New noms: Pincho Factory, Croissant Gourmet, Piazza Italia

Go out this weekend and carb it up! Here are three new ways to put yourself in a delicious bread coma.

Remember when we told you like almost exactly a year ago that Croissant Gourmet would open in the old Ace Hardware space on Edgewater Drive in College Park? Well, Croissant Gourmet opens March 21 in the former Ace Hardware space on Edgewater Drive. The restaurant wheels turn slow in College Park.

Pincho Factory has opened next to Starbucks in the Marketplace at Dr. Phillips. They grill their proteins on sticks – chicken, steak and shrimp – and also have fun stuff like tostone burgers and the “cartel dog.” There was plush, flavorful beef in the rice bowl, but our suggestion: less rice, more beef!

And finally, down in the wilds of Lake Nona, Piazza Italia is impressing folks with authentic Neapolitan eats. The Bella di Napoli pizza, with broccoli rabe, mozzarella campagna and sausage, is calling our names.

This article appears in Mar 16-22, 2016.