Vesuvio Italian Bistro

Vesuvio Italian Bistro is in the former location of the Lucerna Grill, near the Glenwood Library and Community Center. It's a friendly place for a decent Italian lunch or dinner in western Howard County. It's been under the current ownership for perhaps a year and has an informal, neighborhood vibe.

There's no web site at the moment, but the menu is a collection of Italian bistro standards, centered around pasta dishes or entrees of chicken, veal or shellfish. Two dishes have kept me coming back. The Shrimp Fiorentina appetizer, with large shrimp, fresh spinach and garlic smothered with mozzarella, is plenty to share. The Pollo Pinali chicken breast with pine nuts, artichoke hearts, basil and lemon over capellini is distinctive.

Prices at dinner, with most dishes in the $14-18 range, strike me as a little steep for an everyday kind of place. The lunch menu, which is basically the entire menu in slightly smaller portions with a selection of sub sandwiches also available, is more reasonable. I'd like Vesuvio even more if the lunch menu was available all day.

Vesuvio Italian Bistro
2465 State Rt. 97
Glenwood, MD 21738
Phone: 410-489-6001