Wait for it...

Tasty bites readers:

Prepare yourselves for a gastronomic adventure of epic proportions. The sisters reunite for Thanksgiving weekend 2009 in DC, and our appetites are larger than ever. It's a week before, and I'm already salivating like Pavlov's dog.

Look forward to hole-in-the-wall joints, restaurants we could only afford with coupons or for lunch, Top Chef alumns, and general deliciosity (HIMYM fans, salute).

Get excited.

Olazzo - Silver Spring

You know those days when you need a drink and nourishment, and even though you have the supplies at home, you just want to be served by someone else? I was having one of those, and thankfully, so was JC. I'd never been to Olazzo, either in Bethesda or Silver Spring, so we thought we'd give it a try.

The ambience inside Olazzo is cozy and warm - a TV screen at the end of the bar showcases a digital fireplace, the room is dim, yet there is a warm glow that lights up the place, and the booths are big and welcoming. We settled into one of the cushy booths and ordered a bottle of riesling. I feel like I get a lot of requests for a fruity riesling at work, which we don't carry - for those you who are searching for a fruity and sweet riesling, Olazzo's got it. We sipped away for a while, having girl talk and giggling a lot, as we do often.

We started with the fried calamari, which is a pretty impressive portion. For $9, we got a giant platter of lightly battered and deep fried, hot and crispy calamari with marinara. It was delicious, not overdone, and did I mention, it's HUGE?

Unfortunately, the rest of the meal wasn't that great or memorable. JC ordered the mozzarella neopolitan, which wasn't particularly remarkable, and I made the mistake of ordering what turned out to be a country fried steak of some sort. It had some charming Italian name that lured me to it and I was feeling like some red meat. Without frills, it was pretty gross. It was dry, there was way too much breading that was too salty, and I couldn't eat more than 1/3 of it. Ew ew ew ew ew. Perhaps that's why it's not on the menu anymore. Good riddance, I say.

I like Olazzo. I will go back and perhaps this time, I'll get a pasta...that should be safe in an Italian restaurant, don't you think? Tasty tasty!!

Mamma Lucia - Silver Spring

I just realized how much I dine alone, and that people must think I'm quite strange as I coo over my food and perform a photo shoot before (or sometimes in the middle of) the feast. I must say I have been eating out alone more since I started writing Tasty Bites entries - I used to hate doing that, but now I have a purpose for doing so. It's research, you see.

So this one fine afternoon, I stopped in at CVS at Blair Park, and on the way out decided to grab a bite to eat at Mama Lucia's which is next door. For research, of course. I have never been, so I wasn't sure how the place worked. It seemed a little bit disorganized, you walk up to the counter and there are 3 men taking orders/payment. They are all very nice, but they are also loud and want to know what you want to order as soon as you walk in. I looked at the menu and I wanted to try everything as I was quite hungry. I debated between a pizza or a pasta, decided to get a pasta, then had to choose from about 20 different items, gah!! I wanted carbs but also some seafood, so linguine alla mare chiara sounded perfect. I ordered my food and a bottle of water from one man, paid another man, and then yet another man appeared from (I promise this is what happened) under the counter and handed me the water. The man I ordered from told me to sit at any table, so I did, all the while wondering how the food was going to find me, since the dining room was pretty full. Lunch rush, I guess, it was about 1:30pm.

About 10 minutes later, a young lady came by with a basket of bread and my pasta. How did she know it was mine? How did she know where I was? It was like magic!! I took a bite of the pasta with one of the clams, and oh! It was exactly what I wanted - yummy pasta with yummy sauce with yummy seafood. As a lady pretending to watch her girlish figure, I didn't touch the bread basket, but the contents seemed pretty old and stale. The pasta was of good texture, not overcooked, the seafood was delish, the shrimp, clams and calamari tasted fresh and didn't have the strange, synthetic texture that frozen seafood sometimes have. The sauce was decent, not magnificent, but it was good enough to hit the spot. It was a pretty hefty portion and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I ate the whole thing. After checking my email and Facebook on my phone, I managed to remove myself from the table and waddle out of the restaurant.

If I get a chance to go back, I would really like to try the spaghetti aglio e olio and the penne norcina. They have a couple of specials - Monday nights are pasta nights, where you can get a second pasta dish for $3.99 and Tuesday nights are pizza nights, where you can get a second pizza for $2.99. Oh carbs, you're so delicious. Tasty tasty!!

$ (Lunch)
$$ (Dinner)

www.mammaluciarestaurants.com