YORK PIZZERIA OFFERS VARIED ENTREES

Editor's note: Eats is a weekly column featuring area lunch, breakfast and takeout places.

The scenery along the Tabb area of Route 17 is slowly but surely changing to include nice new brick buildings and businesses that cater to the pleasures of life.

The new Andrea's Pizzeria & Restaurant is among those welcome additions.

Located near the entrance to the Tabb's Lake neighborhood, the eatery occupies the end of a shopping strip that also includes a frame shop. Its decor is light and airy with tropical colors and fabrics that perk up the spirits.

The white walls have been given a textured look with paint applied at random. Cozy booths and tables give customers plenty of seating options.

We like to dine out early so we can miss the evening rush. We arrived at Andrea's about 5:30 p.m. and joined the advance members of what would become a crowd.

New restaurants are always pleasant because they smell and look so clean, sort of like the new-car smell that's here today and gone tomorrow. It's nice to sit in booths that don't sag and at tables that don't have a film of grease under the edges.

Andrea's menu follows the typical style of many local pasta and pizza shops. There are the usual hoagies and subs in steak, turkey and meatball – and pizzas with all the toppings you can pile on. It's the entrees that offer variety.

There's shrimp or crab in a wine and lemon sauce with spaghetti or linguine. There are clams or mussels on a bed of pasta in a marinara or light white wine sauce – and veal or chicken marsala cooked with red roasted peppers, mushrooms and onions topped with a marsala wine. Then there are the green peppers stuffed with ham, salami and cheese, and, of course, the Italian favorites – lasagna, manicotti, cannelloni, eggplant and tortellini.

To beat the heat, I chose the pasta primavera with fresh zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli and mushrooms cooked lightly with onions and fresh garlic in a light olive oil or white wine ($7). My husband selected the ravioli, stuffed with cheese and topped with a tomato sauce ($6.50).

Both entrees came with generous salads and a loaf of piping hot bread. They were excellent, especially the pasta primavera.

By the time we finished dining, Andrea's was full of dine-in customers and the telephone was busy with take-out orders. Fortunately, the restaurant had plenty of servers ready to help people.

York County could use many more nice places to eat, and Andrea's arrival is a step in that direction.

ANDREA’S PIZZERIA

Name: Andrea's Pizzeria & Restaurant

Address: 1730 George Washington Memorial Highway, Route 17, York County

Phone: 595-3014

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; closed Sunday

Prices: Appetizers, 90 cents-$4.50; salads, $2-$8; pizza, $4.90 and up; pasta and entrees, $6.50-$10.25; subs and hoagies, $3.25 for halves and $4.50-$6.25 for wholes. Wine and beer available.

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