Welcome back to Baltimore!! If I haven't said it before (and if I have it really bears repeating) Baltimore is one of--if not the--best Triple D town we've done so far. Don't get me wrong, I love Pittsburgh, and we found some amazing food, but there were some bumps along the way. Baltimore (Bal-more for you locals) has never failed us. It is a full 6 for 6 and I only wish that Guy would go back so we could keep exploring, but alas we work with what we've got. So today I bring you Part 1 of Baltimore 2.0. This was a Happy Valentine's Day trip for us, right after the insanity of Snowmaggedon out here on the East Coast. We headed out on a brisk February morning in search of good old fashioned comfort food, and we most definately found it...in the form of real deal Italian at DiPasquale's.
DiPasquale's had a reputation to live up to, because they were featured on the same episode as LoBello's (Real Deal Italian), so naturally we were going to compare and contrast the two, and since we loved LoBello's so much (Ben's actually heading back there this weekend...l
ucky dog) we had to wonder if this place would pale in comparison. We could not have been more wrong. As you know we're always looking for firsts in our Triple D adventures and DiPasquale's wins the prize for oldest joint visited yet...this was the first time we have been somewhere that's been open for almost 100 years. 2010 marks 96 years in the B-more for this place, so they've obviously been doing SOMETHING right to have stuck around that long. We don't see things like that anymore in America it seems. Family run places seem to be fading into the background. Everyone wants to follow their own goals and dreams and create something just their own, regardless of what Mom and Dad did--we just don't see multi-generation restaurants as often anymore. Fads are changing so quickly and everyone wants something fresh, new and different that the old landmarks get shunted off to the side. Thank God for the loyalty of Baltimorians though because this place is an institution that should never close.
ucky dog) we had to wonder if this place would pale in comparison. We could not have been more wrong. As you know we're always looking for firsts in our Triple D adventures and DiPasquale's wins the prize for oldest joint visited yet...this was the first time we have been somewhere that's been open for almost 100 years. 2010 marks 96 years in the B-more for this place, so they've obviously been doing SOMETHING right to have stuck around that long. We don't see things like that anymore in America it seems. Family run places seem to be fading into the background. Everyone wants to follow their own goals and dreams and create something just their own, regardless of what Mom and Dad did--we just don't see multi-generation restaurants as often anymore. Fads are changing so quickly and everyone wants something fresh, new and different that the old landmarks get shunted off to the side. Thank God for the loyalty of Baltimorians though because this place is an institution that should never close. While they aren't in the same location as the original DiPasquale's (for shame their like 3 blocks away now! LOL) it's still run by the DiPasquale family. The current owners are the grandkids of the original owners and they have been keeping things just the way Grandma and Grandpa intended with maybe a few new twists here and there. We've finally branched out from the Fells Point community of Baltimore and expanded out to 
Highlandtown, an older section of the city, with plenty of ethnic restaurants and markets to satisfy any craving. DiPasquale's is an unassuming, gorgeous, brick building that does take a little manuevering to find, but once you're there you're in heaven. The place packs a lot of stuff into such a tiny space. They've got a full Italian market with any product you could every hope to find, from huge gallons of olive oil to anchovies...if you're looking to do some authentic Italian cooking they can hook you up. Then on top of that they have a full service deli counter where you can get stuff to take home...so your meats, your cheeses, a bagillion kinds of olives (Ben got some to take home), any kind of cold salad you could want, plus deli meats. They wouldn't even need a restaurant really, you could find plenty of food at the deli to eat. BUT! They of course have a full scale restaurant here too. You can get it to go or find a seat at the one of the 8 or so tables they have tucked into the corner. I'm tellin' ya you'd think this place was huge, but it's pretty much the size of a standard store. Oh and I forgot they also have a full wine section for purchase.
Highlandtown, an older section of the city, with plenty of ethnic restaurants and markets to satisfy any craving. DiPasquale's is an unassuming, gorgeous, brick building that does take a little manuevering to find, but once you're there you're in heaven. The place packs a lot of stuff into such a tiny space. They've got a full Italian market with any product you could every hope to find, from huge gallons of olive oil to anchovies...if you're looking to do some authentic Italian cooking they can hook you up. Then on top of that they have a full service deli counter where you can get stuff to take home...so your meats, your cheeses, a bagillion kinds of olives (Ben got some to take home), any kind of cold salad you could want, plus deli meats. They wouldn't even need a restaurant really, you could find plenty of food at the deli to eat. BUT! They of course have a full scale restaurant here too. You can get it to go or find a seat at the one of the 8 or so tables they have tucked into the corner. I'm tellin' ya you'd think this place was huge, but it's pretty much the size of a standard store. Oh and I forgot they also have a full wine section for purchase. We spent a good twenty minutes just wandering around the store looking at all the stuff they have, but then we finally got down to the business of or
dering...which was no easy task. I had honestly planned my order in advance. If you remember way back when, when we talked about Big Jim's in Pittsburgh I mentioned that I always want lasagna but never order it. So I declared that this was the place to break that trend. This was where the lasagna drought ended, because when Guy had it on the show, it looked nothing short of amazing. I actually had to NOT look at the menu so I wouldn't be deterred from my plan, because trust me there was plenty of options that could have distracted me. Thank God I didn't give in. This lasagna was literally the size of a brick and easily, EASILY at least 8 layers if not more. Plus it came with homemade bread. Ya know how sometimes when you cut into a piece of lasagna all the stuff oozes out? Not here. This stuff is so dense it stays intact. From the slightly spicy sausage, to the creamy ricotta, down to the homemade sauce and pasta, this stuff was nothing short of incredible. I mean honestly there were no words. Ben went the sub route, but these weren't your stereotypical subs on Italian bread. No, no, no. They take literally a mini loaf of homemade Italian bread, a
nd instead of cutting it in half, they cut off one end, pull out the middle, stuff the bottom with sauce and homemade mozzarella, load in the filling, and cover the top with the end of the bread. Ben went for the meatball, and he was in heaven. It looked like he was eating a meatball ice cream cone. That's really the only way to describe how this thing looked. It was kind of hilarious honestly. Now, Ben really was the lucky one here, because he got to have dessert. Unfortunately, we timed our trip during Lent and I give up sweets during Lent, so no dessert for me, but Ben went for their homemade, filled to order, cannoli. He got just a plain shell, even though they come chocolate covered too, and he said it was pretty awesome, but really I was so jealous I couldn't look at it so I can't describe it too well haha. Overall, this place stacked up to LoBello's beautifully, and for as much as I loved me my ravioli there, I think this place gets the edge. I can still remember what that lasagna tasted like...months later. BUT we aren't done with DiPasquale's yet. We'll hear from them again when we get to Baltimore 3.0...but not in the way you'd probably expect. For now...check back later for Baltimore 2.0 Part 2, where we'll wander to handest down the oddest location for a Triple D joint yet...
dering...which was no easy task. I had honestly planned my order in advance. If you remember way back when, when we talked about Big Jim's in Pittsburgh I mentioned that I always want lasagna but never order it. So I declared that this was the place to break that trend. This was where the lasagna drought ended, because when Guy had it on the show, it looked nothing short of amazing. I actually had to NOT look at the menu so I wouldn't be deterred from my plan, because trust me there was plenty of options that could have distracted me. Thank God I didn't give in. This lasagna was literally the size of a brick and easily, EASILY at least 8 layers if not more. Plus it came with homemade bread. Ya know how sometimes when you cut into a piece of lasagna all the stuff oozes out? Not here. This stuff is so dense it stays intact. From the slightly spicy sausage, to the creamy ricotta, down to the homemade sauce and pasta, this stuff was nothing short of incredible. I mean honestly there were no words. Ben went the sub route, but these weren't your stereotypical subs on Italian bread. No, no, no. They take literally a mini loaf of homemade Italian bread, a
nd instead of cutting it in half, they cut off one end, pull out the middle, stuff the bottom with sauce and homemade mozzarella, load in the filling, and cover the top with the end of the bread. Ben went for the meatball, and he was in heaven. It looked like he was eating a meatball ice cream cone. That's really the only way to describe how this thing looked. It was kind of hilarious honestly. Now, Ben really was the lucky one here, because he got to have dessert. Unfortunately, we timed our trip during Lent and I give up sweets during Lent, so no dessert for me, but Ben went for their homemade, filled to order, cannoli. He got just a plain shell, even though they come chocolate covered too, and he said it was pretty awesome, but really I was so jealous I couldn't look at it so I can't describe it too well haha. Overall, this place stacked up to LoBello's beautifully, and for as much as I loved me my ravioli there, I think this place gets the edge. I can still remember what that lasagna tasted like...months later. BUT we aren't done with DiPasquale's yet. We'll hear from them again when we get to Baltimore 3.0...but not in the way you'd probably expect. For now...check back later for Baltimore 2.0 Part 2, where we'll wander to handest down the oddest location for a Triple D joint yet...In the meantime...check out DiPasquale's revamped website. You can even see pics of the DiPasquale's who started the place 96 years ago...
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