BY SHANNON HOWELL

FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Bravo! Cucina Italiana's website describes its restaurants as "white-tablecloth casual dining," a very apt description. Bravo, located behind Spotsylvania Towne Centre, has a big-city feel with its enormous hanging lamps, huge dining room and elegant decor.

This restaurant brings to Fredericksburg a special occasion restaurant that can serve large groups easily, with something for everyone. With lots of wait staff, every need is met and food comes out hot, which is no small feat in a restaurant this big.

A cool thing Bravo does is serve appetizers on long, skinny, rectangular plates, which fit much better on the table and make sharing easier.

My husband and I visited Bravo with our friends Mike and Tomara. They ordered crispy mozzarella ravioli ($9.99) to start. To me, it tasted like the frozen kind from the grocery store, but everyone else lapped it up. The marinara, basil and creamy horseradish sauce that came with it had a nice, fresh zingy flavor.

Billy and I chose the crispy shrimp Napoli ($11.99), which turned out to be delightful and plentiful. The batter on the shrimp was thin and light, and the combination of the green onions, lemon butter and Napoli sauce was a hit.

The insalata rustica ($5.99), a mixture of romaine, arugula and radicchio with balsamic vinaigrette, fresh pears, dried cherries, spicy pecans and crispy pancetta was an easy choice for Tomara and me. Though it was served with too much dressing already mixed in, it was a wonderful sweet and slightly salty treat of a salad.

My husband picked the lobster bisque ($5.49), which was average due to the scarcity of lobster and the heavy sherry taste. The bread was another low note. The pale sticks have very little texture or flavor. The accompanying dipping sauce is a lackluster olive oil with sundried tomatoes.

For an entree, I went with the pasta Bravo! ($13.99), a mix of rigatoni, grilled chicken and mushrooms, in a roasted red pepper cream sauce. The ingredients and sauce were light and tasty and served with a huge amount of pasta. I had plenty to take home.