Although Italians originally invented pasta as a fastener to keep Sicily from floating away, they abandoned it for less-delicious moorings after locals on both sides kept snacking their way toward separation. Tether your taste buds to today's Groupon for Italian cuisine and drinks at Luna Blu in Annapolis. Choose between the following options:

• For $15, you get $30 worth of dinner fare.
• For $6, you get $12 worth of lunch fare.

At Luna Blu, Naples native Ivano Scotto skillfully coaxes authentic Italian cuisine out of his skillet. Start a nosh session with the mozzarella and eggplant napoleon, a dish of grilled brinjal, buffalo mozzarella, and roma tomatoes drowning in a sea of balsamic vinaigrette ($9). Fans of shelled sustenance can indulge in the lumache alla luna, a savory serving of sautéed escargots showing off a frock of marsala cream sauce while perched on puff pastry ($11), and nature buffs can observe noodles in their natural habitat with the homemade ravioli con astice, a palate pleaser featuring carnivorous pasta shells stuffed with their lobster prey and served alongside sautéed crabmeat, mushrooms, and peas in a creamy rose sauce ($22 for dinner).

The signature zabaglione—a dessert of egg custard creamed with marsala wine and topped with strawberries in a glass—acts as the perfect coda to a meal fit for a virtuosic meatball juggler ($6). Luna Blu's dining room boasts columned archways and lush hand-painted murals of Naples, lending the restaurant an atmosphere of bucolic elegance perfect for a date or a heated accordion-off.

A sharing charge applies for patrons splitting an entree with another guest.

Reviews

Zagat reviewed the food and service at Luna Blu as very good to excellent. Six Google Mappers and 15 Yelpers give Luna Blu a three-star average, nine TripAdvisors give the restaurant an average of four owl eyes, Yahoo! Travelers give it a four-star average, and 68% of Urbanspooners recommend it.

• Excellent pasta dishes. Love the choice of sauces! – KIMBERLYC2478, Zagat
• When you find a place that takes the time to make all their pastas, including lasagna noodles, you just know you have some one in the kitchen who cares. – Randy Schiera, Urbanspoon