If you frequent South Bmore, you know there are few places to eat past 10pm that you would dare try. I have found that going into the city any farther than Washington Blvd is a waste of time..for food. On the edge on that border lies a little restaurant called "Italiano's". This spot is open until around 4am, and has quite an extensive menu. Now, I am not a believer in the term, "beggars can't be choosers". It doesn't make any sense. You can 'always' be choosy. You can be choosy enough to just not eat. Especially when you're paying for the food. Right?!
In this particular instance, I was on my way home from a trip to the 24 hour Kaiser pharmacy in Halethorpe (100 yards outside the city limits). I go around 11pm to avoid everybody and everything. I yelped "open pizza spots", and Italiano's didn't even come up. I found/remembered it because it was right before the exit to 95 South. I searched it by name and found it...on yelp. I scrolled the extensive menu and found their pizza section. Oooh! The pizza was listed as "pan pizza". Which to me means Sicilian or Detroit style pizza. If you're not familiar with these terms, Sicilian/Detroit Za is a thick crust of airy yet dense dough. That has a crispy bubbly consistency like bruschetta. Generally an inch thick or more. And topped with the typical options. It's great reheated on a pizza stone or better yet, an air fryer. You get this snap out of the crust that will make your toes curl. And it's really filling. Italiano's touted "pan pizza" on their menu and I was gonna NOSH.
I ordered a half pepperoni half Greek pizza. Lido's had a Greek pizza on their seasonal menu that we probably ate once a week, and when it was gone, we almost had to check into Shepherd Pratt's suicide ward. I figured it was the same Ingredients, but now on a thick, crispy, buttery, delicious, crust! How wrong I was (well, to be fair, I should take no blame in this). What I got for my twenty plus dollars was truly one of the worst pizzas of my life. The crust was thin. Thin, like the integrity of the Italiano's menu. Not delicious thin, like a NY Crust. But disgusting thin. About the thickness of a soft back copy of Steinbeck's Shane...abridged. And about as tasty too. The Greek side was inedible. Under the cheese and minuscule toppings was a sheen of uncooked dough. Sadly, the feta cheese and gyro meat were pretty much nonexistent...as was any "Greek" flavor. The tomatoes were about the same consistency as the uncooked diced green pepper bits. And the black olives were...black olives. There's truly a reason no one sells a black olive pizza. The onion they used is the type of onion that smells and tastes like armpit BO. And I think they compensated for the lack of feta and gyro meat by simply giving us ALL the horrible tasting onion. The Greek side of the pizza looked just like the like toy/fake vomit they used to sell back in the day. Seriously.
The other side of this, I dare say, pizza, was only edible when I air fried each piece until it was ultra done. The so called "fresh dough" had little to no flavor. And the crust was just inedible.
The pepperoni was the only thing that tasted right. And that is Sad.
Italiano's should do themselves a favor and put the pizza portion of their menu in the dumpster. And they should have no worries about doing so and attracting the starving homeless in the area into dumpster diving for food. No one will want to eat your pizza. It could serve as an actual deterrent. Tiramisu was good. So I gave an extra star. The "pan pizza" was the worst I've ever had. The worst. Avoid at all cost...even if your family is starving to death...7-11 Pizza is better. There, I said it. read more