Casualness is the key ingredient here, followed by big, bold food priced for Baltimore’s more budget-conscious pasta lovers. If you spend upwards of $50 on a full meal for two, complete
con generous tip and
vino, then you’re not doing it the Amicci’s way. In the heart of Little Italy, this hole in the wall caters to folks looking for a hipper, friendlier, and cheaper meal out than its Italian brethren tend to offer.
The menu, though heavy on pasta, is lighter and more fun than others’—it offers more seafood than meat, and it’s big on veggies and huge on fresh herbs and hot spices. The walk-in-closet-sized dining room is done up with trendy black-and-white posters and strands of neon in red and green. The waitresses—there are no waiters—perky in their khakis and polos, are accommodating but, luckily, far too busy to be fawning. And the entrées, priced $7.50–$13.90, are among the best high-carbo bang for B’mo’s edible buck.
The big drawback here, and there is only one, is the standard half-hour to hour-and-a-half wait, though it too can be a bonus, allowing for a predinner cocktail and synthesized Sinatra tunes at Da Mimmo’s lounge next door.
