Pizza Town

Pizza Town
9217 Lakeside Blvd 
Owings Mills, MD 21117 
410-902-1533

website: http://www.mypizzatown.net/

Owings Mills sports many presumably family-owned restaurants.  I'm not if Pizza Town is family-owned, but it seems like it.  And I'm not even sure if the strip mall where it is located has a name, but it's on Lake Side Boulevard near the Food Lion.

Pizza Town seems to be run by Russians, or some Eastern European people, which is fine.  I'm just merely pointing it out.  I find it a interesting that Eastern Europeans are running a restaurant that specializes in Italian food.

So what did I get on my recent trip?  Greek food!  I got the Gyro, fries, and a soda for $7.99.  I'm a sucker for a value meal.  They offer this lunch deal with a handful of different sandwiches, and a choice of fries or onion rings.

I've also had their pizza.  It's decent.  I wouldn't make a special trip there to get their pizza, but it's definitely a nice place to get a quick meal in Owings Mills.

As you can see, the gyro is jam-packed with with onions, some lettuce, tomatoes, and the gyro sauce, as it should.  It tasted good.  I would have liked more lamb, but then again, it was a $7.99 deal, so I shouldn't expect a lamb fatty, right?

So if you're in Owings Mills and you're looking for a slice of pizza, a sub, or a gryo, check out Pizza Town.  It's good cheap eats.

Vito's Express

Vito's Express
11000 Owings Mills Blvd
Owings Mills, MD
410-363-8486


I recently had to run a few errands during lunch at work. A coworker went with me and we decided to go to Vito's Express in Owings Mills for lunch.

Located across the street from the Owings Mills campus of Stevenson University in a small strip-mall, Vito's Express offers your regular pizza, subs, fries, and Italian deserts.

My friend ordered 2 slices of plain cheese pizza because he hates cheese. I don't get it either. I ordered a slice of the cheesesteak pizza and a slice of meat lover's pizza and we split an order of fries. With 2 sodas, our bill was $17 (4 slices of pizza, fries, and 2 large drinks).

The meal was quickly delivered and it was hot and toasty. And ENORMOUS. Why did I not realize how big the slices were? Each slice was the equivalent of 2 slices. I can hear you asking the question - did you eat both of the slices? No.

I started with the cheesesteak pizza. And it was G.O.O.D. It was loaded with steak, onions, peppers, and different kinds of cheese. I'm salivating thinking about it now. And by the time I ate that and some fries, I was d.o.n.e. I could eat no more.

The great thing about this is I got to eat the other slice later! Let me tell you - the meat lover's pizza did not disappoint. Full of sausage, ham, pepperoni, maybe even some burger? Lots of cheese. And I wasn't able to eat the entire second piece in one sitting. It took me two meals to finish the meat lover's pizza.

So basically for $9 I got 3 lunches. Not a bad deal! If you're in the area and looking for great pizza, check them out! It's pretty darn good!

Sotto Sopra

Certainly not a planned visit, my daughter and I decided to have lunch at Sotto Sopra because of its proximity to the Walters Art Gallery, which we visited on Thursday, August 14th.

The outside is cute with a canvas canopy overhanging what could be a sidewalk cafe. Inside we were greeted with a very artistic room full of painted walls, tall ceilings, and mirrors. The building appeared to be mid to late 19th century in age and was very interesting. The tables were close together giving us adequate access to conversations on both sides of us. And one of our neighbors must have thought that everyone in the restaurant wanted to know about his life in the theater and music industry.

We were quickly seated by an extremely sweaty waiter with wet arm pits. This helped to quell my hunger a bit. The restaurant was fairly crowded and it appeared that only 2 waiters were working the entire floor.

After viewing the lunch specials, we decided on our meal. My daughter chose the Grilled Chicken Sandwich with prosciutto, mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms, fresh herbs, and lemon aioli with a mixed salad. I picked the Cappellini al Pomodoro fresca, which is Italian angel hair pasta with roasted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and garlic. My daughter asked for water and since I was driving my child, I chose a water, too.

The food took about 15 minutes, a bit longer than I would have hoped. We were really hungry. And thirsty as they didn't refill our water glasses as regularly as would be expected. Perhaps they poo-poo water drinkers. I do tip as if I had purchased a soda.

When our food was served it was definitely hot. My pasta was decent. It definitely tasted like fresh homemade pasta, but the flavor of the overall dish was somewhat bland. The portion was not that great, either. I was definitely still hungry when I finished.

My daughter's meal was a decent portion, but she said that the chicken was dry. Additionally, the mixed salad was somewhat on the bitter side. At meal's end she said it was okay, but knowing my daughter she was just being polite.

Overall, I was not impressed with our experience. The bill totaled about $35, which is fine, but I want to come out of a restaurant either full or satisfied with a good tasting meal. This time, neither of my hopes were fulfilled. Perhaps you can have a better experience with dinner. I would not recommend having lunch there.

Pasticcio Italian Kitchen

2400 Boston St.
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-522-7700

My husband and I are always on the lookout for a good pizza place. What can we say? We love pizza. Pasticcio's was recommended by some pals whose food critiques we fully trust.

One a particular weeknight, we were craving pizza but wanted to try our hand at a new place (instead of the usual place we love). Since we were curious about Pasticcio's, we thought it was a great opportunity to pop by.

Upon entering Pasticcio's, we were surprised to see that it was a sit-down restaurant (with carry-out) since the restaurant prior was more of a self-serve type establishment. The interior reminded me of a pizza parlor that would be located on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. Take from that whatever you will…

We shared a Greek salad as a starter.

The salad was okay and I have no real complaints about it. I mean, we ordered a salad in a pizza place - what do you expect? I was incredibly disappointed in the bread that they brought out with the starter. It reeked of frozen Italian bread (or at least national chain brand that you buy from the grocery store). It was hard and tasteless.

Onto the main course. I'm not quite sure why neither of us opted for pizza since that was what we were originally craving. I ordered a penne pasta dish that consisted of artichoke hearts and mushrooms.



I was served a pasta dish whose cheap-o canned sauce was watered down and tasteless. To make matters worse, it was served with what appeared and tasted like frozen Italian bread! I was incredibly disappointed.

My husband claimed that his cheesesteak was equally awful. That was about the only word he used to describe it and he's got a pretty unpicky palate when it comes to junk food.


While our waitress was very polite, she wasn't very attentive and after waiting for about 15 minutes for our check - my husband walked up to the counter to request it.

My friends were surprised that I didn't like this establishment so I'm willing to give it another shot - but I'm definitely going for pizza! We noticed a lot of customers picking up pizza so perhaps it isn't so bad.

My husband isn't quite so willing to go back and has deemed this place "Nasty-ccio's". Proceed with caution.

Penne Con Cavolofiore

Last night I had the pleasure of stretching my culinary legs into the kitchen as opposed to the dining room. It was a friend's birthday and we decided that the best celebrate would be to cook a good meal and a cake. I decided to take on the the main course and pulled out one of my staple recipes. Penne Con Cavolofiore, aka Penne with Cauliflower, by none other than Mario Batali. I came across this recipe in Food Network Favorites: Recipes from Our All-Star Chefs, which is a fantastic book that I have been slowly working my way through. The book has a nice mix of different types of recipes from Food Networks Stable of Celebrity Chefs, including some real winners from Mario, Paula Dean and Bobby Flay. I highly suggest picking this one up.

This particular recipe is great because it classic Italian. Simple ingredients and simple preparation ends in a completely amazing meal. I would highly suggest trying this one out.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, or 4 cups plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
• 1/2 cup very hot water, plus 6 quarts
• 2 tablespoons salt, plus more, for seasoning
• 1 pound dry penne
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 bunches Italian parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/2 cup
• 1/2 cup freshly grated caciocavallo, Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino

Preparation
In a 12 to 14-inch saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and add garlic. Cook gently until softened and very light golden brown, then add tomatoes and cook, stirring, until tomatoes begin to break down. Add cauliflower and stir well. Add 1/2 cup very hot water, lower heat to medium and cook 30 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add the penne, and cook according to package directions, until tender yet al dente.

Drain and add to pan with cauliflower. Stir in parsley and black pepper to taste and toss 1 minute over high heat. Divide evenly among 6 warmed pasta bowls, top with grated cheese, and serve immediately.

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!