If you wander down the streets of Little Italy in Baltimore, you’re likely to see things like intricate plants and fountain arrangements, families sitting together outside, large brick walls with movies playing on them, and completely empty streets for peacefully eating a cannoli from Vaccaro’s.  With how family-oriented and relaxed the town of Little Italy is, it’s hard to believe that many of the major restaurants are uber fancy, crazy expensive and bordering on stiff. 

            For an experience which matches the home and loving nature of Little Italy, Amicci’s is a much better fit.

It is designed in the true nature of authentic restaurants of Little Italy.  The place is layered with posters of Italian-directed films (there are like 20 of the Godfather) as well as large leafy green plants to inspire Italian accent.

            But, unlike its expensive, tie-requiring neighbors, Amicci’s advertises itself as being the “very casual” Italian eatery.  Customers are laughing and munching in every direction in a variety of apparel, none of which you would find in a business office and the servers are running around in comfy jeans.  The whole experience is much more like eating dinner at your couch in front of the tube than in your china-clad dining room.

            The biggest difference would be that you won’t find food like this in your cupboard, or even your fridge.  I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised at how inexpensive it was, but in comparison to the rest of Little Italy, its chump change.  I had their Penne Pasta Rose, which had fresh spinach, mushrooms and shrimp in a sun-dried tomato garlic sauce for $17.95 and my roommate had a Pasta Alfredo dish with broccoli and shrimp for the same price.  Both of the sauces were surprisingly inventive, with more fullness and richness than your average Italian restaurant. 

            Everything about our entrees screamed BIG.  They gave us gigantic broccoli; shrimp big enough to seriously sink the ship they were caught on, and huge portion sizes.  I eat like a Wooly Mammoth and my leftovers will last me at least 2 days.

            But what really impressed me was the service.  It took exactly 45 seconds from the time we ordered our meals, until the time we got them – I didn’t even have a chance to sip my soda yet.  And while the speediness left us less time to really get to know our waitress, our hungry bellies didn’t mind.


            Amicci’s was a pleasant surprise in Little Italy, and a restaurant I can actually attend on a regular basis with my half-empty wallet.  Come with friends and spend some time with a scoop of Ice cream wandering through the streets and soaking up the city.  It’s one of the most beautiful parts of Baltimore.