Along the main street of Takoma Park lies a welcoming, upscale pizzeria that embodies the inviting, bubbly spirit of its community. Surrounded by animated shops and vivacious people, Roscoe's Neapolitan Pizzeria rises above ordinary pizzerias and stands out among its neighboring restaurants on Carroll Avenue.

Ah, warm weather. It instills a pleasant sensation of happiness in everyone, especially students ready for the summer. It also implants a desire for cool, creamy ice cream that epitomizes the perfect summer dessert. Soon people everywhere will be searching for a respite from the summer heat, and Silver Spring has no shortage of venues for ice cream.

Our story begins with our humble food editor visibly salivating while watching a Japanese dubbed version of "Iron Chef." He remembers that he won't be eating for another hour. He looks out the window with sad eyes and remembers that winter is coming. People are closing up their barbecue sets, the leaves are coming down in droves of red, green, yellow and brown, the air is cold and heavy snows are taking their sweet time getting to Montgomery County. He looked back at the tube eyeing a succulent burger with a look of carnal desire, remembering that a wise man once said that vegetarians taste delicious. With this revelation, he frantically begged his peers to find the best local burgers and review them for the greater good of the Blair community, if not the world.

The word Mediterranean conjures up images of sunny days, a light sea breeze and complete relaxation. Named after the "Levantine" region that comprises modern day Turkey, Greece, Lebanon and Israel, Levante's restaurant describes itself as a fusion of various Mediterranean cuisines on its website. But with its menu of fried appetizers and boring entrees often loaded with burdensome sauces and chunks of meat, Levante's is anything but light and airy.

It doesn't take a long car trip to get a taste of some traditional Southern hospitality. All it takes is a hop onto the orange line and a quick two block walkto Georgia Brown's, which will immediately have a Southerner feeling right at home and a stranger just as welcome.