The modern busy lifestyle. A tangle of conflicting work scheditles tightly wound with homework activities. Bath and bedtime routines.

All of things usually add up to mean that our family usually has to eat pizza from a box.

Not this time.

This time around we decided to stop and smell the roses, so to speak, with a meal at Delmar Pizza.

Delmar Pizza, which occupies several store fronts in the State Line Plaza shopping center just across the Maryland-Delaware border, is decorated in the requisite red, green and white of Italy.

Ceramic statuettes of portly black-mustachioed men wielding large pizza pies stand in sharp contrast to the beautifully painted serving bowls that are mounted on the walls.

But this isn't just your standard, every-day pizza joint.

Several archways reveal the restaurant's large, stainless steal kitchen.

This kitchen produces not only gourmet pizzas, calzones and strombolis, but a variety of pasta dishes, salads, sandwiches and seafood entrees.

A quick glance at the menu will assure any newcomer that Delmar Pizza truly offers a little bit of something for everyone.

Their wings are available as mild, hot or extra hot; a 12-piece costs $7.25.

The Cajun Fresh Tuna Steak Sandwich is served with French fries and costs $5.95.

The quarter-pound Classic Cheeseburger costs $2.95.

Their large Eggplant Parmigiana Sub costs $5.25.

The pastas, which take up nearly an entire page of the large menu, are mostly inspired by dishes from southern Italy.

These range from the house's Famous Lasagna ($9.45) to Rigatoni Ala Pomodori ($10.95) with sauteed chicken, sundried tomatoes, broccoli and mushrooms in a Marsala wine and light cream sauce.

Despite the wealth of choices, we were craving comfort food in its most basic Italian American form.

To us, that means one thing - pizza.

Armed with a bowl of crispy beer-battered onions rings ($3.50), we meandered through the menu to finally arrive at the Marengo Pizza ($13.45 for a large), one of the restaurant's unique, signatnre pies.

Topped with sauteed chicken in a pink vodka sauce with onions, fresh mushrooms and tomatoes, the Merengo was an intriguing and potentially delicious choice.

We were only a bit apprehensive when the waitress divulged that the Marengo is not a pie often requested. But, those Who do order it, love it, we were assured.

We shrugged and continued our order with a large cheese calzone ($7.95) with added mushrooms and ham to hedge our bets and a serving of spaghetti with meat sauce ($7.75).

After placing our orders, we sipped our soft drinks, which are availahle by the pitcher —-- as are the five beers on tap.

We took in the pleasant atmosphere that surrounded us.

At first we couldn't pinpoint it; the decor was pretty standard for most any pizza joint.

The lighting was bright, the booths were vinyl, the cups were plastic.

Three video games occupied a portion of the adjoining dining room, and strains Of music from a jukebox could be heard occasionally under the hum of conversation and a hopping take-out business that kept employees busy throughout the evening.

Then we realized what it was. Jokes, stories and laughter could heard, from the kitchen through the dining room, as both staff members and happy patrons enjoyed their evening.

While we have certainly dined at "finer" establishments, we recognize that you can't buy that kind of ambience.

When our food arrived we learned that our waitress had given us some good advice when we placed our order.

The Marengo pizza, though very rich, can only be described as absolutely delicious.

The generous toppings of chicken, onions, mushrooms and fresh tomatoes, cheese and blush sauce oozed from a thick crust that was just the right combination of crispy and chewy.

The pie could have easily been a soggy mess, but the kitchen has perfected this pie with just the right combination of ingredients.

It's not one that you can devour in one sitting, however, and we relished the thought of taking home leftovers we could enjoy the next day.

The verdict was out a little longer on the cheese calzone as we had confused the staff with our request for extra toppings and had to send it back to the kitchen for a do-over.

The waitress assured us she had put a rush on the order, but we didn't mind the inconvenience as we focused on the pizza and the spaghetti with meat sauce still in front of us.

Although the spaghetti plate was generously topped with the restaurant's special recipe meat sauce, the pasta itself a little overdone.

While nowhere near soggy, we felt the noodles would have tasted better if al dente.

It would be difficult, however, to find a better meat sauce; loaded with ground beef and spices, the dish was the epitome of solid, pleasing comfort food.

When our calzone arrived for the second time, complete with extra toppings and a large bowl of tangy sweet marinara sauce, we were a bit overwhelmed by its size.

Perhaps we had overindulged in the pizza while waiting for the calzone. Leftovers would be in order once again.

Easily a meal for two, if not three, the calzone's thick flaky crust wrapped what seemed like a pound of mozzarella cheese and ricotta and a smattering of ham and mushrooms.

While the cheese ratio may have weighed in a little heavily on the mozzarella side for our liking, the ingredients were fresh and of high quality.

The resulting pizza pocket was delicious, especially when we dipped it in the marinara sauce.

After much groaning and talk of wheelbarrelss to cart us out, we decided that dessert that evening was out of the question.

However, we couldn't pass up the prospect of Delmar Pizza's desserts, made from scratch in-house.

So, we boxed up a generous wedge of Napoleon, which is a super light confection of Bavarian cream sandwiched between thin layers of crispy crust and dusted with powdered sugar, and a slice of peanut butter pie with two different layers of peanut butter filling so rich it takes a week to eat.