Friends and relatives had been urging Sam Curreri, owner of Sammy’s Trattoria in Mt. Vernon, to open a suburban location for a while. So, last year when a spot became available at Hunt Valley Towne Centre, Curreri grabbed the opportunity—and he hasn’t looked back since. The crowds flowing into the restaurant each day are an affirmation that he made the right decision. “We had no idea what was coming,” he says. We stopped by the restaurant on a Wednesday evening without reservations and were lucky to score two seats in the dining room. We don’t recommend going unannounced. Just about every one of the roughly 100 seats in the bar and 100 places in the dining area were taken. For our full review of the popular county cousin of the Mt. Vernon restaurant, head to the link in bio. 📸: @plaidphoto