This post may be a few months late but Baltimore has a 5-star blockbuster on its hands with Chazz Palminteri’s Chazz’s: A Bronx Original in Harbor East. Whether you best know him as Shorty from “Modern Family” or Dave from “The Usual Suspects,” Chazz has brought his New York style to this Charm City, a city that’s taken to the new restaurant/bar with high praise.

Walking into the subway inspired decor of Chazz’s, you’re greeted with some good tunes in the background (think classic rock) and an immediate desire to pony up to the bar and watch the masters at work as pizzas are being thrown into the coal fire oven, meats enduring the aging process, and cocktails being poured. Everything is upbeat, New York loud, and wafting aromas of cheese and garlic.

Without having to ask, bread is brought to the table complete with a garlic olive-oil for dipping. 

Hot, crusty bread accompanied with very chic water pitchers set the stage for the fine dining ahead. The modern take of classic Italian is easily seen in presentation and taste. 

Always a fan of my charcuteries and antipasti, I ordered from their mozzarella bar. Out of an assortment of meat and cheese options, I settled on their buffalo mozzarella and their parma prosciutto. Everything was cold and freshly cut-as seen by all these cheese and meats that welcome you upon entering.

I should have stopped here. The cheese plate was delectable, sweet, salty, and chock full of fresh oil. I’m looking forward to going back and exploring all the other cheese and accompaniment choices!

 Another great starter from Chazz’s is their grilled ceaser salad. A hearty abundance of green served ice cold with yummy garlic crouton and freshly grated cheese.

Of course the main event is only one option. Pizza. Their pizza options are provided on an entirely separate menu and range from a classic margherita to a creative potato pizza. 

After being torn amongst three different pizzas, I decided to go for the broccoli rabe pizza. Bursting with flavorful garlic, tangy Italian sausage, pecorino cheese, and of course-the broccoli rabe.

The pizza captures the perfect combination of a crispy crust and a soft pizza. As an avid fan of garlic, the flavor played a wonderful returning character in every bite!

As a result-this was all that was left sadly.

Another great entree selection is their shrimp parmigiana Americano made with shrimp and their delectable house made mozzarella. 

With hearty portions and a rich, delicious pasta dish on the side, Chazz’s serves up outstanding cuisine and even more outstanding prices.

As for the grand finale, Chazz’s has created a strong dessert menu. The signature house dessert, Nutella Pizza, simply sounds too good to be in existence. As much as I adore Nutella, I decided to go with the classic Italian dessert-affogato. 

Refreshing is only the start on how to describe this dessert. A small serving of a rich, creamy vanilla gelato is served with a sprig of mint and a side of piping hot mint flavored espresso. Pouring the espresso over the the ice cream just to give it a whisper of warmth makes for the ideal after-dinner dessert. Just sweet enough and light enough to end the meal on a beautiful note!

Chazz’s has found a great home in Baltimore and we’re truly lucky such a fantastic actor selected this city for his namesake restaurant. Whether you go before dinner for drinks or choose Chazz’s as the main event, it’s a winning combination. 

I’m still keeping my fingers crossed to have a chance run-in with the man next time I go to visit!

Occasionally-and I do mean occasionally-I enjoy venturing into the county to find the new hotspot happy hour and dining dish!

While it’s not exactly new anymore, just last month I made it all the way to Ellicott City’s Main Street ( if you haven’t checked out one of the three new vintage shops on the street, do it. Now.) to try out Portalli’s for some Italian fare!

I love the upscale casual vibe that they have managed to pull off beautifully. The lighting and color combinations paired with the amazing high quality food could make it an ideal swanky date night but the great prices, happy hour specials, and easy walk-in vibe it has being on the Main Street makes it inviting and not pretentious whatsoever.

Immediately, I went for the dirty martini. Their house cocktail list is lengthy and each one sounds up my alley with a splash of something that has a signature Italian twist.

My perfectly chilled martini hit the spot, with a few ice flakes in and a whole lotta dirtiness it went down all to smoothly!

Amongst the four of us out to dinner, we decided to split one of their flatbreads. 

The meatball flatbread was amazing. Surprisingly light and not overly cheesy or bready, we each were able to steal a square and enjoyed the chopped pieces of meatball scattered in the mozzarella that’s lightly topped with some fresh herbs and marinara. If it wasn’t for my, ahem, second and third course coming (I must admit, it was my birthday dinner) I probably would have dove in for seconds of this flatbread.

After the flatbread, everyone enjoyed some sort of ‘first course.’ I had what was probably one of the best caprese salads I ever had outside of Little Italy ( and could easily rival a caprese or two down there)!

The tomatoes were red and juicy, the mozzarella was thickly cut and lightly salted, all topped with basil and the softest hint of EVOO.

Others enjoyed the caesar salad which had two favorite components I love on a good caesar-hardboiled egg crumbles and a parmesan crisp! Yum!

After quickly and easily chowing down on first courses, our main events came out!

I opted for the salmon accompanied with string beans-so glad I did! The grilled salmon has a killer sun dried tomato basil butter that it’s lightly coated with the veggies made for a light sidekick. The salmon was flaky and had the best taste to it-such a creative pairing!

Others went for some more traditional Italian dishes-the signature spaghetti and meatballs as well as their lasagna, which has two different cheeses as well as veal and beef Bolognese sauce in layers. 

As crazy as it sounds, after these delicious main courses-dessert was actually being entertained!

The great thing about this restaurant is that as amazing as the food all was, not one dish is too overpowering with garlic, or too heavy in cream, or too rich in basil. Which is perfect because it allowed for one of their very tempting desserts.

If it’s any indication at how incredible the dessert was, it was absolutely killed by the time it hit the table. Literally spoons went flying and it was done within moments-sadly, allowing for no time to take a picture.

Here are the remnants of their delicious “S’More”-a mixture of a chocolate mousse topped with a caramelized marshmallow and a few shortbread cookies on the side for dipping. Let’s just say, those cookies didn’t stand a chance on the table.

Overall, the dinner was out of this world! I’d easily go back to try one of their numerous dishes since they all read so beautifully and what we had is clearly a great indicator of their gourmet abilities!

If you plan to check our Portalli’s, make sure to grab a window seat for prime people watching on Main St, grab a happy hour cocktail, and be ready to have a hearty and delicious Italian experience straight out of the mother country!