts here are extremely good too, don’t look at the dessert tray before ordering or you might be tempted to skip dinner and go straight to dessert. Entrees here tend to run in the $10-15 with a few slightly above that, but keep in mind like I said that you will most likely end up taking home enough for another meal the next day.
I hope my list has helped some of you that may visit the Glen Burnie/Annaplis areas during your travels in 2007, or for you locals, maybe a suggestion of a restaurant you haven’t tried before!
