Eating in a good Italian restaurant can transport you to Rome or Tuscany with one mouthful, assuming your mouth is big enough to fit a suitcase and passport. Get a one-way ticket to tastiness with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of Italian fare at Piccola Roma Restaurant, located in historic downtown Annapolis.

Piccola Roma serves the good people of Maryland saucy Italian dishes in a casually upscale environment. The dinner menu boasts oodles of noodles, such as mushroom ravioli with sage cream sauce ($16) and penne alla bolognese ($16), as well as a feat of meat, including a rack of lamb with garlic-rosemary demi glaze ($26). The chef folds four formaggi into the cheese risotto ($20), packing a dairy punch that will make bones harder than diamonds. And because Italian food and wine go together like rock climbing and tourniquets, Piccola Roma also pours from a hefty grape list. The lunch menu lets noontime diners nosh on lighter fare, such as paninis ($10), while a new breakfast menu entices early birds with sundry tasty standards for less than $10. The restaurant's ambience is simple and refined, with white tablecloths, oil paintings of Rome, and floor-to-ceiling windows facing out onto the bustle of Main Street.

Reviews

The Capital gave Piccola Roma a positive review. OpenTable reviewers give the restaurant an average of 4.3 stars.

• The same reliable destination for good, home-style Italian cuisine with flair. – Rick Wade, the Capital
• Wonderful dining experience! The food was terrific! The service is excellent. It was a great place for the four of us to visit with each other and catch up. We are so glad that Piccola Roma is back. – OpenTable reviewer who dined on 10/07/2010