Bites Nearby: Ristorante Luciano

Recently, a friend visiting from out of town had a craving for Italian food for dinner. Almost out of a hat, we picked in Bellevue Square. The wait staff was attentive and patient with our questions about the menu, the food came quickly and the wine list had a variety of French, Italian and local wines. The dining space was elegant, but not so formal as to make us uncomfortable in our casual jeans.

The menu choices range from the adventurous to the not-so-adventurous, but is not so large that it is overwhelming. The menu includes spaghettini in meat sauce ($15), sausage and mushroom pizza ($14), osso buco with risotto ($31) and escargots ($13) on the appetizer list and fresh berries ($8) on the dessert list.

Luciano has advertised a $10 lunch special, and a nice light lunch can be had at Luciano for about $20. The lunch $10 specials are the chicken parmigiana with fettuccini Alfredo and a dish featuring the fish of the day. Other lunchtime pasta dishes cost $12, and heartier lunch entrees, such as veal scaloppini, come in under $20.

I've stuck to the lunchtime pasta dishes, but they have been good experiences. Both fettuccini Alfredo lunch special and the tagliatelle with meat sauce had the right balance of meat, sauce and homemade noodles. And it's nice to report that the wait staff was as attentive at lunch as they were at dinner.

While this restaurant has had mixed reviews on other websites, my visits here have gone well. Try it out, and tell me what you think.