Pazza Luna

Pazza Luna
1401 E. Clement Street
Baltimore, MD 21230


Pazza Luna is located in Locust Point right across the street from a new townhome development. I had found out about this place through a friend who lives in the new community. She and her husband frequent this place so much that the folks inside know their names. I always thought that would be such a cool thing.

Locust Point is the neighborhood next to Federal Hill and I feel like its been turning around a lot lately. There are lots of new homes, new restaurants, bars, etc. Being a resident on the other side of town (Canton/Highlandtown), I don't make it over there very often. I actually think that works both ways with people in Federal Hill not coming over to Canton. But I digress...

I met up with some girlfriends to take advantage of Pazza Luna's happy hour special: $1 Martinis! You really can't beat that. Because my friend is such a regular, she was able to secure a large table that isn't considered a part of the bar but where we could still enjoy happy hour (you're not technically supposed to get happy hour specials outside of the bar area).

When I first walked into the restaurant/bar, I noticed how cute it appeared. I'm sure cute isn't a great descriptive term but I liked it. The bar area itself is a little small but the table to the side seated 8 comfortably and I found myself completely enamoured with the table. It looked like it was made of perfectly aged wood and I wanted it for my own dining room! For dinner, the restaurant is upstairs but I didn't get a chance to check it out.

The waitress was very sweet albeit a little slow with the service. We were seated right by the kitchen so she often passed us without asking if we needed anything. I didn't complain because I understood they were kind of doing us a favor but it was starting to irritate me. I theorized that the slow service was how they kept patrons from taking TOO much advantage of the $1 martinis. They also seemed to have a shortage of martini glasses so the waitress noted that they had to take our glasses, wash them and then serve our drinks.

They had a little menu with some interesting flavored martinis. I tried the Blueberry Lemon Martini and it was fabulous. It was just the right amount of sweet with just enough tangy to not overwhelm me or make me feel sick. Some friends tried a Raspberry Peach Martini (it looked like a creamsicle) and another blueberry martini that looked like a slurpee. Everyone seemed to love whatever they got.

Also a part of the happy hour special is a "small plate" menu that boasts dishes for $4.50 (and I think this also includes their appetizers). I was thrilled to see that they offered a vegetarian pizza.

Amongst my friends, people ordered: fried calamari, fried polenta, vegetarian pizza, mozzarella & tomato, salads. Everyone loved what they ordered.

My vegetarian pizza was amazing. It was a thin crust with artichokes, eggplant and onions. The sauce was a little sweet and I was on the verge of licking my plate when I finished. My friends thought my pizza looked divine as well but when they ordered it, they didn't receive any of the same toppings! Instead, they were presented with a pizza covered in carrots and onions. I thought that was a little strange but was thankful that I got to eat the kick-ass pizza.

Wednesday nights (the night we went) is also another special: $10 pasta.

My only complaint has to do with the slow service. When it came time to pay the bill, we simply inquired about the number of acceptable credit cards. I know this is annoying (although one of my friends noted that when she was a server, it wasn't difficult to split checks) - the waitress groaned, rolled her eyes and asked that we not give more than 5. I found this to be unprofessional and rude. Just say 5 and be done with it! No need for the theatrics.

So while I didn't actually eat any dinner, I took a glance at the menu and would definitely give this place another shot.

I highly recommend this restaurant/bar. Just hope you don't need to split a check 6 ways!