Exit 30B - MD-41 North (Perring Pkwy)

If Exit 30A takes you to house after house, Exit 30B takes you to shopping galore! And there is so much stuff down here. I'm not even talking about the food. This is the commercial side of Exit 30, and where there is shopping there is food.

So where to start? Well, driving around Perring Plaza and the surrounding complexes, I found three basic types of food options:

• strip mall eateries with (probably) inedible food. Okay, I shouldn't assume, but I have been burned so many times in the past that I'm just afraid to try the latest "China Fun House" hole-in-the-wall greasy wok or "Bubba's 'New York' 'Style'" long-forgotten, long-forgettable pizzeria. Please tell me if I missed something.
  
• strip mall eateries with more or less edible food. There were precious few of these, such as Mamma Lucia's Ristorante Italiano (da Fausto) (map), and Perring Parkway's own branch of Wockenfuss Chocolates (map). I'm not sure if Mo's Fisherman's Exchange (map) fits into this category or not. It's certainly expensive enough. Most people seem to like the place, so its probably worth a visit.
  
• stand-alone eateries, such as
  
• Pete's Crab House (map), by Satyr Hill Road. It's open "7 days a week" as the sign said, though there was no one there at the time (too early in the day to just get crabs, I reckon)
  
• Milano's Family Restaurant and Carry-Out (map), offering up typical subs, pizza, Italian and Greek delights
• and the Parkville branch of El Salto (map), which is still very much open!!!
  

After much hemming and hawing, I finally stopped by Mamma Lucia's for an extremely satisfying spinach and three-cheese stromboli. At $7, it was one of the cheaper lunch items on the menu (like most of the better Italian take-outs, the place ain't cheap). Not that they didn't have other things on the menu, but again, most of it was more than I could spend right now:

• Chicken Marsala, normally $15 (add a dollar for veal marsala), but today it was the lunch special for only $9
  
• Chicken Baltimore ($18) - chicken, shrimp and crab meat in a light marinara sauce
• Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce was the cheapest pasta, for $10, with Mostaccioli alla Napoletana (marinara and Parmesan) for $11, Fetuccine Alfredo for $12, and the standard Spaghetti with either Meatballs or Sausage (ah, a choice!) for $11
• And check out their seafood dinners, including the very Neapolitan Posilipo (mussels, clams, shrimp and squid in marinara) for $19, and Shrimp Cacciatore for $16
• Mind you, most entrées come with salad and garlic or non-garlic bread
  

When I have the time and money, I will certainly stop by to try some of these mouthwatering options. But for now, with computer and car repairs driving me batty, I am in a "what-can-I-get-for-less-than-ten-bucks" kind of mood. Mamma Lucia's doesn't have much in that way, but what it does have that cheap is still quite good.

The folks at Mamma Lucia's, which the proprietors boast is "owned and operated by an Italian family" (my ancestors would be pleased), happily point out that their customers swear their food tastes like homemade. Well, I've never had a homemade stromboli, but the one I had was, indeed, delicious. I finished the rest for dinner last night (not something I can eat in one sitting). Even after a 15 minute car ride home, it still tasted good and hot. My word, the marinara sauce was hot! I will have to go back for more of their strombolis.

My delicious stromboli, before...

...and after

Other Photos:

Aaaaah, majestic, sunny Perring Parkway. Or is this Joppa Road? Ah screw it.

So Dave's not here?

And here is Pete's - yes, empty during the lunch rush. How many people do you know who just order up a bushel for lunch?

Places I visited:

El Salto II (Mexican - visited the Brooklyn Park location off of Exit 3A) - 8816 Waltham Woods Road, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 668-3980

• Would I eat there again? Yes, at either location
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Otra vez, ¡sí!
  

Mamma Lucia's Ristorante Italiano da Fausto (Italian) - 1991 E. Joppa Road, in Perring Plaza, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 665-5900

• Would I eat there again? Same here - yes
  
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Ancora, si!
  

Places to look up later:

Milano's Restaurant and Carry-Out (Italian / Greek / American) - 8811 Waltham Woods Road, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 661-4352

Mo's Fisherman's Exchange (seafood / American - one of five locations around Maryland) -2025 E. Joppa Road, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 665-8800

Pete's Crab House (crabs) - 1946 E. Joppa Road, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 661-8210

Wockenfuss Candies (candy) - 8800 Waltham Woods Road, in the North Plaza Shopping Center, Parkville, MD 21234; Phone: (410) 882-5770