Sammy’s Trattoria

Great restaraunt from the staff to the food. The host was really friendly and relatable and knew just how to communicate with our family of 6. The best thing to get if you are in a big family is the Family Plan. 2 appetizers 2 entrees 2 pasta dishes and 2 desserts. The food is exceptional and will fill you up

Good food and service. The chicken piccata was sour – stay away from it! I can make it better myself. Put a little breading on it will ya?! We came in with a group of six for a family style dinner – made reservations for 4:00 pm. The service was good, but no one else was in the restaurant. Our dinner party enjoyed the sausage and pepper appetizer the most and really liked the chicken parmesan. The atmosphere is nice, but could have used a bit more light so we could see each other at the table. The desserts are pathetic. A restaurant of this caliber should have better desserts. The «chocolate cake» was a chocolate taste – so small, but understandable after eating it – it tasted like pure icing. I don’t like cannolis and theirs did not persuade me to change my opinion. They do have tiramisu, but it was not made – what? That should be a staple dessert for an Italian restaurant and should be on hand. (Olive Garden would never run out and I do not consider them fine Italian cuisine). Easy access to I83, but the parking could be nerve racking. We have gotten lucky both times we have dined at Sammy’s and found parking next to the restaurant. As I mentioned, good food, service and enjoyable atmosphere.

Family owned and run authentic Italian. Wonderful atmosphere for anything from a family dinner to a date to a group of friends. Sammy (the head chef and owner, go figure) has his own take on things but keeps it traditional. You won’t leave hungry. Not a bad dish on the menu.

What a neighborhood gem! Wonderful service, cozy ambience and fresh, delicious food. The calamari was tender, the drinks had a nice kick and a good time was had by all. I highly recommend the chicken piccata with its delightful lemon butter sauce.

I had a fantastic Italian lasagna with several amazingly fresh cheeses, my friend ordered a dish with veal and it was cooked excellently.

Amazing food. Live opera singer was an incredible touch to an already romantic evening. Tapanade was a little salty as was the service. But overall mostly sweet.

First time tonight. Bread service was amazing. Not chintzy at all– they give you a whole loaf of warm baguette with garlic olive oil for dipping. Pasta was fresh and portions were perfect. Service was solid.

Went here for a rehearsal dinner. They really take care of you here with their family style portions. Plenty of delicious food and not one part of our meal was «just okay.» We raved about everything following the meal from the salad to the tortellini to the lasagna to the dessert. Service was on point and whenever we needed a drink there wasn’t much of a wait if at all. We’ll be returning soon for sure.

The service was incredible. The minute we sat down, the server (Valerie) took our drink order and within minutes the appetizers started coming out. The food was amazing and anytime we ran out of drinks our glasses were quickly refilled before we had a chance to ask. Every bite was delicious and the service was better than the food! My new favorite Italian restaurant in Baltimore! A must visit place!

We came here for a company dinner with 25 of us. I am from out of town and had a great impression as soon as I walked in. They sat us at a party table where we could all be social and enjoy each other’s company. As soon as we sat down, we had drinks within 2 minutes and the servers were phenomenal. Very welcoming and catered to our needs. We also had a few people that had food allergies and they quickly accommodated to our diets. I am very particular about my Italian food and their dishes were amazing. We had a DELICIOUS meatball and spaghetti, chicken parm, Italian salad and topped it off with one of the best cheesecakes EVER! If you come to Sammy’s Tratorria, ask for Valerie!!!
Thank you for the phenomenal service and delicious food!

Good menu. Great taste, all dishes were fresh and service was superb.
We had to wait a while to be seated but the wait was worthwhile

I have heard from several folks that this place has the «best Italian food»; even better than my favorite — Sotto Sopra. «Even better than Little Italy?» I was determined to find out. From the outside, it’s definitely hard to know what to expect. I can’t imagine they have changed much since they opened about 10 years ago. The inside is certainly charming, but not similar at all to the trendy and modern spots that have opened more recently. We walked in to a massive crowd who had rented out the entire bottom section of the restaurant, including the bar. After my experience, I can totally see why the couple of regulars wanted to celebrate an anniversary dinner at Sammy’s.
I had a few moments to peruse the wine list, which has a decent by the glass selection. The bottle list is even longer. I started with the Pinot Grigio — which they serve in these cute monogrammed glasses. The wine — Alta Luna, from Italy — was nice, fruity and a little on the sweet side for me. It was a perfect start, but I eventually switched the Pinot Noir from Casalero Del Diablo in Chile — it was perfect for my meal. It started of with deep fruits, but finished smooth with earthy tones.
The food menu is truly extensive. I don’t love the font of this menu, it makes the whole thing feel a little busy. There are several appetizers, salads, and even pizzas. A bunch of the apps were calling my name, but we eventually settled on one. They have an entire page of both pastas and entrées. The dinner selections come with sides of veggie or even a pasta with your favorite sauce, so when you can’t decide, you can still have both.
They start every table with bread service — Italian bread with a garlicky olive oil. This was perfect as I was starving and was still staring at the menu. There was absolutely way more olive oil than needed for the bread, but we probably could have gotten more. This was plenty for two of us.
Next we had the carpaccio appetizer. Gorgeous, paper thin slices of raw beef filet served with toast points (which I think are just white bread — not sure it’s even their Italian bread) and a mixed green salad dressed. I liked this; the beef was delicate and tender — as it should be. The salad had a mustard dressing which added a little tang and asiago cheese. I also love capers and these were huge ginormous capers, not the baby tiny tiny ones you get out of the jar from the grocery store. I would have liked a tad more salt and maybe some fresh black pepper, but overall worth $ 11.
After the bread and the carpaccio, I went with a pasta dish. We both did. The portions are also big, so I still had to take some home. I couldn’t decide. The server, who is a family member of the owners, helped me pick between the duck ravioli and the gnocchi. She said both were good, but the duck was made earlier that day and it’s never better than when its fresh. Plus, it came with the same sauce that was enticing me with spinach and cheese pasta dumplings.
This spinach pasta was cooked perfectly al dente and filled with a gamey, but tender duck. The pasta was the highlight, our server did not lie. The sauce was sold as a sage brown butter sauce with wild mushrooms. These particular mushrooms don’t look very wild to me, and I didn’t taste a ton of sage, but I will be back and I will order this over and over again.
Matt went with the Orecchiette con Broccoli Rabe. I don’t love broccoli rabe; its a little too bitter for me normally. I tried his ear shaped pasta and when you combined the greens with the fresh Italian sausage, I actually liked it. Maybe because the whole dish is sautéed with garlic and onions, or the spice of the sausage or the creaminess of the white beans balanced out the bitterness. This was also a winner.
I felt like I walked into a secret garden finding this spot. The homey, family style atmosphere totally explains why those who have been keep coming back and recommending it. The outside, does not entice new folks to come in to this charming establishment. I will definitely be back and I will most definitely keep recommending it. I will have to wait for a pumpkin pasta, before I love it more than Sotta. If the new place in Fells, is anything like this — I will be a regular there as well.

I have been for lunch and for dinner. Great both times. First it is a really nice space in the heart of downtown Baltimore. Just a block or two away from the University of Baltimore campus, Mount Vernon, Midtown Belvedere. I has a feeling of nice dark wood trattoria and is in an old brownstone. The first time… we came with no reservations and with our son. They found a way to seat us, but don’t do this… it can fill up quickly in the evening. The food and menu was extensive and memorable. We had good service.
The 2^nd trip was to take a colleague to lunch. Lunch is, well, wide open and not packed. It is not a cheap lunch for the pastas ($ 12−15ish) but there are some fantastic looking paninis for $ 10ish. I had a orchiette with broccoli rabe. It had Italian sausage, a ton of rabe and just enough pasta. All in an olive oil sauce. They bring you cheese and pepper flakes which I recommend for this dish… just to give it a zing. My colleague got a wide flat noodle with alfredo. It looked RICH and was a big portion. I almost asked to try it but didn’t want to embarrass myself. I had dish envy… even though mine was more than I imagined. Just plain good.
Sammy’s is great. I am sure there is better in some Little Italy places but it blew a few I have tried there away too.

Went here a few weeks ago because I was craving some good olé chicken parmigiana ! It did not disappoint! Moderately priced. It’s weird that every time you walk by this place all the curtains are closed and a red curtain up front that throws you off as to whether or not this place is open. It seemed like they were using only natural light in the place as well, which is fine. But open the curtains if you’re going to do that!

Really dirty!!! Everything there is terrible, plus totally unacceptable poor service.

I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that we went on a busy Saturday night. However, our server, Lisa M. seemed completely overwhelmed and from the very beginning of our experience we felt unwelcomed and rushed. Lisa asked if we were seeing a show and we said very nicely that we had two hours to enjoy our meal and we were not in a hurry.
We ordered a glass of prosecco and a spritzer to start alongside our calamari. We ordered a bottle of wine to go with dinner. Surprisingly she brought the wine immediately (before we even had plates or our appetizer) and amazingly the prosecco and spritzer never arrived at any point during our meal.
The calamari was the highlight of our experience, with green bell peppers, onions, and a sweet marinara sauce. For dinner, we both ordered veal (me: Invollattini and husband: Pillard). Both our dishes were OK but drenched in their respective sauces and forgettable.
Our server was constantly arriving to our table throughout the meal in a huffy fugue state as if she was the only employee in the restaurant. No smiles, no eye contact, and borderline rude.
My husband and I eat everywhere in the city and love everything from a great dive bar to a Michelin starred restaurant. Between the awful attitude and the lackluster food, Sammy’s is a paradox of $ 30 entrees that unfortunately taste and are plated like a old-​school Italian neighborhood staple with the service and atmosphere of an Italian-​themed diner. The staff acts like you’ve just walked into a party to which you’re not invited. Beautiful space, okay food, and atrocious service. Think «kind of fancy, eclectic Bertucci’s.» We won’t be going back!

I want to think that my bad experience was due to the Holiday weekend. The service was exceptional. The waitress was very nice and professional.
The warm bread and olive oil were excellent. However when they brought a second batch it wasn’t the same and it was actually terrible.
Now the bad part: the rest of the food.
Crab toast: the picture on Unilocal showed some type of pastry but what was served was a tasteless bruschetta with canned crab meat. No seasoning at all.
Eggplant lasagna: terrible. Bland, no salt and the eggplant was actually burnt.
Gnocchi in vodka sauce: this was just ok. The thing is that I could fix that myself with sauce from a jar from Trinacria. It would probably have been better. Nothing to write home about.
Lamb shank over risotto: I got a generous piece of roasted lamb. The seasoning was just ok but the risotto was AWFUL… no salt, nothing to taste really.
I saw in the menu Sunday dinner for $ 20. I may try to come back. This was BAD!

This is my go to place for a delicious italian meal in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, which is rather odd because when you think of Italian food in the city, the first place people will venture to will be the Little Italy section of town. But if you are in Mount Vernon, Sammy’s is the place to go. Everything is delicious on the menu. My go to dish is always the veal osso bucco. All the pasta is homemade which is a plus. Another great dish is the bolognese, if you are a Papperdelle noodle fan this the dish to have.
My suggestion if you are in the area and want a really nice dinner in a chill environment, check out Sammy;s you will not be dissapointed

Delcious and authentic Italian food! Went to celebrate a birthday and were able to sit a large party. You have the option of family (35 – 45 per person) or traditional ordering. Everything was delicious and all pasta is homemade!
Try: crab bruschetta and any of the veal entrees

When you’re looking for good Italian food, the first place you look probably isn’t Mount Vernon when there are so many delicious options in Little Italy. However, for a great Italian meal a little further north in the city, Sammy’s Trattoria does the trick. Each dish is freshly prepared and you can truly taste it in your meal. In addition, in 2013 Sammy’s Trattoria was voted best Italian Restaurant by Baltimore City Paper.
When we entered Sammy’s Trattoria, we were greeted by high ceilings, tons of JHU memorabilia and a bubbly hostess. We were seated right away and couldn’t wait to order because the food on the tables around us looked amazing. We were also given a bread basket and some olive oil for dipping and knew we would be in for a great meal!
We decided to start our meal with The Julia House Salad. The salad was fresh romaine lettuce tossed in creamy Italian house dressing. The salad was a great way to start off the meal, but there really was nothing particularly special about it.
My dinner date for the evening was craving lasagna, and what better place to order lasagna than an Italian Restaurant? The Homemade Lasagna came with layers and layers of homemade pasta towered with fresh ricotta, provolone, parmigiana and mozzarella cheeses, and baked with homemade sauce. The lasagna was very good, everything was fresh and packed with flavor, however the cheese to noodle ratio was a little overwhelming and we ended up removing some of the cheese. Overall it was still a great dish, we probably would have enjoyed it more if we added the bolognese on top.
I, on the other hand am a sucker for pappardelle. It is easily my favorite shape of pasta so when I spotted Pappardelle alla Pesto on the menu, I knew that was what I wanted. The long flat pasta was tossed in a very fresh basil pesto with marinated chicken. I loved the pasta and I loved the pesto but next time I’d probably order it without the chicken.
Overall, my friend and I were very satisfied with the quality of the food and cannot wait to return to try more of the delicious, fresh Italian options at Sammy’s Trattoria.