4. Restaurants

Bottega

1729 Maryland Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21201
  • (443) 708-5709
  • Store is closed

Bottega Menu

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  • Rachel I.

    Excellent! Everything was excellent-- perfectly attentive service without being intrusive of too chatty. Delicious food that was perfectly prepared. Very cute setting that I didn't even know was there. Small menu- reflective of the size of the kitchen- but plenty of good options. Picky eaters may have an issue finding something they like. I'm sorry I was only there with 1 other person, because I would have like to try some of the other entrees. It is BYOB, which I hadn't realized- so don't forget your own bottle. We had the flank steak (DELICIOUS) and the spinach and ricotta pasta (which was actually little balls) for entrees and the beet and goat cheese bruschetta and the chicken liver pate bruchetta. Both good... but the chicken liver is not to be missed. Will be back again soon (If I can get a reservation)

    (5)

  • Grace E.

    My review was removed because it "wasn't about a firsthand customer experience" with this restaurant. They decided to close their doors to move to a new location without posting notice on ANY of their social media (which they do use) or even leaving a sign in the front of their business. They left their reservation system up with Open Table during this time. How do I know this? Because I - FIRST HAND (not something I heard from anyone else - this is my own experience) - attempted to patronize this business and had absolutely no way of being aware that they were, in fact, closed when I tried to since all signs on yelp, facebook and otherwise indicated that the restaurant was still open and operating. I only managed to make sense of the mysteriously dark and locked restaurant when googling the name and coming across a Baltimore Sun article referencing and unspecified time when the restaurant would be closed for a move. If the actual information about the closure was available somewhere on their web presence and I missed it - that would be on me, but I didn't. It's on them. I have made and seen similar reviews on yelp before about a business that could not be patronized because of various hurdles. This is incredibly unprofessional in my book and I can't see wanting to do business with an owner that chooses to operate their business in this manner. Part of running a business is customer service - and part of customer service is the customer being able to figure out when your operating hours are.

    (1)

  • Ian F.

    Amazing hand made pasta. Constantly changing menu, but very well prepared food. Bone Marrow pasta was amazing as was the beef cheeks. Friendly wait staff. BYOB! Don't skip on the salted caramel choclate cake. If you're a fan of the Salty/Sweet juxtaposition of flavor as much as I am, this is like heaven!

    (5)

  • Matt M.

    Loved everything we had here. Great food with fresh ingredients. One of those places in Baltimore that really stands out from the rest of the food scene.

    (5)

  • Cups O.

    On star based purely on the fact that I am here for two days, made a reservation several weeks in advance, spent a long time with a very food-oriented pal discussing the menu and what we would order, chilled (and remembered to bring!) the wine, got dressed, walked over...and found them closed. A woman in the building told us they had moved. I checked my email for an update or reservation cancellation, but there wasn't one. The contact number was disconnected. There was no notice on the website. It was a sad sad moment. Hoping to get there someday soon because it looks delicious! But will need them to be open.

    (1)

  • elizabeth k.

    No complaints. We had a reservation and were seated on time. The decor fit the food & vibe. The waiter was good. The food was very good as was the price. We had two apps, two entrees and the salt caramel pie ... Everything was great. The tripe was done perfectly. Can't wait to try some more menu items.

    (5)

  • Abigail R.

    Bottega is a darling, but small rustic spot on North Maryland Street in Station North. 20140725-094643-35203635.jpg There are about 15 seats in this small row house with exposed brick. I love that they have chairs up on a rack near the ceiling to adjust table size as needed. Food wise - its is northern Italian cuisine - simple, local and fresh ingredients, which means menu is ever-changing, therefore it is written on a chalk board - usually broken into sections. If you check their Facebook page, you can see their most recent menus. I must admit - I wanted to order one of everything. Thank goodness, my friend reeled me in and we picked 4 dishes. We started with the roasted beet crostini - large slices of warm crusty, but still a little chewy bread, slathered with crescenza (a soft, mild and young cow's milk cheese). Next the lovely folks of Bottega topped it with large slices of red beets and a drizzle of honey. What a great way to start the meal. Our next course was from the salad section. Heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, and panzanela (did you know? That's also toasted bread - kind like a crouton?) mixed together with a garlicky olive oil vinaigrette. This was my favorite dish - so fresh and I was able to taste all the flavors individually. Why on earth did we ever move away from heirloom tomatoes?? For our main course, I ordered from the pasta section - which is slightly smaller than the actual entrée section, but let's be real, I didn't need more. As, you can see, I went with the spinach malfatti - a light and airy gnocci-like morsels made with spinach (shocker?) and cheese and then tossed in a brown butter sage sauce. I loved it - just the perfect amount of rich fatty goodness and texture. 20140725-094644-35204548.jpg My friend ordered the shrimp, clam and kale risotto. I really appreciate the way this place manages to blend flavors without losing texture and individual components tastes. The kale was still firm, but wilted just enough in the creamy risotto. There were at least 5 or 6 large shrimps and even more clams. My friend shared and I got two of each. Their desserts sounded fantastic, but we were full and trying to behave and opted just to finish our bottle of wine. Wait? Did I tel you the best part? They are BYOB and if you are as big of fan of wine as I am, you have plenty of bottles lying around in the house. If not, there are a few stores near by where you can pick something up. I will definitely be back for both the service and the food. These guys agree - this place is great. Have you been?

    (5)

  • Rachel L.

    In April, Baltimore Magazine ran an article about the delicious Tuscany-inspired food at Bottega. Since then, I've been wanting to try it however it is nearly impossible to get a reservation. You need to make it 5 weeks ahead of time. Every time I made a reservation, as the date drew near something came up and I had to cancel. However, as a recent Friday evening approached, I had no conflict and I knew it would be the day that I would finally try Bottega's Tuscan-inspired flavors. The menu changes daily. Below is what was available the night we visited. Because my friends and I wanted to try everything, we decided to just share our meal. We started with the Tomatoes and Salted Ricotta Crostini. This was delicious and a sign of more amazing things to come. Easily, these were the reddest tomatoes I have ever seen in my life which just goes to show how fresh ingredients always make a dish significantly better. When we finished this dish, my thought was 'I really want to order another, but it's so amazing which gives me high hopes for everything that's yet to come.' Next, we shared the Boar Pappardelle. This pasta was homemade and also incredibly fresh. The boar was full of flavor and this was another dish that we simply couldn't get enough of. For the last portion of our entree, we ordered the Hanger Steak. It was served alongside a plate of arugula with bacon and jalapeño jam. The steak was cooked well, and I really enjoyed the dressing on the lettuce, it had a fair amount of heat. But we preferred the first two courses significantly more. The dessert menu was too good to pass up and we decided to split a slice of the Salted Caramel & Chocolate Pie. This was delicious, but if you don't have a sweet tooth, you may find it a little decadent but it was delicious. The pie had a cookie crust and a nice thick layer of caramel topped with chocolate and then sprinkled with a generous portion of sea salt. If you're looking to experience a taste of Tuscany, Bottega in Station North certainly delivers.

    (5)

  • Kirk S.

    Bottega's brunch was a genuine pleasure. Bottega is a small, ~10-table joint in northern Baltimore that, as other reviews have said, is both rustic and all about the food. The decor is super rustic and simple, and everything looks slightly worn in a pleasing sort of way. The lighting is a bit dark, but lends to the feel. The brunch here is excellent. We had the duck hash and the raisin bread french toast. The former was amazing, and probably the better of the two. The latter was excellent as well, in a very unique sort of way - it had a date confit on top that actually had a bit of spicy heat to it, which was very much unexpected and honestly quite tasty. The real shame here is how unattended the brunch here is - it only advertised on Facebook, which wasn't a good plan, it seems. I'd STRONGLY recommend that they get more aggressive about advertising on Yelp and other locations - it's hard to strike out in the Baltimore restaurant industry, so they need to get much more aggressive about it!

    (4)

  • Steve R.

    It's easy to pass this one by on an uninspired section of Maryland Ave. heading south toward the city. Once inside, the rustic interior and bluesy music sets you up for daily chalkboard specials. I decided to order healthy and starchy after a modest workout. I enjoyed the rough texture of the kale Caesar with white anchovies, breadcrumbs and grated cheese. The pappardelle with lamb in red sauce offered a smooth taste, with the wide noodles giving me a feeling of belly fullness. I would come by again with friends and try other pasta and entree selections of the day.

    (4)

  • Teri H.

    Went to this restaurant on a Tuesday night at 630. Service from our waiter and the food was excellent but then there is this one girl who basically ruined everything. I called prior to see what the parking situation was and she claimed to not know. When I finally found a parking spot the girl was on her cell phone outside the restaurant chit chatting and then at the end of our meal she just drops off the check. Didn't even ask if anyone wanted coffee or tea....so then of course we were talking about something and she comes over and says "Oh, I was just trying to get the check...." and we all looked at each other like are you serious?? then she says "No pressure but there's a group waiting for your table...." while there was another table right beside us that came in at the same time. I'm sure she didn't pressure them to leave. Go for the experience, they do have some very interesting food...but I will NEVER be back here again. Any establishment that rushes tables out just won't have my business in the future but I can cross it off the list.

    (1)

  • Meredith J.

    I'm really unsure why there is such a wait for reservations here. You can get a considerably same meal from other places in Baltimore for the same price and avoid any reservation, even on the weekend. That said, I like how the menu features local, in season meat and produce but think they should print menus for the table. We were seated right under a menu near the kitchen and were told to stand up to read the menu. I almost just asked our waiter to read it to me, since telling us to stand up, awkwardly next to other diners, is pretty rude. For dinner, we split the beet gnocchi and rainbow trout. They were delicious and good choices. The trout was perfect. Very reasonably priced (though I think that's only because I am considering the bill without alcohol, which would probably make it more of the same in terms of price comparison), delicious, and in-season. Knocked off a star for the lack of communication between the two waiters and menu situation.

    (4)

  • Jeremy R.

    Made a reservation for my daughter's graduation dinner a month in advance, received a confirmation email, got dressed up, chose wines and went to the restaurant. Restaurant was closed, no answer when I called or banged on the door. WTF. That was really crappy! You owe me a dinner!

    (1)

  • amanda w.

    Pretty good. The menu is small and ever-changing, but even so I feel like it could have more variety. We enjoyed everything we ate. We had a salad for an appetizer. My date had the beef cheeks. I didn't have a bite but he really enjoyed it. I had the...well I'm not sure what they are but a form of spinach and ricotta pasta that was meatball sized and shaped. It was superb. My only complaints are the size of this place and the subsequent seating arrangements. I had a server's butt in my face several times while she was attending to the table next to us. They put us in the middle of the room. Definitely make reservations. We had to wait a bit even with ours.

    (4)

  • Bernie C.

    So the most surefire way that I know that someplace is my kind of place is that I cannot wait to go home and write about it. So I'm here, shoes and coat still on, door probably still wide open, tapping away at my computer. If you don't have time to read the rest of my review, the gist is just try this place out, you won't be sorry. BYOB. Bottega hits all the main points for me. Food, service, atmosphere. Food: finger-and-plate lickin' good. seasonal, made with care. Check site for menu. We ordered the chicken liver pate crostini; the grilled chicory, poached egg, and roast pork salad; the rabbit pappardelle; the spinach and ricotta malfatti with butter and crispy sage; and the raspberry goat cheese cake. crostini - good serving size, lots of pate per crostini, the pate itself was mild but earthy and somewhat sweet the way liver pate is meant to be, it was finished with good quality salt and oil, making it even more delicious salad - least exciting dish, but solid solid salad, really good grill flavour on that chicory pappardelle - you can really tell they care about their food in this dish, as well as in the next. The pasta was cooked perfectly, with just enough sauce and rabbit to be appreciated but not overshadow the pasta malfatti - mild disclaimer, I've never had malfatti before so I have no idea if this is how its supposed to taste, but if its not, all the other rmalfattis should change to this one. The amount of flavour packed into these extremely thin pasta shells of happiness is incredible. In the words of my dining companion, "I ever knew spinach could taste like this". The butter and crispy sage perfects the dish. Also, they do not skimp on the parmesan. Solid parmesan on both pasta dishes. cheesecake - charlotteown farm cheesecake, so I knew it would be good, if you wanna check them our they're usually at the Waverly Farmers Market on Saturday, they're great at all things goat cheese. Service: I wanted to hug our server. We were very very well taken care of; our server had lots to do by the end of our meal but he was always there when we needed him, before we knew we needed him. Also, all the reviews are right, the place is packed, and I mean packed, by 5:45, on a Tuesday, so make reservations. Atmosphere: cozy, quaint, date night, rustic, nothing too fancy to dress up for, so perfect. Perhaps that was too long a review, but I'm a fan. The prices weren't bad at all, but from the pictures you'll see, it's not the best place to go if you're starving.

    (5)

  • Sarah J.

    Recently opened last fall (2013), Bottega is a charming Tuscan-inspired restaurant with a sweet vibe that makes you feel right at home. The rustic decor includes a bookshelf with cookbooks, serving bowls, and wooden floors and tables. Menu is small, but carefully, lovingly invented and changing with the seasons. When we asked the waiter what was good, she said everything. I would have to agree - even a few items on the menu aren't perfect for you, you Will give them HUGE props for creativity and fresh, natural ingredients. Many restaurants overwhelm their foods with complex recipes and long lists of ingredients. I love this place for its minimalistic, simple feel. Food straight from nature touched up a bit and served right away on the table. Appetizers: - Pickled Rhubarb and Chestnut Honey + Chevre - sweet, lots of goat cheese. I found the texture to be fun with the crunchy bread, solid rhubarb, and soft chevre. - Arugula and Grana Padana salad - refreshing and great combo, although it literally is just arugula, grana padana cheese, and a tangy sauce. Mains: - Pork Spare Ribs with Sunchokes and Collard Pesto - Sunchokes? Apparently taste like they're in between artichokes and potatoes. The tender spare ribs, with meat that comes off the bones easily, garnished with a homemade pesto were the highlight of the dinner! - Hanger Steak with roasted potatoes and tomato relish - juicy, soft, and hearty. Only qualm about the food: the two dishes we had were meat, and the sunchokes and roasted potatoes on the side seemed too heavy to go along with them. We would rather have had a lighter, vegetable side dish. However, the portions of the meat are not large, so I could see how the filling side dishes would be a good addition. Notes: - I made reservations a week in advance for a Thursday night, and barely got the 8PM time. 15 seats for the whole restaurant! You have been warned! -BYOB! -Street parking should not be too difficult to find around the area. -Wished we tried the veal (pasta) that has amazing recommendations.

    (5)

  • Tanvi S.

    Watched a movie at the Charles Theatre and walked over to Bottega for dinner afterwards. This place is really rustic, with not too many tables, but you can feel the love for cooking and food from miles away! Cut straight to the chase and tried their malfatti and pappardelle with duck and both were to die for! The dessert - salted caramel pie, I could eat for the rest of my life. It was decadent, sweet, crisp, gooey, chocolatey, salty, warm and cold all at the same time. They managed to reinforce how one can never go wrong with simple food, paying homage to the integrity of the ingredients.

    (5)

  • Kelly R.

    The good is amazing. Those sage butter dumplings are epic, the pasta sublime... But please, Bottega, please do something with acoustics! With a small, tight room, with no apparent design to absorb the sound. The noise level was almost unbearable and we could hardly hear each other over the noise. Although the chalkboard menu is charming, I find it very awkward to stand over other customers to read it. And the suggestion to "take a picture with my phone and bring it to my seat" was also awkward. A few printed menus to bring diners at their seats would be wonderful!

    (4)

  • Drew K.

    Food was excellent, as the pasta and crostini we ordered exceeded expectations. Service was a bit uneven, we waited in the downstairs by the bathroom for our table, but did not damper the night too much and the quality of the food certainly helped make up for it.

    (4)

  • Jennifer I.

    Made a rezze here for 8pm on a Wed. Located pretty much next to Boltbus stop near penn station. We walked in and it was a lil awkward cause not one, but two employees asked us re: our rezze. We were seated promptly. Ambience is very rustic, homey, almost sorta grandmotherly. Cozy. I took a picture of the chalkboard menu cause we were seated away from it, but realized there was another chalkboard menu right above our heads. For starters, we were debating between the lardo grapefruit and the anchovy crostini. Given that my lipid panel is high, and when I realized lardo literally meant lard, we opted for the anchovy. It was pretty much my first time eating anchovies. Tasted and looked like sardines. The crostini that it was on was out of this world. Imbued with this aromatic smokiness! Seasoned w/ green salsa that was a little inadequate, and with dark baby potatoes. We also got their winter salad. The waitress brought out a spinach salad and I told her it wasn't the right salad that we ordered but that we would eat it anyway--she was quick to bring out the right salad! Which, by the way, was refreshing w/ the right amt of dill dressing and bite-sized wheat croutons For our 3rd course, we got the spinach and ricotta malfatti. I had no idea what a malfatti was, but was def eyeing what the couple next to us was eating (green meatballs covered w/ parmesan). Wasn't sure what it was but it looked good, and turns out it was the malfatti. (side note: "malfatti" means "mistake" in Italian, and in 1920 in Napa, CA, there was this lady who made "balls" outa leftover ravioli, and voila! malfatti was born). It basically tasted like cheesy spinach balls, although it coulda used more cheese, imo. For our final entree, we were debating between the rockfish and beef cheeks, and ended up choosing the rockfish. It was a surprisingly simple dish--a fillet of rockfish, excellently cooked/seared/smoked with the skin perfectly crisped up--on a bed of potate puree and garnished w/ clover leaves. Think it was supposed to come w/ more stuff (botargo) acc to the menu, but didn't see it, unless it was incorporated somewhat and escaped my tastebuds. I woulda expected more complexity to this dish for $25, but it was delicious and went well with the potato puree. The fish was tender and moist. Decided to skip dessert because we had coffee Haagen-daz at home to eat, and they pretty much only had one dessert (salted caramel pie). All in all, this was a flavorful, rustic, humble meal with classic Tuscan flavors. Would recommend for sure!

    (4)

  • Mari C.

    Bottega is pretty much a reservation only restaurant. While we were there at least 2 groups dropped by to get dinner but were not able to snag a table. The restaurant is as described...rustic, cozy. Our main server was a very nice guy. Overall, the service was good though there are a couple of people serving each table so sometimes miscommunication can occur (dishes don't come to the table). The fold was good too and it much needed in this area of town where there aren't many options. The romaine salad was really good as well as the costini. The malfatti was really tasty too. The only dish we didn't love was the cassoulet...we expected a bit more of a creamy stew but our plate was pretty dry. The salted caramel pie was tasty and the thick salt on top was a nice touch. I would definitely go back! It's nice that it is walking distance to my house. Just have to snag a reservation.

    (4)

  • Jessica G.

    Selected this restaurant based on reviews to celebrate my husbands promotion. We are always interested in trying new places and the promise of hand made pasta caught both our attentions. We also loved that it was BYOB and had stopped to pick up a nice bottle of wine. The outside looks very inconspicuous and somewhat run down. (Internally I was hoping I hadn't chose poorly). Inside, the dining room was rustic and small. There were maybe 15 tables and quarters were tight. I was humongously pregnant and had to proceed to our table in the back (next to an open kitchen) with great care so as not to knock other patrons drinks on the floor. Once seated we waited quite awhile for service, almost to the point that we thought we may have been forgotten. (Though that would be difficult in such a small space). The upside was that we had plenty of time to mull over the somewhat limited menu, which was written up on a chalk board on one wall. I liked this detail. It reinforced that this restaurant was serving whatever they had fresh for that day and no more. Once our server finally greeted us however, the entire experience really took off! He was friendly, knowledgable and engaging. The food was absolutely the star of the show, as it should be, so let's dive into that. First course we ordered a smoked salad with lardo, grapefruit, and feta. It was superbly smoky and flavorful. The acid from the grapefruit gave it the perfect punch. We also had the chicken liver mouse which came out in a generous portion, slathered on two nice sized pieces of fresh baked bread. The flakey crust, chewy center and good half inch of mouse on top made this a decadent and equally flavorful accompaniment to the salad. (My husband has been attempting to recreate this for me since then. It was seriously so good). Main course we both chose the pasta dish, I went with rabbit and my husband the duck. I can't express to you how good both dishes were. The two different proteins were served in two different complimentary dressings. The rabbit with a savory tomato based one and the duck with a robust wine sauce. The pasta was absolutely perfect in texture and shape. It held sauce well and serving size was perfect. Both dishes we so good that husband and I switched plates midway through so we could enjoy a good portion of each. We were both sated after this course but I had forgotten that I had mentioned we were celebrating in the open table reservation. This meant we were pleasantly surprised when the server brought out a slice of their salted caramel pie with a candle in it. He congratulated my husband on his promotion and both of us on the pending arrival of our daughter. It was a very sweet touch. The pie was exceptional and indulgent. To top it all off we were floored when we received the check and realized the entire meal cost much less than we expected. Combine that with all the money we saved buying our own wine and we just had a gourmet meal that rivaled Pazo for the price of going to one those Italian chains. All in all a wonderful experience despite the initial slow service, which is the reason (along with the shabby exterior I guess) I can't give them a 5. We will be visited them again.

    (4)

  • Pop C.

    Food is great. If you don't eat meat, choice will be tough because they usually have only a few seafood dishes on menu. It is a small restaurant so service is slow. there is no vestibule so it is cold in the winter if you sit by the door. BYOB. It is very dark inside and home kind of atmosphere. I will repeat.

    (4)

  • Nicole J.

    AMAZING restaurant. I don't often write reviews for restaurants because places rarely blow me away - I am making an exception for Bottega. It is a lovely, intimate, yet down-to-earth restaurant. The food - from the chicken liver pate to the duck leg and steak - was fantastic and to die for. I have eaten at $$$ places in harbor east that is nowhere near as delicious and flavorful as Bottega. At the end of the night, Adrien the owner of Bottega, gave us a piece of salted caramel pie with sea salt on the house. OMG. It was the most decadent and delicious dessert I've had. The service is great, even better than Woodberry Kitchen, and there is an intimacy behind this dining experience you will not get anywhere else. I found my new favorite restaurant.

    (5)

  • Matt S.

    Best restaurant in Baltimore. I love the ambiance of the restaurant with the chalk board, view of the chef cooking in the kitchen, and the homemade wooden floors. The food is out of this world! The Duck Pappardelle is one of the best dishes I've ever had, as were the pork cheeks. The complaints about the chalkboards are so annoying, and also completely overstated, as it adds to the uniqueness of the place. Plus since the menu changes from night to night, so it's an effective way of not having to print off 30 menus a night. Love this place, and will continue to go back!

    (5)

  • W G.

    We went to Bottega to celebrate a birthday, and we left feeling less than celebratory. We arrived a bit early, but we were seated right away...by the front door. It's a tiny place, I know, but a table by the door on a cold November night is not inviting or comfortable. Hovering over neighboring tables in order to read the chalkboard menu is awkward. We felt like our servers did everything possible to minimize interactions. Privacy and intimacy is one thing. We felt downright neglected. Food was ok--not bad or good. We enjoyed the kale salad and salted butter and radish crostini. As my husband said, "who would've thought bread and butter tastes good together?" Right. Minimal creativity. We ordered the fish (filleted by the kitchen, riddled with bones) and the pork shoulder (mediocre, hard to cut without a proper knife). Now this next part is not totally Bottega's fault, but worth mentioning. The restaurant is small, and we suffered an excruciating hour of one drunken woman's laughing and chatter. No staff tried to quiet her down, and people were asking to move to any tables that opened up--even mid-meal! (Not that it helped much.) We couldn't wait to leave. The lackluster food, absent service, and horrible atmosphere were too much to bear. I don't see any reason to return, and I'd say that even if we didn't have The Most Obnoxious Drunk Lady dining there with us.

    (2)

  • Amanda W.

    The space: We snagged a Friday night reservation and felt pretty lucky in doing so because the space is very small. My boyfriend said it would be a claustrophobe's nightmare because the tables are all very close together and you can hear all the other tables' conversations. As soon as we arrived, there was an awkward moment where we were just sandwiched between the door and the table right next to the door because there were other people waiting to be sat in front of us. There isn't a designated "host" so you just have to stand in the midst of diners until one of the servers ushers you downstairs to wait for your reservation. The wait was fairly short, about five minutes. The menu: Yes it's on a chalkboard, which was a difficult for both of us to read because we have awful sight so I pulled the menu up from Bottega's facebook page and we read through the selections on our phone. It also was more comfortable than deciding while standing up and inevitably hovering over other patrons. The food: Chicken liver crostini: The livers were really buttery, well seasoned, so delicious. The texture is in between pate and chopped livers, but definitely on the chunkier side. The bread that the livers were served on was burnt and left a really bitter taste in my mouth. I understand trying to get a toasted aroma, but no one likes burnt black toast. I ended up scraping the livers off and smearing it on some white bread that we had asked for. Boar Pappardelle: Long thick ribbon pasta. Definitely cooked al dente and and really flavorful. The boar was crumbled and strewn throughout. Lamb Loin: My boyfriend always gets steak when we go out, but because Bottega didn't have a steak entree, he decided to try out lamb. I think after this experience, he'll never order lamb again. The fat to meat ratio was overwhelming: like 65% fat to 35% meat. And the fat wasn't the melt in your mouth fat that pork belly has, but what he called "just a giant chunk of inedible fat." Duck breast: The duck was really tender and moist. It was served over creamed sweet potato and the duck had a cherry glaze/compote over top. In my mind, I kept wishing there was MORE. Not because it was so delicious, but because I felt like I had to ration every bite! On my entire plate, there was probably one spoonful of creamed sweet potato, which I had to meticulously divide up so that I wouldn't eat all the potatoes before finishing one slice of duck. Also, the cherries were delicious, but I also felt like I had to ration because there was only enough cherry for maybe 2 duck slices out of the 5. We both thought the entrees were not a good value. Chocolate Caramel pie: Everyone should probably finish their meal with this. It reminded me of those mouth party caramels and the texture was too hard to use our fork on so I ended up just picking it up and eating it like a cookie. The service: It seemed like there were two servers and one manager that floated around. The manager was very nice and had a calming, gentle presence. The servers were also incredibly nice and friendly and they all seemed to genuinely want you to have a good time. However, I'm not sure if it's because the restaurant was pretty full, but the service was a little scatterbrained at times. The entrees took a painfully long time to arrive after our appetizers (which might not be the servers' fault at all) but during this waiting period, we saw one of the servers clearly munching and eating something enjoyable in the kitchen. My boyfriend noted, "Wow I wish that we were eating as well!" Also, a water glass was taken away (because the server dropped something in the water) and it wasn't replaced until after we decided to share our one glass- really not a big deal because we share everything anyways. But then one of our napkins was also removed (when the server decided to wipe the table with it) and was actually never replaced and sharing a dirty napkin is not as nice. When we asked for more bread, so that we could dip into sauces, no bread was brought. None of these were huge issues to us, but the accumulation of all of them just made us feel a little uncomfortable. Overall, we had a really fun time in the intimate space, but if we ever return, we'll probably pass on the entrees and get just pasta and crostini for value and efficiency purposes.

    (3)

  • Sristi S.

    We went there for a celebratory dinner and realized in the restaurant that it was BYOB!! Oh well...the food made up for the lack of alcohol. Really really good. The menu changes so I dont know the exact names of the dishes, but we had mushroom and cheese crostini, and home-made pasta and fish. Just delicious! Will go back for sure.

    (4)

  • William A.

    TL;DR: Bottega has amazing food, a cute, intimate space, an ever changing menu, and reasonable prices. If you're looking for heaping portions of food, avoiding human interaction, or the ability to stroll in without a reservation then look elsewhere. Knowing how hard it can be to get a weekend reservation my girlfriend and I decided to go on a Tuesday and made the reservation a few days ahead of time. Upon entering we were promptly greeted, seated, and had the champagne we brought (BYOB!) opened and on our table. The restaurant has a little over 20 seats, a visible and open kitchen, and a very rustic feel to it. If you really tried you could probably hear another table's conversation near you, but I never felt like our privacy was lacking. From our table we had a good view of the chalkboard menu (if you sit somewhere without a good view you can always pull up their website to check what the menu is for that day) and were excited about the many choices there. We had already decided to split a pasta dish and a main dish and narrowed it down to two of each. With that we asked for recommendations from our friendly waiter who advised us of the lamb pappardelle over the boar since they did not usually have lamb and thought the pork shank, which "falls off the bone," was a better choice to split over the moulard duck breast. Our pasta was out to us within ten minutes and to die for. The noodles were clearly hand made (a fact confirmed when the person who made them stopped by our table) and the lamb was generously spread throughout in the light olive-oil based sauce. Shortly after we finished with our pasta, the pork shank came out. There was no exaggeration about the "falling off the bone" comment. While there were some greens and pickled carrots and onions on the side, it was nice to see that the focus of the dish was the shank itself. The meat was juicy and complemented by a small helping of an extremely mild condiment atop it. We were advised that this was the biggest "main course" dish and we were both satisfied by the end of it. Although I am not a huge sweets person I cannot resist anything done well and so we opted for the raspberry goat cheese cheesecake at the end of the meal. This was one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had in my life. The goat cheese gave it a slightly less smooth texture and the graham cracker crust went perfectly with it. My only complaint is that it could have used a little more raspberry in it. The bill was just over $30 a person after tip and I will definitely be back again as soon as possible.

    (5)

  • Jamal P.

    Ohhhh Bottega. You are such a great place to go with a BYOB option as well??!! Can't more restaurants get into gear like you? The kale egg salad was so tasty that we ordered another. Location in a small rustic spot was a real gem. Hopefully I can talk my friends into coming in here more often bc this place is amazing.

    (5)

  • Emily L.

    What a special place Bottega is. I saved it for a special person on a special day -- my dearest girlfriend, who was celebrating a birthday. We scored an early weeknight reservation with no problem and, as a bonus, parked for a whopping dollar half a block away! Upon entering, I was about as charmed as I've ever been. The place is tiny, but doesn't feel cramped; eclectic, but without a hint of pretension. Just all-around lovely, like a European cafe. There is no menu other than the chalkboard on the wall, but they post photos of it every day or two on social media. I found that a perfect marriage between old-world style (many French cafes also boast handwritten, ever-changing menus) and modern convenience (I was able to ensure ahead of time that my vegetarian friend would have some options.) The only hiccup came early on, when we discovered they're a BYOB restaurant. I somehow missed that on the website, but thankfully, they have a fix: Tapas Teatro, a block and a half away, will sell wine to go and even give you a discount if you mention Adrien from Bottega. What a lifesaver that option was! Our server said they have no immediate plans to get a liquor license, so in the future, I'll look forward to selecting my own bottle ahead of time. A bottle of chilled and sparkling rose secured, we relaxed and began an evening of delightful conversation -- the kind only a close friend can bring. Soon our appetizers arrived: a crostini with fava beans, olive oil and shaved Pecorino, and a kale Caesar with marinated anchovies. Each bite was incredible, from the chewy artisan bread to the fruity olive oil and pinwheel of salty fish (they kindly separated them from the salad so we could both have some.) The portions were just right to excite the appetite, not satiate it too early. Our main courses were also delightful: my friend chose their homemade papardelle, long, wide ribbons of eggy pasta, in a deeply flavorful marinara sauce with freshly-grated Parmesan. It was the apex of pasta perfection. My roasted chicken was honestly the best I've ever had (and the best prior to this was at a cafe in Paris and cost twice as much!) Crispy skin stretched tightly over the most flavorful and juicy meat imaginable -- it was simple and yet beautifully complex. Alongside was a square of savory rice pudding with spinach, something I never would have thought I'd love so much! The meal was so delicious I almost cried when I had to stop halfway through (pesky stomach capacity.) When I got home I made my husband eat the rest right away -- I couldn't bear the thought of reheating it later. He agreed it was delicious and we already have a reservation to return for my father's birthday next month! However, I can't end this culinary paean without rhapsodizing over dessert. I should say that chocolate and caramel, while delicious, are not my first choice, and I was intrigued by the lemon panna cotta (custard IS my favorite!) But when the birthday girl wanted the salted caramel pie, I wasn't going to stand in her way. And I'm SO glad she chose it, because what an amazing experience it is. I think I had in mind a chocolate pie with a caramel topping, but it was actually the opposite: a huge wedge of buttery, chewy caramel, covered with the thinnest crust of bittersweet chocolate. Oh. My. Goodness. With every bite, we were speechless. Speechless, however, does not come close to my reaction when we got the bill. For this decadence, we spent barely $30 per person -- tax, tip and alcohol not included, but still, that's an incredible price for the experience. I am telling everyone I know about Bottega, because I hope it becomes the huge hit it deserves to be!

    (5)

  • Josh A.

    I'd been hearing about Bottega since it opened so I was happy to finally get a chance to check it out for myself since I live in the neighborhood. I went on a date and our first impression was that the cozy space is very cute. The atmosphere is rustic and lovely, which suits their ever-changing menu, which is written on a chalk board. They manage to fit a lot of people into a very small area, but you still probably want to make a reservation. We were one of the first people there at 5:30, but it filled up quickly. The service was excellent, friendly and attentive without being overbearing. We got the kale salad and the salami plate to start and we were pleasantly surprised by the portions. Prepare to share. Both appetizers were tasty, though the kale salad shone a little brighter. For entrees, we got the duck breast with creamed spinach and the malfatti with ricotta and spinach. The entree portions were much smaller than the appetizer, which seems backwards but I'm sure saves on overhead. While the duck breast was delicious, easily the best thing we had that night, the creamed spinach and malfatti were both on the bland side. We decided to skip on the two dessert selections and went to WC Harlan for drinks instead. (Note: don't forget Bottega is BYOB only...like I did.) Overall, it was a very good, though not amazing, meal. I'd definitely go back to try it again, but they could improve with a little more consistency in seasoning.

    (4)

  • Jen J.

    I cannot stop raving about our meal here several weeks ago. Grilled kale salad was outta this world and I will be dreaming of that caramel pie for a good, long while. Go. Just go.

    (5)

  • Z N.

    Good vibe. Ambitious food. Hipster fashion. Over-priced. Cheap furniture. Over confident?

    (3)

  • Kippy P.

    We went to celebrate our Anniversary. Really wanted to love it. The Good: Our entrees were very good. Got beef cheeks and Lamb shank and they both tasted fantastic. Atmosphere- Love it, its quaint and super cute. Service was mediocre at best. Our waitress was very nice but not very helpful. The menu is written on a small chalk board that is very difficult to read without having to get up and read. Would have been more helpful to just read the menu to us (instead of basically running through it after we asked) since it is a small menu. Being a BYOB is great but when you have no one offer to open your wine or beer. We opened our own beer and waited forever to flag down our waitress to finally have her open our wine that was sitting unopened in plain site for a long time. We got the Chicken Liver Crostini. I have had chicken liver pate and love foie gras so I was surprised when it came out as huge chunks on top of a large crostini. It was just too much and very large chunks. The flavor was just a little off (I think it needed to be not so chunky). We ordered the pasta as well and it was nothing special. We had the wild boar tagletelli and having had some phenomenal pasta dishes at Cinghiale and Aggio I was excited but it just lacked flavor and wasn't anything special. Overall we had a nice time celebrating our Anniversary but the food wasn't anything special to make us go back.

    (3)

  • Supriya M.

    Oh we had heard so much about Bottega. So so much that we made a reservation in February for May - yes, 3 months ago! The place is tiny with a nice rustic ambiance. The best part - BYOB with NO corkage! That was definitely a huge strength of the place. The food was very well done - the leek and mushroom crostini with chevre was delicious - heavy on the garlic. Their olive oil was just fantastic. The spinach maflati could have used more flavor but was still melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The spare ribs were falling off the bone and although my husband liked the veal kidney, I thought it was just too much kidney for one dish. The chocolate caramel pie - I could have eaten about 3 more slices of it but the weakness of the night was definitely the lemon rhubarb panna cota - tasted like lemon yogurt. Overall, it was a nice evening with good, solid but not inventive food. I would recommend for small parties, especially date nights!

    (4)

  • Robert W.

    What a pleasant surprise. I believe the first time I heard about this place was in Baltimore Magazine's top restaurants. I don't think all the places on there deserve a place so I was a bit hesitant. But, the reviews on here were good so we checked it out. We were able to find street parking and the place is not very big. Maybe slightly wider than a rowhome. Service was friendly and efficient, as I would expect since there probably a max capacity of 20 diners. The crostini- we shared one with lamb and one with duck was good. Flavorful, simple ingredients on top of grilled and slightly buttered bread. The prosciutto salad with pea shoots and fresh moz was delicious. The pastas are homemade, and we had the papardelle with the boar ragu. You can taste the freshness of the pasta, but we craved more sauce. I know true Italians like to let the pasta sing... but I'm not Italian and wanted more sauce! The duck- it is nice to see a place that can properly sear a duck breast while maintaining the juiciness of the meat. It was served with spelt, caramelized dates? and pepita. The savory of the rendered duck fat and the sweetness of the dates made the dish. The salted caramel chocolate cake- decadent. The bottom layer is probably 1cm thick caramel layer and was my favorite part. The panna cotta was good too, but not as good as Cinghiale's. Like other people have said, it's a small place to plan ahead with reservations. They are very much a mom/pop shop, don't have a liquor license and use an iphone app to charge your card. I wish these guys luck and hope they continue to evolve. Another nice addition to the Baltimore food scene. Places similar: Maggie's Farm, Hersh's, Salt, Corner BYOB, Demi (when it was open).

    (5)

  • Kevin K.

    What's your mom's kitchen look like? Packed and crowded with friendly yelling? You Yelpers praise a place when treated "like at home". Bottega tries to get there but does it only half right. Made a late weeknight res 20 minutes before and showed up to a half empty restaurant (Was still asked for a reservation?!). Casual yet intimate, the walls of this quiet 16-seater are a library of cooking books and dining room utensils. And it's library quiet.. "tink" goes your fork and the Restaurant's heart skips a beat. And that's Bottega's goal--rustic familial. The decor supports it but efforts fail after. Service is muted and subservient. There's no laughter, no loudness, no boisterous uncle, brother, or friend. No efforts to strike a relationship or converse person-person. It's all "what would you like?" and "Glad you liked it." The menu** is equally half-executed. Fresh anchovies were otherwise bland, so the rye focaccia bite was most impressive. Goat cheese and crimini crostini were off, texture tougher than homemade and almost no cheese. Salt needed. Tomatoes burst with freshness in the otherwise bland pappardelle that needed another minute, and the rustic venison farro stew is offset by juniper notes. Salt needed. Spinich and Ricotta Malfatti was earthy and oily, the richest and most comforting of all the dishes, but salt needed. When it ups the salt and service grows personality, then it's "mom's kitchen". **Bottega's part of the chalkboard menu fad. You walk around other diners and memorize what you want before shuffling quickly back to your table so you don't forget! This is not chic or inventive, just awkward. Please restaurants, just print your menu.

    (3)

  • Cindy F.

    I must be missing something. Crostini on basic, supermarketish bread that's been charred, topped with considerably less than top drawer ingredients. My mister makes better crostini when he's super drunk. An ordinary kale salad. I expect better than what I can easily do at home when I'm paying for others to make my food. Maybe I'm demanding but seriously, I can't figure out why everyone digs this place so much. Cool vibe but this is amateur hour, people. Pappardelle with boar. Pappardelle was cold in some spots, hot in others. Dry in some spots, soft in others. Boar was dry and over salted. I left at least half of mine on the plate. We were asked how our meal was when they brought the check. Not before. We said, "well, it wasn't good." "Ok, thanks, have a good night." Yea, you, too, Bottega. Enjoy our cash cuz you won't see it again.

    (1)

  • Claire S.

    I just finished eating at Bottega an hour ago and am already thinking about when I can next eat at Bottega. Their parpadelle basically changed my life. I 100% recommend this restaurant without reservations (thought you don't really have a chance of eating there without a reservation). Amazing food, fantastic service, and it's BYOB, which keeps the bill at a reasonable price. We started with a marinated artichoke crostini which was divine. We also had the kale ceasar salad which was pretty fab, with a loud punch of lemon in the dressing. So great. Then, the parpadelle, which as I mentioned before was life-changing and really all I want to eat every day is 9 to 10 plates of that parpadelle, for the rest of my life. Then we had our own entrees. Mine was succulent and so well cooked, the flavors beautifully crafted and blended. Then, the salted caramel pie. Which is basically a heath bar turned into a pie, but better. Just go already!! Why don't you have a reservation yet??

    (5)

  • Cups O.

    On star based purely on the fact that I am here for two days, made a reservation several weeks in advance, spent a long time with a very food-oriented pal discussing the menu and what we would order, chilled (and remembered to bring!) the wine, got dressed, walked over...and found them closed. A woman in the building told us they had moved. I checked my email for an update or reservation cancellation, but there wasn't one. The contact number was disconnected. There was no notice on the website. It was a sad sad moment. Hoping to get there someday soon because it looks delicious! But will need them to be open.

    (1)

  • Rachel I.

    Excellent! Everything was excellent-- perfectly attentive service without being intrusive of too chatty. Delicious food that was perfectly prepared. Very cute setting that I didn't even know was there. Small menu- reflective of the size of the kitchen- but plenty of good options. Picky eaters may have an issue finding something they like. I'm sorry I was only there with 1 other person, because I would have like to try some of the other entrees. It is BYOB, which I hadn't realized- so don't forget your own bottle. We had the flank steak (DELICIOUS) and the spinach and ricotta pasta (which was actually little balls) for entrees and the beet and goat cheese bruschetta and the chicken liver pate bruchetta. Both good... but the chicken liver is not to be missed. Will be back again soon (If I can get a reservation)

    (5)

  • Grace E.

    My review was removed because it "wasn't about a firsthand customer experience" with this restaurant. They decided to close their doors to move to a new location without posting notice on ANY of their social media (which they do use) or even leaving a sign in the front of their business. They left their reservation system up with Open Table during this time. How do I know this? Because I - FIRST HAND (not something I heard from anyone else - this is my own experience) - attempted to patronize this business and had absolutely no way of being aware that they were, in fact, closed when I tried to since all signs on yelp, facebook and otherwise indicated that the restaurant was still open and operating. I only managed to make sense of the mysteriously dark and locked restaurant when googling the name and coming across a Baltimore Sun article referencing and unspecified time when the restaurant would be closed for a move. If the actual information about the closure was available somewhere on their web presence and I missed it - that would be on me, but I didn't. It's on them. I have made and seen similar reviews on yelp before about a business that could not be patronized because of various hurdles. This is incredibly unprofessional in my book and I can't see wanting to do business with an owner that chooses to operate their business in this manner. Part of running a business is customer service - and part of customer service is the customer being able to figure out when your operating hours are.

    (1)

  • Ian F.

    Amazing hand made pasta. Constantly changing menu, but very well prepared food. Bone Marrow pasta was amazing as was the beef cheeks. Friendly wait staff. BYOB! Don't skip on the salted caramel choclate cake. If you're a fan of the Salty/Sweet juxtaposition of flavor as much as I am, this is like heaven!

    (5)

  • Matt M.

    Loved everything we had here. Great food with fresh ingredients. One of those places in Baltimore that really stands out from the rest of the food scene.

    (5)

  • Abigail R.

    Bottega is a darling, but small rustic spot on North Maryland Street in Station North. 20140725-094643-35203635.jpg There are about 15 seats in this small row house with exposed brick. I love that they have chairs up on a rack near the ceiling to adjust table size as needed. Food wise - its is northern Italian cuisine - simple, local and fresh ingredients, which means menu is ever-changing, therefore it is written on a chalk board - usually broken into sections. If you check their Facebook page, you can see their most recent menus. I must admit - I wanted to order one of everything. Thank goodness, my friend reeled me in and we picked 4 dishes. We started with the roasted beet crostini - large slices of warm crusty, but still a little chewy bread, slathered with crescenza (a soft, mild and young cow's milk cheese). Next the lovely folks of Bottega topped it with large slices of red beets and a drizzle of honey. What a great way to start the meal. Our next course was from the salad section. Heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, and panzanela (did you know? That's also toasted bread - kind like a crouton?) mixed together with a garlicky olive oil vinaigrette. This was my favorite dish - so fresh and I was able to taste all the flavors individually. Why on earth did we ever move away from heirloom tomatoes?? For our main course, I ordered from the pasta section - which is slightly smaller than the actual entrée section, but let's be real, I didn't need more. As, you can see, I went with the spinach malfatti - a light and airy gnocci-like morsels made with spinach (shocker?) and cheese and then tossed in a brown butter sage sauce. I loved it - just the perfect amount of rich fatty goodness and texture. 20140725-094644-35204548.jpg My friend ordered the shrimp, clam and kale risotto. I really appreciate the way this place manages to blend flavors without losing texture and individual components tastes. The kale was still firm, but wilted just enough in the creamy risotto. There were at least 5 or 6 large shrimps and even more clams. My friend shared and I got two of each. Their desserts sounded fantastic, but we were full and trying to behave and opted just to finish our bottle of wine. Wait? Did I tel you the best part? They are BYOB and if you are as big of fan of wine as I am, you have plenty of bottles lying around in the house. If not, there are a few stores near by where you can pick something up. I will definitely be back for both the service and the food. These guys agree - this place is great. Have you been?

    (5)

  • elizabeth k.

    No complaints. We had a reservation and were seated on time. The decor fit the food & vibe. The waiter was good. The food was very good as was the price. We had two apps, two entrees and the salt caramel pie ... Everything was great. The tripe was done perfectly. Can't wait to try some more menu items.

    (5)

  • Tanvi S.

    Watched a movie at the Charles Theatre and walked over to Bottega for dinner afterwards. This place is really rustic, with not too many tables, but you can feel the love for cooking and food from miles away! Cut straight to the chase and tried their malfatti and pappardelle with duck and both were to die for! The dessert - salted caramel pie, I could eat for the rest of my life. It was decadent, sweet, crisp, gooey, chocolatey, salty, warm and cold all at the same time. They managed to reinforce how one can never go wrong with simple food, paying homage to the integrity of the ingredients.

    (5)

  • Rachel L.

    In April, Baltimore Magazine ran an article about the delicious Tuscany-inspired food at Bottega. Since then, I've been wanting to try it however it is nearly impossible to get a reservation. You need to make it 5 weeks ahead of time. Every time I made a reservation, as the date drew near something came up and I had to cancel. However, as a recent Friday evening approached, I had no conflict and I knew it would be the day that I would finally try Bottega's Tuscan-inspired flavors. The menu changes daily. Below is what was available the night we visited. Because my friends and I wanted to try everything, we decided to just share our meal. We started with the Tomatoes and Salted Ricotta Crostini. This was delicious and a sign of more amazing things to come. Easily, these were the reddest tomatoes I have ever seen in my life which just goes to show how fresh ingredients always make a dish significantly better. When we finished this dish, my thought was 'I really want to order another, but it's so amazing which gives me high hopes for everything that's yet to come.' Next, we shared the Boar Pappardelle. This pasta was homemade and also incredibly fresh. The boar was full of flavor and this was another dish that we simply couldn't get enough of. For the last portion of our entree, we ordered the Hanger Steak. It was served alongside a plate of arugula with bacon and jalapeño jam. The steak was cooked well, and I really enjoyed the dressing on the lettuce, it had a fair amount of heat. But we preferred the first two courses significantly more. The dessert menu was too good to pass up and we decided to split a slice of the Salted Caramel & Chocolate Pie. This was delicious, but if you don't have a sweet tooth, you may find it a little decadent but it was delicious. The pie had a cookie crust and a nice thick layer of caramel topped with chocolate and then sprinkled with a generous portion of sea salt. If you're looking to experience a taste of Tuscany, Bottega in Station North certainly delivers.

    (5)

  • Kirk S.

    Bottega's brunch was a genuine pleasure. Bottega is a small, ~10-table joint in northern Baltimore that, as other reviews have said, is both rustic and all about the food. The decor is super rustic and simple, and everything looks slightly worn in a pleasing sort of way. The lighting is a bit dark, but lends to the feel. The brunch here is excellent. We had the duck hash and the raisin bread french toast. The former was amazing, and probably the better of the two. The latter was excellent as well, in a very unique sort of way - it had a date confit on top that actually had a bit of spicy heat to it, which was very much unexpected and honestly quite tasty. The real shame here is how unattended the brunch here is - it only advertised on Facebook, which wasn't a good plan, it seems. I'd STRONGLY recommend that they get more aggressive about advertising on Yelp and other locations - it's hard to strike out in the Baltimore restaurant industry, so they need to get much more aggressive about it!

    (4)

  • Steve R.

    It's easy to pass this one by on an uninspired section of Maryland Ave. heading south toward the city. Once inside, the rustic interior and bluesy music sets you up for daily chalkboard specials. I decided to order healthy and starchy after a modest workout. I enjoyed the rough texture of the kale Caesar with white anchovies, breadcrumbs and grated cheese. The pappardelle with lamb in red sauce offered a smooth taste, with the wide noodles giving me a feeling of belly fullness. I would come by again with friends and try other pasta and entree selections of the day.

    (4)

  • Teri H.

    Went to this restaurant on a Tuesday night at 630. Service from our waiter and the food was excellent but then there is this one girl who basically ruined everything. I called prior to see what the parking situation was and she claimed to not know. When I finally found a parking spot the girl was on her cell phone outside the restaurant chit chatting and then at the end of our meal she just drops off the check. Didn't even ask if anyone wanted coffee or tea....so then of course we were talking about something and she comes over and says "Oh, I was just trying to get the check...." and we all looked at each other like are you serious?? then she says "No pressure but there's a group waiting for your table...." while there was another table right beside us that came in at the same time. I'm sure she didn't pressure them to leave. Go for the experience, they do have some very interesting food...but I will NEVER be back here again. Any establishment that rushes tables out just won't have my business in the future but I can cross it off the list.

    (1)

  • Meredith J.

    I'm really unsure why there is such a wait for reservations here. You can get a considerably same meal from other places in Baltimore for the same price and avoid any reservation, even on the weekend. That said, I like how the menu features local, in season meat and produce but think they should print menus for the table. We were seated right under a menu near the kitchen and were told to stand up to read the menu. I almost just asked our waiter to read it to me, since telling us to stand up, awkwardly next to other diners, is pretty rude. For dinner, we split the beet gnocchi and rainbow trout. They were delicious and good choices. The trout was perfect. Very reasonably priced (though I think that's only because I am considering the bill without alcohol, which would probably make it more of the same in terms of price comparison), delicious, and in-season. Knocked off a star for the lack of communication between the two waiters and menu situation.

    (4)

  • Jeremy R.

    Made a reservation for my daughter's graduation dinner a month in advance, received a confirmation email, got dressed up, chose wines and went to the restaurant. Restaurant was closed, no answer when I called or banged on the door. WTF. That was really crappy! You owe me a dinner!

    (1)

  • amanda w.

    Pretty good. The menu is small and ever-changing, but even so I feel like it could have more variety. We enjoyed everything we ate. We had a salad for an appetizer. My date had the beef cheeks. I didn't have a bite but he really enjoyed it. I had the...well I'm not sure what they are but a form of spinach and ricotta pasta that was meatball sized and shaped. It was superb. My only complaints are the size of this place and the subsequent seating arrangements. I had a server's butt in my face several times while she was attending to the table next to us. They put us in the middle of the room. Definitely make reservations. We had to wait a bit even with ours.

    (4)

  • Bernie C.

    So the most surefire way that I know that someplace is my kind of place is that I cannot wait to go home and write about it. So I'm here, shoes and coat still on, door probably still wide open, tapping away at my computer. If you don't have time to read the rest of my review, the gist is just try this place out, you won't be sorry. BYOB. Bottega hits all the main points for me. Food, service, atmosphere. Food: finger-and-plate lickin' good. seasonal, made with care. Check site for menu. We ordered the chicken liver pate crostini; the grilled chicory, poached egg, and roast pork salad; the rabbit pappardelle; the spinach and ricotta malfatti with butter and crispy sage; and the raspberry goat cheese cake. crostini - good serving size, lots of pate per crostini, the pate itself was mild but earthy and somewhat sweet the way liver pate is meant to be, it was finished with good quality salt and oil, making it even more delicious salad - least exciting dish, but solid solid salad, really good grill flavour on that chicory pappardelle - you can really tell they care about their food in this dish, as well as in the next. The pasta was cooked perfectly, with just enough sauce and rabbit to be appreciated but not overshadow the pasta malfatti - mild disclaimer, I've never had malfatti before so I have no idea if this is how its supposed to taste, but if its not, all the other rmalfattis should change to this one. The amount of flavour packed into these extremely thin pasta shells of happiness is incredible. In the words of my dining companion, "I ever knew spinach could taste like this". The butter and crispy sage perfects the dish. Also, they do not skimp on the parmesan. Solid parmesan on both pasta dishes. cheesecake - charlotteown farm cheesecake, so I knew it would be good, if you wanna check them our they're usually at the Waverly Farmers Market on Saturday, they're great at all things goat cheese. Service: I wanted to hug our server. We were very very well taken care of; our server had lots to do by the end of our meal but he was always there when we needed him, before we knew we needed him. Also, all the reviews are right, the place is packed, and I mean packed, by 5:45, on a Tuesday, so make reservations. Atmosphere: cozy, quaint, date night, rustic, nothing too fancy to dress up for, so perfect. Perhaps that was too long a review, but I'm a fan. The prices weren't bad at all, but from the pictures you'll see, it's not the best place to go if you're starving.

    (5)

  • Sarah J.

    Recently opened last fall (2013), Bottega is a charming Tuscan-inspired restaurant with a sweet vibe that makes you feel right at home. The rustic decor includes a bookshelf with cookbooks, serving bowls, and wooden floors and tables. Menu is small, but carefully, lovingly invented and changing with the seasons. When we asked the waiter what was good, she said everything. I would have to agree - even a few items on the menu aren't perfect for you, you Will give them HUGE props for creativity and fresh, natural ingredients. Many restaurants overwhelm their foods with complex recipes and long lists of ingredients. I love this place for its minimalistic, simple feel. Food straight from nature touched up a bit and served right away on the table. Appetizers: - Pickled Rhubarb and Chestnut Honey + Chevre - sweet, lots of goat cheese. I found the texture to be fun with the crunchy bread, solid rhubarb, and soft chevre. - Arugula and Grana Padana salad - refreshing and great combo, although it literally is just arugula, grana padana cheese, and a tangy sauce. Mains: - Pork Spare Ribs with Sunchokes and Collard Pesto - Sunchokes? Apparently taste like they're in between artichokes and potatoes. The tender spare ribs, with meat that comes off the bones easily, garnished with a homemade pesto were the highlight of the dinner! - Hanger Steak with roasted potatoes and tomato relish - juicy, soft, and hearty. Only qualm about the food: the two dishes we had were meat, and the sunchokes and roasted potatoes on the side seemed too heavy to go along with them. We would rather have had a lighter, vegetable side dish. However, the portions of the meat are not large, so I could see how the filling side dishes would be a good addition. Notes: - I made reservations a week in advance for a Thursday night, and barely got the 8PM time. 15 seats for the whole restaurant! You have been warned! -BYOB! -Street parking should not be too difficult to find around the area. -Wished we tried the veal (pasta) that has amazing recommendations.

    (5)

  • Jennifer I.

    Made a rezze here for 8pm on a Wed. Located pretty much next to Boltbus stop near penn station. We walked in and it was a lil awkward cause not one, but two employees asked us re: our rezze. We were seated promptly. Ambience is very rustic, homey, almost sorta grandmotherly. Cozy. I took a picture of the chalkboard menu cause we were seated away from it, but realized there was another chalkboard menu right above our heads. For starters, we were debating between the lardo grapefruit and the anchovy crostini. Given that my lipid panel is high, and when I realized lardo literally meant lard, we opted for the anchovy. It was pretty much my first time eating anchovies. Tasted and looked like sardines. The crostini that it was on was out of this world. Imbued with this aromatic smokiness! Seasoned w/ green salsa that was a little inadequate, and with dark baby potatoes. We also got their winter salad. The waitress brought out a spinach salad and I told her it wasn't the right salad that we ordered but that we would eat it anyway--she was quick to bring out the right salad! Which, by the way, was refreshing w/ the right amt of dill dressing and bite-sized wheat croutons For our 3rd course, we got the spinach and ricotta malfatti. I had no idea what a malfatti was, but was def eyeing what the couple next to us was eating (green meatballs covered w/ parmesan). Wasn't sure what it was but it looked good, and turns out it was the malfatti. (side note: "malfatti" means "mistake" in Italian, and in 1920 in Napa, CA, there was this lady who made "balls" outa leftover ravioli, and voila! malfatti was born). It basically tasted like cheesy spinach balls, although it coulda used more cheese, imo. For our final entree, we were debating between the rockfish and beef cheeks, and ended up choosing the rockfish. It was a surprisingly simple dish--a fillet of rockfish, excellently cooked/seared/smoked with the skin perfectly crisped up--on a bed of potate puree and garnished w/ clover leaves. Think it was supposed to come w/ more stuff (botargo) acc to the menu, but didn't see it, unless it was incorporated somewhat and escaped my tastebuds. I woulda expected more complexity to this dish for $25, but it was delicious and went well with the potato puree. The fish was tender and moist. Decided to skip dessert because we had coffee Haagen-daz at home to eat, and they pretty much only had one dessert (salted caramel pie). All in all, this was a flavorful, rustic, humble meal with classic Tuscan flavors. Would recommend for sure!

    (4)

  • Mari C.

    Bottega is pretty much a reservation only restaurant. While we were there at least 2 groups dropped by to get dinner but were not able to snag a table. The restaurant is as described...rustic, cozy. Our main server was a very nice guy. Overall, the service was good though there are a couple of people serving each table so sometimes miscommunication can occur (dishes don't come to the table). The fold was good too and it much needed in this area of town where there aren't many options. The romaine salad was really good as well as the costini. The malfatti was really tasty too. The only dish we didn't love was the cassoulet...we expected a bit more of a creamy stew but our plate was pretty dry. The salted caramel pie was tasty and the thick salt on top was a nice touch. I would definitely go back! It's nice that it is walking distance to my house. Just have to snag a reservation.

    (4)

  • Jessica G.

    Selected this restaurant based on reviews to celebrate my husbands promotion. We are always interested in trying new places and the promise of hand made pasta caught both our attentions. We also loved that it was BYOB and had stopped to pick up a nice bottle of wine. The outside looks very inconspicuous and somewhat run down. (Internally I was hoping I hadn't chose poorly). Inside, the dining room was rustic and small. There were maybe 15 tables and quarters were tight. I was humongously pregnant and had to proceed to our table in the back (next to an open kitchen) with great care so as not to knock other patrons drinks on the floor. Once seated we waited quite awhile for service, almost to the point that we thought we may have been forgotten. (Though that would be difficult in such a small space). The upside was that we had plenty of time to mull over the somewhat limited menu, which was written up on a chalk board on one wall. I liked this detail. It reinforced that this restaurant was serving whatever they had fresh for that day and no more. Once our server finally greeted us however, the entire experience really took off! He was friendly, knowledgable and engaging. The food was absolutely the star of the show, as it should be, so let's dive into that. First course we ordered a smoked salad with lardo, grapefruit, and feta. It was superbly smoky and flavorful. The acid from the grapefruit gave it the perfect punch. We also had the chicken liver mouse which came out in a generous portion, slathered on two nice sized pieces of fresh baked bread. The flakey crust, chewy center and good half inch of mouse on top made this a decadent and equally flavorful accompaniment to the salad. (My husband has been attempting to recreate this for me since then. It was seriously so good). Main course we both chose the pasta dish, I went with rabbit and my husband the duck. I can't express to you how good both dishes were. The two different proteins were served in two different complimentary dressings. The rabbit with a savory tomato based one and the duck with a robust wine sauce. The pasta was absolutely perfect in texture and shape. It held sauce well and serving size was perfect. Both dishes we so good that husband and I switched plates midway through so we could enjoy a good portion of each. We were both sated after this course but I had forgotten that I had mentioned we were celebrating in the open table reservation. This meant we were pleasantly surprised when the server brought out a slice of their salted caramel pie with a candle in it. He congratulated my husband on his promotion and both of us on the pending arrival of our daughter. It was a very sweet touch. The pie was exceptional and indulgent. To top it all off we were floored when we received the check and realized the entire meal cost much less than we expected. Combine that with all the money we saved buying our own wine and we just had a gourmet meal that rivaled Pazo for the price of going to one those Italian chains. All in all a wonderful experience despite the initial slow service, which is the reason (along with the shabby exterior I guess) I can't give them a 5. We will be visited them again.

    (4)

  • Pop C.

    Food is great. If you don't eat meat, choice will be tough because they usually have only a few seafood dishes on menu. It is a small restaurant so service is slow. there is no vestibule so it is cold in the winter if you sit by the door. BYOB. It is very dark inside and home kind of atmosphere. I will repeat.

    (4)

  • Nicole J.

    AMAZING restaurant. I don't often write reviews for restaurants because places rarely blow me away - I am making an exception for Bottega. It is a lovely, intimate, yet down-to-earth restaurant. The food - from the chicken liver pate to the duck leg and steak - was fantastic and to die for. I have eaten at $$$ places in harbor east that is nowhere near as delicious and flavorful as Bottega. At the end of the night, Adrien the owner of Bottega, gave us a piece of salted caramel pie with sea salt on the house. OMG. It was the most decadent and delicious dessert I've had. The service is great, even better than Woodberry Kitchen, and there is an intimacy behind this dining experience you will not get anywhere else. I found my new favorite restaurant.

    (5)

  • Matt S.

    Best restaurant in Baltimore. I love the ambiance of the restaurant with the chalk board, view of the chef cooking in the kitchen, and the homemade wooden floors. The food is out of this world! The Duck Pappardelle is one of the best dishes I've ever had, as were the pork cheeks. The complaints about the chalkboards are so annoying, and also completely overstated, as it adds to the uniqueness of the place. Plus since the menu changes from night to night, so it's an effective way of not having to print off 30 menus a night. Love this place, and will continue to go back!

    (5)

  • W G.

    We went to Bottega to celebrate a birthday, and we left feeling less than celebratory. We arrived a bit early, but we were seated right away...by the front door. It's a tiny place, I know, but a table by the door on a cold November night is not inviting or comfortable. Hovering over neighboring tables in order to read the chalkboard menu is awkward. We felt like our servers did everything possible to minimize interactions. Privacy and intimacy is one thing. We felt downright neglected. Food was ok--not bad or good. We enjoyed the kale salad and salted butter and radish crostini. As my husband said, "who would've thought bread and butter tastes good together?" Right. Minimal creativity. We ordered the fish (filleted by the kitchen, riddled with bones) and the pork shoulder (mediocre, hard to cut without a proper knife). Now this next part is not totally Bottega's fault, but worth mentioning. The restaurant is small, and we suffered an excruciating hour of one drunken woman's laughing and chatter. No staff tried to quiet her down, and people were asking to move to any tables that opened up--even mid-meal! (Not that it helped much.) We couldn't wait to leave. The lackluster food, absent service, and horrible atmosphere were too much to bear. I don't see any reason to return, and I'd say that even if we didn't have The Most Obnoxious Drunk Lady dining there with us.

    (2)

  • Amanda W.

    The space: We snagged a Friday night reservation and felt pretty lucky in doing so because the space is very small. My boyfriend said it would be a claustrophobe's nightmare because the tables are all very close together and you can hear all the other tables' conversations. As soon as we arrived, there was an awkward moment where we were just sandwiched between the door and the table right next to the door because there were other people waiting to be sat in front of us. There isn't a designated "host" so you just have to stand in the midst of diners until one of the servers ushers you downstairs to wait for your reservation. The wait was fairly short, about five minutes. The menu: Yes it's on a chalkboard, which was a difficult for both of us to read because we have awful sight so I pulled the menu up from Bottega's facebook page and we read through the selections on our phone. It also was more comfortable than deciding while standing up and inevitably hovering over other patrons. The food: Chicken liver crostini: The livers were really buttery, well seasoned, so delicious. The texture is in between pate and chopped livers, but definitely on the chunkier side. The bread that the livers were served on was burnt and left a really bitter taste in my mouth. I understand trying to get a toasted aroma, but no one likes burnt black toast. I ended up scraping the livers off and smearing it on some white bread that we had asked for. Boar Pappardelle: Long thick ribbon pasta. Definitely cooked al dente and and really flavorful. The boar was crumbled and strewn throughout. Lamb Loin: My boyfriend always gets steak when we go out, but because Bottega didn't have a steak entree, he decided to try out lamb. I think after this experience, he'll never order lamb again. The fat to meat ratio was overwhelming: like 65% fat to 35% meat. And the fat wasn't the melt in your mouth fat that pork belly has, but what he called "just a giant chunk of inedible fat." Duck breast: The duck was really tender and moist. It was served over creamed sweet potato and the duck had a cherry glaze/compote over top. In my mind, I kept wishing there was MORE. Not because it was so delicious, but because I felt like I had to ration every bite! On my entire plate, there was probably one spoonful of creamed sweet potato, which I had to meticulously divide up so that I wouldn't eat all the potatoes before finishing one slice of duck. Also, the cherries were delicious, but I also felt like I had to ration because there was only enough cherry for maybe 2 duck slices out of the 5. We both thought the entrees were not a good value. Chocolate Caramel pie: Everyone should probably finish their meal with this. It reminded me of those mouth party caramels and the texture was too hard to use our fork on so I ended up just picking it up and eating it like a cookie. The service: It seemed like there were two servers and one manager that floated around. The manager was very nice and had a calming, gentle presence. The servers were also incredibly nice and friendly and they all seemed to genuinely want you to have a good time. However, I'm not sure if it's because the restaurant was pretty full, but the service was a little scatterbrained at times. The entrees took a painfully long time to arrive after our appetizers (which might not be the servers' fault at all) but during this waiting period, we saw one of the servers clearly munching and eating something enjoyable in the kitchen. My boyfriend noted, "Wow I wish that we were eating as well!" Also, a water glass was taken away (because the server dropped something in the water) and it wasn't replaced until after we decided to share our one glass- really not a big deal because we share everything anyways. But then one of our napkins was also removed (when the server decided to wipe the table with it) and was actually never replaced and sharing a dirty napkin is not as nice. When we asked for more bread, so that we could dip into sauces, no bread was brought. None of these were huge issues to us, but the accumulation of all of them just made us feel a little uncomfortable. Overall, we had a really fun time in the intimate space, but if we ever return, we'll probably pass on the entrees and get just pasta and crostini for value and efficiency purposes.

    (3)

  • Sristi S.

    We went there for a celebratory dinner and realized in the restaurant that it was BYOB!! Oh well...the food made up for the lack of alcohol. Really really good. The menu changes so I dont know the exact names of the dishes, but we had mushroom and cheese crostini, and home-made pasta and fish. Just delicious! Will go back for sure.

    (4)

  • William A.

    TL;DR: Bottega has amazing food, a cute, intimate space, an ever changing menu, and reasonable prices. If you're looking for heaping portions of food, avoiding human interaction, or the ability to stroll in without a reservation then look elsewhere. Knowing how hard it can be to get a weekend reservation my girlfriend and I decided to go on a Tuesday and made the reservation a few days ahead of time. Upon entering we were promptly greeted, seated, and had the champagne we brought (BYOB!) opened and on our table. The restaurant has a little over 20 seats, a visible and open kitchen, and a very rustic feel to it. If you really tried you could probably hear another table's conversation near you, but I never felt like our privacy was lacking. From our table we had a good view of the chalkboard menu (if you sit somewhere without a good view you can always pull up their website to check what the menu is for that day) and were excited about the many choices there. We had already decided to split a pasta dish and a main dish and narrowed it down to two of each. With that we asked for recommendations from our friendly waiter who advised us of the lamb pappardelle over the boar since they did not usually have lamb and thought the pork shank, which "falls off the bone," was a better choice to split over the moulard duck breast. Our pasta was out to us within ten minutes and to die for. The noodles were clearly hand made (a fact confirmed when the person who made them stopped by our table) and the lamb was generously spread throughout in the light olive-oil based sauce. Shortly after we finished with our pasta, the pork shank came out. There was no exaggeration about the "falling off the bone" comment. While there were some greens and pickled carrots and onions on the side, it was nice to see that the focus of the dish was the shank itself. The meat was juicy and complemented by a small helping of an extremely mild condiment atop it. We were advised that this was the biggest "main course" dish and we were both satisfied by the end of it. Although I am not a huge sweets person I cannot resist anything done well and so we opted for the raspberry goat cheese cheesecake at the end of the meal. This was one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had in my life. The goat cheese gave it a slightly less smooth texture and the graham cracker crust went perfectly with it. My only complaint is that it could have used a little more raspberry in it. The bill was just over $30 a person after tip and I will definitely be back again as soon as possible.

    (5)

  • Jamal P.

    Ohhhh Bottega. You are such a great place to go with a BYOB option as well??!! Can't more restaurants get into gear like you? The kale egg salad was so tasty that we ordered another. Location in a small rustic spot was a real gem. Hopefully I can talk my friends into coming in here more often bc this place is amazing.

    (5)

  • Emily L.

    What a special place Bottega is. I saved it for a special person on a special day -- my dearest girlfriend, who was celebrating a birthday. We scored an early weeknight reservation with no problem and, as a bonus, parked for a whopping dollar half a block away! Upon entering, I was about as charmed as I've ever been. The place is tiny, but doesn't feel cramped; eclectic, but without a hint of pretension. Just all-around lovely, like a European cafe. There is no menu other than the chalkboard on the wall, but they post photos of it every day or two on social media. I found that a perfect marriage between old-world style (many French cafes also boast handwritten, ever-changing menus) and modern convenience (I was able to ensure ahead of time that my vegetarian friend would have some options.) The only hiccup came early on, when we discovered they're a BYOB restaurant. I somehow missed that on the website, but thankfully, they have a fix: Tapas Teatro, a block and a half away, will sell wine to go and even give you a discount if you mention Adrien from Bottega. What a lifesaver that option was! Our server said they have no immediate plans to get a liquor license, so in the future, I'll look forward to selecting my own bottle ahead of time. A bottle of chilled and sparkling rose secured, we relaxed and began an evening of delightful conversation -- the kind only a close friend can bring. Soon our appetizers arrived: a crostini with fava beans, olive oil and shaved Pecorino, and a kale Caesar with marinated anchovies. Each bite was incredible, from the chewy artisan bread to the fruity olive oil and pinwheel of salty fish (they kindly separated them from the salad so we could both have some.) The portions were just right to excite the appetite, not satiate it too early. Our main courses were also delightful: my friend chose their homemade papardelle, long, wide ribbons of eggy pasta, in a deeply flavorful marinara sauce with freshly-grated Parmesan. It was the apex of pasta perfection. My roasted chicken was honestly the best I've ever had (and the best prior to this was at a cafe in Paris and cost twice as much!) Crispy skin stretched tightly over the most flavorful and juicy meat imaginable -- it was simple and yet beautifully complex. Alongside was a square of savory rice pudding with spinach, something I never would have thought I'd love so much! The meal was so delicious I almost cried when I had to stop halfway through (pesky stomach capacity.) When I got home I made my husband eat the rest right away -- I couldn't bear the thought of reheating it later. He agreed it was delicious and we already have a reservation to return for my father's birthday next month! However, I can't end this culinary paean without rhapsodizing over dessert. I should say that chocolate and caramel, while delicious, are not my first choice, and I was intrigued by the lemon panna cotta (custard IS my favorite!) But when the birthday girl wanted the salted caramel pie, I wasn't going to stand in her way. And I'm SO glad she chose it, because what an amazing experience it is. I think I had in mind a chocolate pie with a caramel topping, but it was actually the opposite: a huge wedge of buttery, chewy caramel, covered with the thinnest crust of bittersweet chocolate. Oh. My. Goodness. With every bite, we were speechless. Speechless, however, does not come close to my reaction when we got the bill. For this decadence, we spent barely $30 per person -- tax, tip and alcohol not included, but still, that's an incredible price for the experience. I am telling everyone I know about Bottega, because I hope it becomes the huge hit it deserves to be!

    (5)

  • Josh A.

    I'd been hearing about Bottega since it opened so I was happy to finally get a chance to check it out for myself since I live in the neighborhood. I went on a date and our first impression was that the cozy space is very cute. The atmosphere is rustic and lovely, which suits their ever-changing menu, which is written on a chalk board. They manage to fit a lot of people into a very small area, but you still probably want to make a reservation. We were one of the first people there at 5:30, but it filled up quickly. The service was excellent, friendly and attentive without being overbearing. We got the kale salad and the salami plate to start and we were pleasantly surprised by the portions. Prepare to share. Both appetizers were tasty, though the kale salad shone a little brighter. For entrees, we got the duck breast with creamed spinach and the malfatti with ricotta and spinach. The entree portions were much smaller than the appetizer, which seems backwards but I'm sure saves on overhead. While the duck breast was delicious, easily the best thing we had that night, the creamed spinach and malfatti were both on the bland side. We decided to skip on the two dessert selections and went to WC Harlan for drinks instead. (Note: don't forget Bottega is BYOB only...like I did.) Overall, it was a very good, though not amazing, meal. I'd definitely go back to try it again, but they could improve with a little more consistency in seasoning.

    (4)

  • Jen J.

    I cannot stop raving about our meal here several weeks ago. Grilled kale salad was outta this world and I will be dreaming of that caramel pie for a good, long while. Go. Just go.

    (5)

  • Z N.

    Good vibe. Ambitious food. Hipster fashion. Over-priced. Cheap furniture. Over confident?

    (3)

  • Kippy P.

    We went to celebrate our Anniversary. Really wanted to love it. The Good: Our entrees were very good. Got beef cheeks and Lamb shank and they both tasted fantastic. Atmosphere- Love it, its quaint and super cute. Service was mediocre at best. Our waitress was very nice but not very helpful. The menu is written on a small chalk board that is very difficult to read without having to get up and read. Would have been more helpful to just read the menu to us (instead of basically running through it after we asked) since it is a small menu. Being a BYOB is great but when you have no one offer to open your wine or beer. We opened our own beer and waited forever to flag down our waitress to finally have her open our wine that was sitting unopened in plain site for a long time. We got the Chicken Liver Crostini. I have had chicken liver pate and love foie gras so I was surprised when it came out as huge chunks on top of a large crostini. It was just too much and very large chunks. The flavor was just a little off (I think it needed to be not so chunky). We ordered the pasta as well and it was nothing special. We had the wild boar tagletelli and having had some phenomenal pasta dishes at Cinghiale and Aggio I was excited but it just lacked flavor and wasn't anything special. Overall we had a nice time celebrating our Anniversary but the food wasn't anything special to make us go back.

    (3)

  • Supriya M.

    Oh we had heard so much about Bottega. So so much that we made a reservation in February for May - yes, 3 months ago! The place is tiny with a nice rustic ambiance. The best part - BYOB with NO corkage! That was definitely a huge strength of the place. The food was very well done - the leek and mushroom crostini with chevre was delicious - heavy on the garlic. Their olive oil was just fantastic. The spinach maflati could have used more flavor but was still melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The spare ribs were falling off the bone and although my husband liked the veal kidney, I thought it was just too much kidney for one dish. The chocolate caramel pie - I could have eaten about 3 more slices of it but the weakness of the night was definitely the lemon rhubarb panna cota - tasted like lemon yogurt. Overall, it was a nice evening with good, solid but not inventive food. I would recommend for small parties, especially date nights!

    (4)

  • Robert W.

    What a pleasant surprise. I believe the first time I heard about this place was in Baltimore Magazine's top restaurants. I don't think all the places on there deserve a place so I was a bit hesitant. But, the reviews on here were good so we checked it out. We were able to find street parking and the place is not very big. Maybe slightly wider than a rowhome. Service was friendly and efficient, as I would expect since there probably a max capacity of 20 diners. The crostini- we shared one with lamb and one with duck was good. Flavorful, simple ingredients on top of grilled and slightly buttered bread. The prosciutto salad with pea shoots and fresh moz was delicious. The pastas are homemade, and we had the papardelle with the boar ragu. You can taste the freshness of the pasta, but we craved more sauce. I know true Italians like to let the pasta sing... but I'm not Italian and wanted more sauce! The duck- it is nice to see a place that can properly sear a duck breast while maintaining the juiciness of the meat. It was served with spelt, caramelized dates? and pepita. The savory of the rendered duck fat and the sweetness of the dates made the dish. The salted caramel chocolate cake- decadent. The bottom layer is probably 1cm thick caramel layer and was my favorite part. The panna cotta was good too, but not as good as Cinghiale's. Like other people have said, it's a small place to plan ahead with reservations. They are very much a mom/pop shop, don't have a liquor license and use an iphone app to charge your card. I wish these guys luck and hope they continue to evolve. Another nice addition to the Baltimore food scene. Places similar: Maggie's Farm, Hersh's, Salt, Corner BYOB, Demi (when it was open).

    (5)

  • Kelly R.

    The good is amazing. Those sage butter dumplings are epic, the pasta sublime... But please, Bottega, please do something with acoustics! With a small, tight room, with no apparent design to absorb the sound. The noise level was almost unbearable and we could hardly hear each other over the noise. Although the chalkboard menu is charming, I find it very awkward to stand over other customers to read it. And the suggestion to "take a picture with my phone and bring it to my seat" was also awkward. A few printed menus to bring diners at their seats would be wonderful!

    (4)

  • Drew K.

    Food was excellent, as the pasta and crostini we ordered exceeded expectations. Service was a bit uneven, we waited in the downstairs by the bathroom for our table, but did not damper the night too much and the quality of the food certainly helped make up for it.

    (4)

  • Kevin K.

    What's your mom's kitchen look like? Packed and crowded with friendly yelling? You Yelpers praise a place when treated "like at home". Bottega tries to get there but does it only half right. Made a late weeknight res 20 minutes before and showed up to a half empty restaurant (Was still asked for a reservation?!). Casual yet intimate, the walls of this quiet 16-seater are a library of cooking books and dining room utensils. And it's library quiet.. "tink" goes your fork and the Restaurant's heart skips a beat. And that's Bottega's goal--rustic familial. The decor supports it but efforts fail after. Service is muted and subservient. There's no laughter, no loudness, no boisterous uncle, brother, or friend. No efforts to strike a relationship or converse person-person. It's all "what would you like?" and "Glad you liked it." The menu** is equally half-executed. Fresh anchovies were otherwise bland, so the rye focaccia bite was most impressive. Goat cheese and crimini crostini were off, texture tougher than homemade and almost no cheese. Salt needed. Tomatoes burst with freshness in the otherwise bland pappardelle that needed another minute, and the rustic venison farro stew is offset by juniper notes. Salt needed. Spinich and Ricotta Malfatti was earthy and oily, the richest and most comforting of all the dishes, but salt needed. When it ups the salt and service grows personality, then it's "mom's kitchen". **Bottega's part of the chalkboard menu fad. You walk around other diners and memorize what you want before shuffling quickly back to your table so you don't forget! This is not chic or inventive, just awkward. Please restaurants, just print your menu.

    (3)

  • Cindy F.

    I must be missing something. Crostini on basic, supermarketish bread that's been charred, topped with considerably less than top drawer ingredients. My mister makes better crostini when he's super drunk. An ordinary kale salad. I expect better than what I can easily do at home when I'm paying for others to make my food. Maybe I'm demanding but seriously, I can't figure out why everyone digs this place so much. Cool vibe but this is amateur hour, people. Pappardelle with boar. Pappardelle was cold in some spots, hot in others. Dry in some spots, soft in others. Boar was dry and over salted. I left at least half of mine on the plate. We were asked how our meal was when they brought the check. Not before. We said, "well, it wasn't good." "Ok, thanks, have a good night." Yea, you, too, Bottega. Enjoy our cash cuz you won't see it again.

    (1)

  • Claire S.

    I just finished eating at Bottega an hour ago and am already thinking about when I can next eat at Bottega. Their parpadelle basically changed my life. I 100% recommend this restaurant without reservations (thought you don't really have a chance of eating there without a reservation). Amazing food, fantastic service, and it's BYOB, which keeps the bill at a reasonable price. We started with a marinated artichoke crostini which was divine. We also had the kale ceasar salad which was pretty fab, with a loud punch of lemon in the dressing. So great. Then, the parpadelle, which as I mentioned before was life-changing and really all I want to eat every day is 9 to 10 plates of that parpadelle, for the rest of my life. Then we had our own entrees. Mine was succulent and so well cooked, the flavors beautifully crafted and blended. Then, the salted caramel pie. Which is basically a heath bar turned into a pie, but better. Just go already!! Why don't you have a reservation yet??

    (5)

  • Hugh B.

    We were a little apprehensive on our first visit, because the reviews here on Yelp seem to fall into two camps -- excellent and awful. We'll pitch our tent in the first camp, because the food was some of the best we've eaten in Baltimore. This is not a white-tablecloth, cloying-waiter restaurant. The neighborhood is marginal, the space is cramped, and the tables are rustic. Service was good, but the small staff clearly prioritizes the food over "how is everything?" The menu is small (hand-written on a pair of blackboards), but I like it when chefs make choices for their diners. I wouldn't choose this place if I were trying to impress a first date, but if you've already closed the deal and want to enjoy some wonderful food together, I wouldn't miss it.

    (5)

  • Adam R.

    Truly a 5 star hidden gem and as good as everyone says. It's a rare find to find a rustic meal in a cozy environment that delivers the high quality without the pretense. With a chalkboard menu that changes regularly I look forward to many returns. I had the pork shank which was really perfectly done. My wife had the whole branzino which also could not have been done any better. Byob makes it even a simpler and more affordable delight. Sure, it's was cold out and cold inside but that won't stop me from bundling up and getting another reservation soon.

    (5)

  • Jarrod F.

    It's all about the food here and you can tell when you visit. We came here last night (after waiting a month for a Saturday reservation) and felt like we were sitting in an old world Italian kitchen with loads of foodies all around us, anxiously anticipating whatever the chef was conjuring up in his kitchen of wonders that evening . We started with the spinach/ricotta pasta balls with sage. I can't remember the exact name of the pasta (almaffi?) but they were definitely tasty pasta balls. For dinner we had the lamb shank with beans and kale as well as the sausages with lentils. Both dishes were superb, especially the lamb shank. For dessert we had the lemon yogurt which we just didn't like at all. I like the fact that everything was fresh and homemade. Nothing felt like it came out of a bottle. Nothing felt pretentious or out of place. And nothing was fried, which I was particularly excited about. In fact, I didn't even see a fryer in the kitchen. YAY! My one gripe is the menu. Since the menu is an ever changing entity (farm to table), there are limited options to choose from. I think the best bet is to order an appetizer, pasta and dinner for a complete meal. Definitely bring your own wine since this is a BYOB and definitely make a reservation in advance because this is a new hot spot in town with a very talented chef making a lot of magic happen.

    (4)

  • Tallulah B.

    This place is truly a gem. It is intimate and lovely. The food is incredible. This evening we came to celebrate my friends birthday and were wowed by every dish. The Creminj mushroom crostini was so delicious, flavorful and so good. The duck paparadelle was so good that we wished there were more...that will be the only complaint. The pork cheek was one if the best dishes I have ever had, ever. It was perfection. We all wanted to lick our plates it was that incredible. This place truly has it all, lovely servers, cozy atmosphere and above all amazing food. Thank you Bottega.

    (5)

  • Kylie T.

    If I could give a zero star review, I would. This was supposed to be a nice birthday dinner for my boyfriend so we decided on Bottega since neither of us had been and since it seemed like a well-regarded place. His mom was visiting from out of town, so we thought it would be perfect. I agree with the other Yelper who thinks some of these good reviews may be made up. We were 25 minutes early to our 9:30 PM reservation and we were really happy that they were able to seat us early. As mentioned, the chalkboard menu thing is annoying. We were in a group of three and had to all huddle around to read the menu, which made the decision process feel rushed because we we felt like we were crowding the already semi-cramped space. We figured out what we wanted: roasted duck leg with warm kale and potato salad, grilled marinated asparagus with pea polenta cake, fungi, and creme fraiche, and the seared scallops with catfish ceviche. We also ordered the oxtail and rhubarb jam crostini. The crostini was fine - the oxtail was a tiny bit spicy and I enjoyed the jam. Next we waited........and waited......and waited......for about 40 minutes until our dinners were brought out. In the meantime, the waitress seemed beyond disinterested in so much as even giving us an update or making sure everything at our table was okay. Finally, the food was rushed out, which...diners who had come in after us, actually received their food before us and that's when I discovered that I will never return to Bottega. To start....the asparagus, although said to be grilled, was cold. I can only assume the chef didn't allocate enough time for everything and got the asparagus done well before everything else. The polenta was BURNT. I don't mean lightly golden or even a dark golden color, I'm talking a burnt to a crisp around the edges and a horrible burnt taste. We thought maybe it was the asparagus since, coincidentally, the some asparagus pieces were burned to a crisp...but the polenta had the worst aftertaste. My boyfriend wasn't able to finish eating the last few pieces of asparagus or polenta. Next, the scallops...........TOO. MUCH. SALT. It tasted like there was an 1/8'' layer of salt encrusted to the bottom of each scallop. If I had made those scallops at my house, I would have thrown them away. However, since we were paying about $10 a scallop, we still ate them. Speaking of which, why is this place tagged as "$$" - a $30 dollar entree for 3 scallops should be at least "$$$" in my opinion. The ceviche was okay....My tongue felt singed after the salt overload, that I could barely taste it. Finally, the only semi-decent entree...the duck. Dry! I've had delicious duck many, many times over at various restaurants and have made duck unsuccessfully on my own. This tasted reminiscent of the time I attempted roast duck. Dry, the skin was black but in the most unappetizing of ways. The potato salad was okay - however, also dry (I think they forgot the "salad" part of the item) and I believe the chef should have cooked the potatoes in salt as they tasted under-seasoned. Out of all of these missed targets, I think the duck was the only semi-acceptable meal...the whole meal was just insulting to anyone who enjoys eating good food. The only time the waitress was seemingly interested in being accommodating to our table is when it came time for us to pay the check and leave. No amount of money could ever convince me to eat at Bottega again.

    (1)

  • Tunaidi A.

    WOW!!! There is no greater hidden gem! Bottega just recently opened up in October and, honestly, I drove passed it multiple times without even knowing it was a new restaurant, let alone a fantastic one, until my wife mentioned that she thought she saw a new establishment nearby. Well, good thing we decided to check it out... because I cannot rave enough about it. First, three things to note. 1) Bottega is BYOB. 2) There is very limited seating, so reservations are the best way to go. 3) Only dinner is served, and don't show up on a Monday (because it's closed). Finally, food... IS FREAKING AMAZING! Bottega's menu changes frequently. I think it's on a weekly basis. The first time I went, I was stunned. The only things I said to my wife throughout the entire meal were constant repetitions and variations of "this is so good!" For our appetizer, we had the ricotta, honey, and pumpkin seed paste on bread. It was novel and delicious. We also had the tastiest pappardelle pasta ever, which was cooked with amazing boar meat. However, it was the octopus with sweet potato and mustard greens blew us away. I've never had a more tender, meaty, and delectable octopus dish. For those with a sweet tooth, the dessert was fabulous. Salted caramel, chocolate pie... words cannot accurately describe its goodness. The wife squealed in a way I've never seen her squeal before... Service was very pleasant, and I'd love to dine at Bottega more frequently.

    (5)

  • Lady B.

    Amazing night out with a girlfriend. The place is micro sized and so lovely! Staff was on point. BYOB. small menu which changes weekely. Everything was as described in previous comments. Will definitely be back-- and with a boy next time!

    (5)

  • Catherine L.

    Intimate atmosphere....interesting walls with reclaimed wood. Food was delicious and fresh! Quality food in a comfy environment. We loved BYOB. Our night here lived up to all of the expectations of what we had heard.

    (4)

  • Steve L.

    Big fan. I went twice in one week and each time had to wait until what most people would call bed time to eat because of how booked they were. I would voluntarily change dinner time to 10PM if it meant I could eat here 7 days a week. The menu rotates so I will not get into details but if I must recommend one dish it is the Pappardelle Bolognese. Couple this restaurant with a nightcap at WC Harlan afterwards and you have yourself a great date night.

    (5)

  • Nicole E.

    This is our new favorite place in Baltimore! Not only is it a mere 2 blocks from our house, but it is amazing. The place is small and inviting. You feel like you are no longer in Baltimore. Brooklyn? San Francisco maybe? What a spot. And the food! Everything was delicious We had the the kale salad, malfatti, veal breast, duck parapadelle, and FREE salted caramel pie they offered to everyone in the restaurant (simply because it didn't come out to the chef's perfection). The parpadelle noodles were a bit undercooked, but the duck sauce was so amazing that it didn't matter. The menu is small, but who cares when everything is that good? The staff were friendly, and seemed to genuinely love the food and working there. We'll be back ... as soon as possible.

    (5)

  • Sara W.

    Apparently customers do not matter. Made a reservation for today. The entire place is closed. Not worth anyone's time. Email confirmation and everything. So many good restaurants. Don't bother. Let this place close.

    (1)

  • Thy N.

    4.5 stars. We started off with the kale salad, spinach salad, liver crostini, and beet crostini. The kale salad was nicely dressed and had fresh anchovies that were delicious!! The spinach salad was pretty standard. The crostinis were great! Then we had the two pasta dishes. The mulfatti was under salted but once we added this, it was Devine. Our pappardelle was Luke warm at best but had good flavor. We shared a main course, the pork shank. It was well seasoned, tasting like star anise or pho (a vietnamese soup). The hominy side complemented it well. We finished with the caramel pie and the raspberry goat cheesecake. The pie was fantastic and my husband enjoyed the cheesecake. I'm not a goat cheese fan. Service was good. And it's byob which makes it great!! Will be back in the spring!!

    (4)

  • Sarah G.

    Wow. Just Wow. I almost didn't see Bottega as we were driving up to it and almost missed it again as we parked. From the outside, it doesn't look like I would have imagined from a place with such amazing reviews. And then inside, it's this tiny lower level of a row house which can fit maybe, I mean MAYBE, 30 people. But it is so homey. There is a very rustic feel to it, the always changing menu is on chalkboards, the whole right wall covered in shelving with pastas, vegetables, and cookbooks. Straight at the back, the kitchen is open so you can kind of see the chef creating the dishes. When we arrived, they were running late on our reservations so they suggested we go around the block to have a drink and they would call. We didn't mind because there really was no place to wait anyway! It was SO worth the wait. The waitress was very friendly and helpful in helping us choose. My boyfriend started with the head cheese on a crostini with arugula...Turns out head cheese isn't cheese...but he ate it anyway without giving too much thought to what it actually was! For our entrees, I ordered the butternut/ricotta stuffed tortelli in sage butter sauce. Oh my god. Perfection. My boyfriend got braised rabbit with polenta and carrots which he devoured. I tried too and it was mighty tastey! Dessert: greek yogurt panna cotta with chestnut honey and chocolate caramel pie. I can't even handle how good they were. I want to go back here every week to try each new menu. And hell, I would be able to afford it because the dishes may not be huge but thy are very reasonably priced and the service fantastic. It's BYOB which my boyfriend forgot to tell me so next time, we'll definitely be bringing wine!

    (5)

  • Elisia K.

    We had such a good meal here last week! The food is absolutely delicious - new and interesting without being too over the top. We loved our two pasta courses Malfatti & Wild boar pasta. Bottega only seats a small amount so you'll definitely need a reservation. Food is a little pricely, but since it's BYOB it keeps the bill way down! Love this place and can't wait to go back.

    (5)

  • Kara T.

    I guess if we had been able to try the food the rating would be larger. But we showed up at 8 when we had a reservation... Then was rudely told to wait outside. Sat out there for 45 minutes without anyone checking in, and decided to leave since we were very hungry and trying to salvage the rest of the evening... I had even bought a special bottle of wine. Willing to try again but won't make it a priority.

    (1)

  • Kate F.

    My husband & I were very much looking forward to eating at Bottega, especially after reading all the rave reviews about it. As many people have stated, it's a small restaurant - only 15 seats & since the menu rotates regularly, instead of a menu, the options are written on a chalkboard. We shared a crostini, each got a pasta - the pappardelle with boar & the spinach & ricotta malfatti - & each got a dessert. The crostini was delicious, as was the dessert - especially the salted caramel chocolate cake. The pastas were good, however, we both felt as though the pappardelle was rather salty. My husband isn't a huge rosemary fan & rosemary was in the malfatti. I guess what can be tricky about the chalkboard menus is that they don't list all the ingredients. If my husband had known there would be a lot of rosemary in the malfatti, he probably would not have ordered it. Although we didn't order a salad, but they looked tasty & great for sharing. We did have issues with customer service. Upon arrival, we were shown a table right next to the door, meaning that we would catch a draft & get hit with cold air whenever people walked in. We asked for the other open two-top available but were told that wouldn't be possible, that the restaurant was so small & like a puzzle, so it would be difficult to switch tables. However, five minutes after being seated next to the door, another couple walked in without a reservation & were seated at the table we had requested. We were rather frustrated by that, especially as more & more people entered & exited the restaurant. I also wish that the waiter had guided us through the menu a bit more. We both ordered the pasta as our main course. Even though the pasta isn't listed as an entree, we assumed that since pastas tend to be heavier, that they would be sufficient as an entree. The waiter seemed slightly surprised but didn't make a comment, took our order & walked away. Our pasta was about the size of a small entree - if our waiter had told us that, we probably would have also shared a pasta & then gotten an entree a piece. Not a big deal, but one of those things where if you knew what you knew now, you would have done it differently. I just think we would have appreciated a bit more guidance. So, what we had was tasty, customer service was lacking a bit - I don't know if it's a place we'd necessarily go back to nor recommend. But, I wouldn't necessarily discourage someone from eating there.

    (2)

  • Chris A.

    One of my favorite BYOB places in Baltimore. Just make sure you make the reservations with a week or two in advance.

    (4)

  • Val S.

    Was lucky to get a last-minute reservation for Saturday at 7:30pm as someone had just cancelled. At 7:20pm, the restaurant was busy, but not completely packed. We were seated pretty quickly. The place is small, but very cozy and rustic. The menu is indeed displayed on a board, so bring your reading glasses, as you don't want to be staring or squinting at the board. Started with the lamb crostini which was really delicious, albeit a little chewy. Next was beef rolls which was plenty and was very filling. As the night progressed, the place got busier and was full of people. Overall, really enjoyed the cozy feel and ambiance.

    (5)

  • Abe L.

    Fantastic food that changes weekly. Appropriate service, quaint romantic and intimate decor, seated quickly at the time of our reservations. Plan on making this a regular spot in the dining out rotation. I hope Baltimore can encourage and support unique restaurants like this. Excited to go back to see what's being served up!

    (5)

  • Sonya L.

    My fiancé and I visited because we travel around the country and love good flavorful food. We were disappointed by the food at this place. We enjoyed it but it wasn't anything special. We had a crostini with greens,honey and ricotta which was good and our favorite dish. We tried their pasta which was tender and had potato and herbs inside but we had the pasta come with boar which was dry and flavorless. We were also surprised by the small amount of sauce it came with which we could barely taste because there was not enough of it. We also tried the cod entree which was extremely salty and hard to stomach. We told them and they were very courteous and took it off our bill. We felt the service was very good and professional but feel this is more of a neighborhood spot rather than a foodie experience. Very cool that it's BYOB and it has a romantic and rustic vibe.

    (3)

  • Anna K.

    I had been anticipating our meal at Bottega for a while (given how hard it is to get reservations at a decent time). I knew it was a small place with one cook and had my expectations adjusted for a more rustic experience. What disappointed me was that I felt like I could prepare most of the dishes we ordered at home. To start we split the beet salad with goat cheese, cremini mushrooms on crostini, and the anchovies. Each dish needed something extra to elevate it given the price point. For dinner we split the malfati (by far the best dish of the evening) and the bone marrow with oxtail ragu. I enjoyed the marrow but my husband thought it could be roasted longer. The bigger issue was that the ragu was served at too cool a temperature. We chose the salted caramel and chocolate pie for desert which was placed on our table rather unceremoniously - it was an odd end to the evening. The desert was good but not excellent. I will likely return in the spring as the produce changes but I'm not as in love with Bottega as I wanted to be.

    (3)

  • Heather S.

    Wow. Small place, chalkboard menu that changes weekly and BYOB with excellent handmade food. We ate everything on the menu except for two items. The pastas were excellent, the meat was well cooked, and the menu was interesting. Service was great too. Immediately a favorite for me. We had crostini with brocollini or mushroom, pasta with pesto and tagliatelle pasta with boar, venison stew, a half-chicken and oxtail. And then salted caramel pie with sea salt and an apply bread pudding (they used rye). Highly recommend; you probably need reservations.

    (5)

  • Ali M.

    Great ambience and service. Cozy feel. One of the better restaurant experiences in Baltimore. Excellent array of dishes. Highly recommend the crostini. Portions on the smaller side, so be prepared to order 3-4 courses. Freshly made pasta. Recommend the veal for a main dish

    (4)

  • Katy P.

    BYOB. Fabulous food. Wonderful service. Don't want to rate because I don't want anyone else to find out!

    (5)

  • Joshua W.

    Got the reservation for a Friday night last minute. I previously had to cancel two prior reservations. I walk in and initially I say "wow this is cool". You really feel as if you are in a barn in Tuscany. Very cool atmosphere and decor. The BYOB is awesome. We brought a $30 bottle of Italian red that probably would have cost $50-$75 at other fine Italian restaurants. I diligently checked the menu online the entire week to make sure it would be good for mine and my wife's tastes. We are not necessarily picky eaters but we are also not the most adventurous either. Well the menu posted online was not the menu the day of. Ok whatever its part of the charm. I do not understand why one chalk board is the only way to advertise the menu. I also felt bad for the couple who was sitting at the table right below the chalkboard. It does not seem too much hassle to print out menus the day of - 1 per table? or At least invest in another chalkboard. What is a seemingly quaint idea can also be annoying. Food was top-notch. I got the tomato parpadelle and kept saying "mmmm" after every bite. It really was some of the best pasta I have ever had. The house made and freshness was very apparent. Wife got smoked duck breast salad which was also good. For main courses I got the beef tongue and cheek. Literally. Beef tongue and Beef cheek. I had tongue previously before - whatup kosher deli! So I knew I could have it and handle it, the cheek I was worried about because I thought it may be too fatty. I ended up enjoying the cheek more then the tongue. Though they both were very intense flavors. I usually finish my meal and I was unable to because of the richness. Dessert time! Well they did not have their famous salted caramel pie, and only had 1 other offering. This really rubbed me the wrong way. It was at that point after 7Pm on a Friday evening. This is prime dinner hour - and they didnt have? Barely an apology too. Overall: Excellent food that is unique, and thoughtfully crafted. A menu that can be hit or miss. With an attitude that seems like "we are going to be busy and booked no matter what, so if you are not 100% happy, well we have reservations filled for the next 2 weeks so we will be ok". So is it the best? No. Is it excellent and unique? Yes.

    (4)

  • Avid E.

    Very loud. Despite opentable reservation, you are asked to wait 20+ minutes. Crowded, and noise is deafening. Staff unfriendly. Doesn't seem like a relaxing evening if that's what you're planning.

    (1)

  • Patrick H.

    After begging a friend to finally agree to come with me I was able to make reservations at Bottega... we ended up having reservations for a late dinner in large part because this place is so good and it only seats 13 people! We walked in a couple of minutes early and were able to get seated. They put their menu up on a chalk board on the wall right in the middle of the room. When we sat down it just felt right. The wood floor, the tables and chairs, the books in the bookshelf everything just fit! After talking with our server Ruth we ended up getting some great food. I had the mushroom shepherd's pie which was out of this world good. Word to the wise vegetarians make sure you ask if they are really out of a selection. They might be holding back because they're running low near the end of the night and don't want the meat eaters to get the last selection.

    (5)

  • Sara S.

    This restaurant is amazing and deserves all of the praise it's getting. The unique, local vibe and really delicious, non-fussy food make it my new go-to when I'm with out of town friends or family. Last time I got the papparadelle (sp?) pasta with duck and shared the kale salad. Both highly recommended. You have to book way ahead if you want a table on the weekend, but it's worth the wait. Plus it's BYOB! Can't beat it. Love this Baltimore gem. Just writing this review makes me want to go back.

    (5)

  • Shannon C.

    Bottega is a gem! The small tables, the rustic vibe, the chalkboard menu were so inviting and warming. It felt like we were eating dinner at a friends house. I made a reservation online, which was hard to get. We went to dinner on a Tuesday at 5:30. Pretty early for us. But we've been wanting to try this place for awhile and figured eating early was a small price to pay. The service is very friendly and helpful. Everything on their menu sounds amazing so it's hard to narrow down your choice. We started with a rabbitt confit, it was decadent and perfectly seasoned. We chose the malfatti and boar bolognese as our pasta courses. The boar bolognese was one of the best dishes of the evening. It really reminded my dude of his trips to Italy. The bolognese was seasoned well and the pasta was cooked to perfection. The malfatti was cooked well, it wasn't dense but light and fluffy, however it was underseasoned. Our entree was a duck leg which we split. It was rich, balanced and there was a good contrast of textures on the dish. For dessert we had the greek yogurt pana cotta. Hands down best panna cotta I have ever had. It was not overly sweet. The honey provided the right amount of sugar and the lemon really gave it a brightness. Overall it was a wonderful meal and we couldn't be happier it is close by!

    (4)

  • Harper K.

    Yum! Make your reservation now! My fiance and I ate here with another couple, and between the four of us we tried nearly everything on the menu. It was all savory & delicious. The other reviews are spot on. My only request is that they serve water in larger glasses. I kept having to re-fill the tiny glass over and over throughout the night.

    (5)

  • Sarah D.

    I attended a party last night for a friend who believes in infinite toasts at Bottega, a place that deserves infinite praise. The PERFECT venue for a small party with its rustic space and beautiful candle light-- Bottega was just plain incredible. Not only was the staff wonderful and helped my friend host a wonderful party but the food was fantastic. From the crustini to the cake. The duck was truly exceptional, as were the pasta dishes. This place has delicious food, a wonderful staff and a fabulous ambiance. I can't wait to go back!

    (5)

  • Terry T.

    Three out of four of us hated the food. The waitress was bored and unhelpful. You have to stand behind a table to see the chalkboard menu. No drink choices but orange Fanta and sparkling cider. Yelp almost always steers me right but not today.

    (1)

  • Eli A.

    My friend and I went to check out Bottega on Saturday night, and were very pleased that we did! The restaurant occupies a (very) small space on Maryland Ave. in Station North. Though the block is rather bleak, the interior is inviting and cozy. While everything is a la carte, the menu is designed around a four course approach; there are two or three options in each category of antipasti, pasta, mains, and sweets. The food we had was all delicious. We started with a tomato and bread salad with a delightfully garlic-y sauce. The chunks of tomato were huge and juicy. For a pasta course I had sweet potato leaf malfatti, and my friend had pappardelle with tomato sauce. The malfatti were flavorful and hearty, and the pappardelle was nicely al dente and very tasty. For mains, I had pork cheeks (delicious!) with fava beans and potatoes and my friend had delicata squash stuffed with quinoa, pistachios, and feta. For dessert, we had really fantastic chocolate-peanut butter ice cream (from trickling spring) and a nicely tart panna cotta with honey. The service was friendly and attentive, and the food came surprisingly quickly given that the kitchen and dining room are staffed by a total of two people. BYOB is a nice bonus, and the prices were extremely reasonable. We'll definitely be back!

    (5)

  • Ankita M.

    Went here for dinner recently, we tried toast with cheese, kale, broccoli and honey on top of it. It was delicious. Then we ordered duck legs and tomato pappardelle- both were just yummy. For dessert, we had salted caramel chocolate pie, it was so good. One has to try that! Staff is helpful and this place is BYOB!

    (5)

  • Maya K.

    I had a great first meal at Bottega and look forward to many more. In the midst of a wave of over-priced New American restaurants, Bottega is offering something different. Authentic Italian cuisine, a very simple menu, a small and lovely space, and great service. Bottega only seats 15 people, the space is beautifully done with reclaimed wood and handmade tables, and if you want to know the story behind the food you can learn about the specialty honey that comes from chestnut groves in Italy or the local produce from right here in Baltimore City. As the other reviewer mentioned, the menu is designed around 4 courses but everything is a la carte so we just got one of each and shared between the four of us. Everything was excellent - so fresh and flavorful - and it was all simple in a way that matched the decor and the feel of the restaurant. I'll definitely be back - this won't be such a well-kept secret for long.

    (5)

  • Beee K.

    Ah, heavenly smell and awesome food! Thank you so much for opening your restaurant! Loved the pork chop, which I don't usually order at restaurants, but glad I did this time it was so so tasty- and goat milk panna cotta! Broccoli that came with pork chop was amazingly tasty, too. Ah the caramel pie..... awesome pie that was. Can't wait to go back.

    (5)

  • Jane L.

    One of my favorite restaurants in Baltimore. At the end of the meal, I already look forward to making our next reservation. Highlights: crostinis with quality flavorful ingredients, pappardelle with duck ragu reminiscent of eating in Italy, and decadent salted caramel pie with a thin chocolate crust. It is a perfect place for a date night, small and rustic. BYOB and make reservations in advance.

    (5)

  • B B.

    Good lord, this place is a gem! If you didn't know it was here, you might miss it walking by. Big mistake. Literally everything I tried was fantastic - and they're byob, which helps keep your bill reasonable. It's tiny inside - good for couples or the occasional double date, but not really for bringing the family. Service was excellent- attentive without hovering, which is impressive given how small the dining room is. Their chef...omg. Had the mushroom crostini which was divine- even my fiancé who doesn't like mushrooms loved it! We also couldn't get enough of the duck papardelle...the noodles were fresh perfection, the sauce was a delectable ground duck and tomato.. Yum! In case that wasn't enough, the rockfish was out of this world! Crispy skin, tender fillet, served with a buttery vegetable purée and some fresh mixed greens... I'm drooling just thinking about it. Fiancé had the lamb shank and was very impressed with the accompanying lentils - decided he is more of a lamb rack guy. Shank was perfectly cooked. Please do not leave without ordering desert- get it to go if you must, but do not skip the caramel pie with chocolate ganache above and chocolate crust below...I may have to go every week for that sucker. Salty gooey goodness. We also tried the panna cotta, which had some honey and this really interesting smokey granola on top. This place is a diamond in the rough, we will be back soon. Make a reservation!

    (5)

  • Jay K.

    My fiancé took me to Bottega for a late birthday dinner. We moved to the area from CT a couple years back and we had not been able to find quality food in the area (except for seafood of course). This was, by far, our best meal in Baltimore. Reservations are necessary and you will need to plan weeks in advance sometimes if you want a table here on a weekend night. The place is tiny - maybe 6 tables at most, 15-20 ppl total. I'm not one for noticing the decor or the ambiance but both were fine. The service was excellent. It's BYOB and we brought a couple bottles of wine. As soon as we were seated, our waiter offered to open a bottle for us (we were classy enough to bring in a screw top). We were probably more indecisive than the average customer but he always checked back on us. He always topped off our waters and checked back appropriately (read: not when you have just taken your first bite) after each course. Now, the best part - the food. We went with the Teleme + Thyme Crostini and the Kale Ceasar with marinated anchioves and slow egg to start. The crostini was nothing special but helpful to soak up the egg and the strong flavors from the Ceasar. For our entrees, we ordered beef cheeks (upon recommendation from our waiter) and the braised rabbit legs. We couldn't decide which one we liked more but we were sure each of them was better than any non-seafood entree we had tried in Baltimore. The beef cheeks were juicy, succulent, and melting in our mouths. The braised rabbit was falling off the bone and seasoned perfectly - it tasted like a spice that we have noticed in Indian food, but definitely not spicy at all. For dessert we shared the caramel and chocolate pie which is essentially a graham cracker crust with a slab of thick caramel on top of it and then a slab of chocolate on top of that and salt drizzled over it. It was simple yet very very good. Overall I have to give this place 5 stars. The menu is small but covers a wide range, the service was excellent, and the food even better. Prices are reasonable and BYOB definitely helps keep the money in the pocket. Our only wish was that maybe the restaurant would be able to accommodate more people but then maybe the quality would decline or the prices would go up.

    (5)

  • James C.

    Out of selfish reasons, I am reluctant to even write a review of this place so that it can stay relatively quiet and its charm can remain undisturbed, however this place is so good that it's "discovery" by Baltimore foodies is absolutely inevitable. The setting is incredibly charming and intimate, with just enough chatter from the other tables to keep your conversation private. The service was completely attentive without being in your ear every moment. The food was "kick-me-in-the-jimmy delicious." We shared different plates for each course and one was better than the next. Picking a favorite is next to impossible, but we can reluctantly agree that the homemade papardelle with boar and the bruschetta with broccoli greens were both spectacular. If you aren't eating at Bottega you are truly missing out on a special dining experience.

    (5)

  • Jonalyn D.

    Amazing food. A plethora of options for all food preferences (cant wait til veggie season rolls around!) The service was phenomenal. The owner makes you feel right at home. A must go! I cant wait to go again! I cant stop talking about how amazing it is! A must for eats and treats--- the pasta is fabulous. no matter what kind. No matter what day. Interesting sauces. Crazy good dessert. GO TODAY!!

    (5)

  • Elizabeth D.

    Incredible! I have been wanting to try this restaurant for quite a while and it was well worth the wait. Every bite was delicious, with the highlight being the lamb shank- fall off the bone tender, perfectly seasoned, with savory white beans and bright, acidic kale. The price was a steal considering the quality of the meal. Our server was super sweet and attentive, and its BYOB. Already have another reservation for next week!

    (5)

  • Billy F.

    As long as you have reservations, you're in for a treat. Had a crostini with greens and honey, a beet salad, and a 1/2 roasted chicken with bread salad and asparagus. The lady had tortelli. Everything was amazing. Prices were good too. Almost impossible to spend more than $70, even with two desserts. Speaking of desserts, the salted caramel pie is as good as everyone says it is.

    (5)

  • Kristina H.

    Quaint small restaurant owned by a husband and wife. The atmosphere is quiet and romantic, with dim lighting and candles on the table. There are only about 6 tables and the menu is written on a chalkboard and changes often. They serve Italian food that is influence by Northern Italian Cuisine. They have a BYOB policy so bring a bottle of wine! The food is incredible! We ordered the chicken liver pâté, the kale caesar salad, the parpadelle with duck, the 1/2 roasted chicken, and the salted chocolate caramel pie. Everything was so unbelievably delicious. Everything is made from scratch and to order. The pasta is so fresh, the kale salad with the caesar dressing and anchovies was perfect -with the bitterness from the kale and the acidic and creaminess from the caesar, and the salted chocolate caramel pie was almost too much! Its very difficult to get a reservation due to limit of tables and space. And I would recommend planning in advance. The perfect spot for a romantic date!!

    (5)

  • Sara J.

    Wonderful! Reminded me of the hole in the wall authentic Italian places in NYC, but much more affordable. A real romantic festive vibe. The crostini appetizers were to die for, as was the ricotta lemon cheesecake. Highly recommended.

    (5)

  • Cherpumple F.

    How hard is it to eat here? Pretty difficult if you don't have reservations. Also, they are tiny. We made reservations one Friday around 5pm. The restaurant was empty--according to the hostess, they open a little later but allow for OpenTable reservations earlier. The only thing odd was the hostess wanted us to sit next to the cold door--we asked if we could be moved to a different table (as it was empty), and she seemed a bit annoyed but then the chef came out (I'm assuming the owner) and changed our seats for us. Everything was delicious, but I'd suggest unless you're vegetarian, get something with meat or the veg dishes will make you think, "I could have made this at home". Meat's where the delicious umami is. And then get the salted caramel pie. I licked the plate. Thank goodness only two other parties were there by then. We'll be back!

    (4)

  • Mark N.

    Bottega is really wonderful. It has a funky, bistro vibe. The owner, who for the time being services all the tables, is a great guy who clearly aims to please his customers. It's a BYOB with delicious, Italian inspired food and for that reason alone, I can't believe it won't be a hit. Wine geeks alone could support this small establishment. The one thing to note is that Bottega is very new. As I am writing this they have been open three weeks. And they had the mixed blessing of a glowing review in the Baltimore Sun a mere two weeks after they opened. The Wednesday night we were there, they were slammed, with a six-top and several two tops arriving at 9pm. This is not a polished, established restaurant and please don't go expecting that. This is an unusually sincere somewhat modest restauranteur with the dream of running a small place where he can chat with the customers and serve good food. It's bound to evolve a lot in the coming months. I can't imagine anyone who eats there doesn't wish him the best.

    (4)

  • Karen C.

    My husband and I went here on our weekly date night last week. Took forever to get a reservation because the restaurant is so tiny but boy was it worth the wait! The food was so fresh and fabulous, awesome flavor combinations that leave you wondering how they made everything and what exactly is inside that makes it so yummy. The menu was small but looking over the previous ones on their website it seems like they do have a few staples that stay on the menu. I opted for one of those, the papardelle pasta with mushrooms and beef cheeks. Waitress thought it was a little strange that I wanted pasta for dinner (I guess it's normally meant as a separate course for people to share?) but I would order that dish over and over again and not share at all! I'm pretty sure the pasta was made to order because it was so fresh and delicious. Very simple, no fuss no frills, but prob the best pasta I've ever had. My husband got pork cheeks with jalapeno corn salsa and the flavors were so complex, perfect amount of sweet and savory it was just a one way ticket to yummy town. We will definitely be coming back for date night again!

    (5)

  • Nod S.

    This is a place for people who love great food, so reserve a table before the rest of the world finds out about this spot-- but leave any picky, scaredy eaters at home because they won't find their trusty chicken fingers here. The menu is small but offers a good variety of veg and cheese centered starters, sensible portions of fresh pasta, and generously sized meat-based main courses (think boar, pork, lamb, veal, duck, squab) all thoughtfully and lovingly prepared. The space is simple and intimate, the service is impeccable, and I hope they never change a thing.

    (5)

  • Danielle L.

    I really was looking forward to eating here, since it's popular and has few seats. The food was pretty good (honestly, nothing entirely special), but other factors made me certain I won't be visiting again. 1) The food: there was way too much ham on the salad (it was called the "Ham Salad" but I was expecting maybe 2 tablespoons of good ham). It was almost nauseating how much pork was paired with a few pieces of lettuce. Entree (pork cheek) was good, but again, nothing to write home about. The veggies were good but not enough to make up for overall experience. 2) Service was awful. Not only were my date and I standing in the front door for at least 5 minutes waiting to be seated, but then this random guy came in behind us (owner?) and told us to sit down in the only empty table which was basically an extension of the kitchen (they could hear our conversation, and at one point EVEN CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONVERSATION FROM THE KITCHEN. How rude is that!) 3) Waitress is obviously very busy and should really have help. That said, she was very aloof and didn't seem too interested in our experience. We sat down and she immediately asked if we knew what we wanted for dinner. I didn't know it was BYOB, so I asked for wine, and she said they only had water. She failed to mention they had Pellegrino, which I asked for only after my date pointed it out. I also called it Perrier by mistake and she CORRECTED ME with a tone of "you made a mistake" rather than "is that okay with you". No soda, tea, coffee, anything? I wouldn't know, the waitress didn't say. 4) For the love of all that is holy, please print your damn menus. Our table (that was basically in the kitchen) didn't have any view of the silly chalkboard menus, so it was difficult to browse and know what I wanted before being rushed to order. It's also not very accommodating to anyone with a visual impairment. 5) We were right next to the kitchen and to a box of bread, which we weren't even offered, even though I saw other people eating bread. I assume this is the waitress's fault. I would highly suggest removing the table that my date and I were at in the way back. it really affected the experience and was awkward to have an intimate conversation with the kitchen lights so bright and the staff chiming in.

    (2)

  • J K.

    This is a keeper! Bottega came highly recommended by a friend and it did not disappoint. I love that the menu is kept short and sweet. You have four courses to choose from with two to three options from each course. It's not a prix fixe meal, so you can skip a course if you're not feeling it. Of course, I'm a glutton and my date and I picked options from all four courses. The starter course was good (we went with some salad that looked like coral and the toast with honey and ricotta - both good but didn't blow my socks off), but I would probably skip it next time and save the room for the pasta. Oh man, the pasta, we had a squash ravioli or tortellini (can remember the italian name, but it was in that vein) and the tagliatelle with boar. We cleaned our plates. The pasta was so fresh and well made...I'd come back for that alone. Our main courses were octopus (outstanding - in fact, just typing that makes me crave the dish!) and beef cheek (also excellent). We split the salted caramel pie for dessert (we really didn't have room at that point, but it was sold as a fancy twix bar and it. was. awesome.) I love that it's byob and there was no corkage fee when we went (it will be interesting to see if that stays the case). It's a very rustic atmosphere and I really liked that about the place. I'm looking forward to trying (hopefully) a new menu in the spring!

    (5)

  • Gaby H.

    I loved Bottega! It is such a fun place for a date night or an intimate dinner with friends as there are only a few tables and the restaurant is very small. There is an open kitchen concept and BYOB only sweetens the deal- there are no corkage fees! The menu is on a chalkboard and changes daily but you can go to their website to get a sense of what they are offering that week and in general. We started with a crostini which was a great way to start the meal - my husband and I wanted to try at least one thing from each of the sections and I highly recommend it! We had a kale salad which was great and a decent size portion. We also ordered a pasta which was great, homemade pasta cooked to perfection with homemade sauce. It definitely is not like your average pasta dish at a restaurant. We split the roast chicken which again was cooked perfectly and extremely flavorful. There was not one part of the meal we did not enjoy, including the dessert. It was enough for a few bites a person and again every dish seemed carefully crafted and thought out which is the benefit to having a small menu. Each dish was small enough that you could get one from each category but flavorful and filling enough that the menu really worked well for us. We cannot wait to go back!

    (5)

  • Frank B.

    I had heard a great deal about Bottega, and was excited to head there this week. It took nearly a month to get a reservation, and our visit was wonderful. Warning to Vegetarians: the one challenge we had was that there were very few options. There were two vegetarian appetizers, but one was sold out for the 8:30 seating. There were no vegetarian entrees, other than pasta, on the evening's menu. Mind you: the pasta was wonderful, and the tomato sauce was good, though uninspired. Desserts were equally good, and well-sized (that is, not too large!) I'll be back, though not as frequently as I'd like, unless they commit to being creative with vegetarian entrees.

    (4)

  • Harrison J.

    A small restaurant that serves some great food. I think the menu changes but definitely worth a try.

    (5)

  • Mike B.

    I hate to even write this as this tiny gem of restaurant could easily get overwhelmed. But praise needs to be given... Everything they do, and they don't do much (only about 11 items on the whole menu) was fantastic. Fresh, seasonal, and honest. They aren't trying to impress anyone, just letting the food speak for itself. Not one single miss. The menu changes so often they just write it on a chalkboard. They buy what is seasonal and fresh. Good variety of pasta, meat and a vegetarian option for an entree. BYOB w/o a corkage makes for a very reasonable dining experience as well. Quaint and small, about 15 seats (reservations are must!) gives the overall feel a very personal and intimate vibe without being stuffy. The wait staff was attentive and very friendly on a busy Friday evening. Great stuff and so glad this in B'more!

    (5)

  • Dave A.

    The food rivals what you would expect at a small taverna in the back alleys of Rome.

    (5)

  • Matthew R.

    Best pork shank I have EVER had! Pasta was gorgeous. Can't wait to go back!! Menu changes often. BYOB!

    (5)

  • Megan C.

    I'm so excited about this addition to the Station North neighborhood! It's quaint, it's charming and the food is spectacular! I really enjoy the freshly revolving menu - it allows you to try a bit of everything, get out of your comfort zone and not completely break the bank. Did I mention it's BYOB? It is! And that only adds to it's charm. I look forward to coming back for many more meals!

    (5)

  • Dina B.

    When we asked the waitress to tell us more about the chef, she described him as a 'god.' If that raises expectations, that's fine, because the place deserves high expectations. The room, with a small kitchen in the rear, is cozy and decorated to inspire comfort and relaxation. The chalkboard, changing, menu is posted on Facebook, but that might not help, because don't expect to get a reservation at the last minute at this place. We made the mistake of only ordering three courses (the appetizers, pasta, and dessert). Next time, we will order a main course. The pasta was expertly done (wild boar ragu). While we were finishing our salted caramel chocolate pie, we ordered another piece - it was delicious. The fact that it is BYOB means you can splurge on wine to go with the fabulous food. Parking can be a challenge. It would be nice if they permitted access to the parking lot directly next to the place. We look forward to experiencing the changing menu on a regular basis.

    (5)

  • K W.

    Bottega is a gem! Thanks to my fellow yelpers, we found Bottega last night when we were in a pinch for a late dinner in the Charles Village area of Baltimore on a Tuesday evening (can't believe that Paper Moon is closed on Tuesdays - but for fear of confusion, there's no comparison between Bottega and Paper Moon). What a welcoming and intimate atmosphere -- miles above the pomp and circumstance of crowded mega dining. The whole place seats less than 25 guests. We love the BYOB aspect of the experience (even though we didn't realize it until we arrived lol). The service was prompt and personal. Cheers to Christopher! The food was fresh and flavorful. Bottega was exactly what you look for in a personal dining experience. I love seeing the restaurant owner working in the restaurant -- if he has the right approach, everyone else is also on their best and most gracious behavior! Adrian has the perfect formula!! We had the freshest kale salad I have ever consumed outside of a private home. The rabbit with mustard quiche was a treat and the pork chop with blue corn grits was unusually flavorful. My only feedback is that the chop was a little overcooked. Medium temperature would make it unbeatable! I love happening upon unexpected pleasures; Bottega fits the bill :) Go. Period. But, make your reservations early -- bookings are 6 to 8 weeks out. We were lucky! But, what success for a restaurant barely 6 months old!

    (4)

  • Rob C.

    Dinner was incredible. I am a pasta snob and can confirm that the fresh pappardelle was perfect. I also love that it's a BYOB. Makes for a very tasty but still casual experience.

    (5)

  • Bruce A.

    Just go, period. Some of the best prepared food you will find in Baltimore. Not a huge menu, but no worries, everything on it is wonderful. Sandy is the chef, Ruth served us and Adrian the owner. Could not be nicer and make you feel so comfortable. We had the lamb, octopus and pork chop in our party and each was fantastic. The pasta was cooked perfectly. The desserts were fantastic. You get the message. It's a BYOB so bring your own vino and enjoy. Get in now and make a reservation, this restaurant will not stay under the radar for long.

    (5)

  • Debra R.

    It's a warm and down to earth kind of place with lovely wood walls and floors and bookshelves of cook books. The owner stopped by and immediately opened our bottle of Prosecco. Menu choices are a few for each category, Starter, first course, second course, dessert. To start we shared crostini with sauteed Crimini mushrooms and Stracciatella. Pure heaven! We went on to beautiful plates of Spinach Malfatti and Totelli of Butternut squash, both of which were truly delicious. Desserts were not to our liking . the caramel of the pie was to hard to eat, the caramel was like a candy so hard to manage and just too sweet for our taste. The panne cotta just too tart for our taste. The buck wheat honey drizzled over it was delicious but a bit strong for a dessert. I highly compliment the young lady who served us. She as quite busy, yet very attentive and helpful. I look forward to many a delicious meal here.

    (5)

  • Bridget W.

    So this is a restaurant I will certainly revisit. All the dishes were fresh and good, but perhaps just a little too simple. This could be our fault as diners, since we decided to order one of everything on the menu and share it all. So between four people, it was very few bites per dish. So that likely didn't allow the time to discover the flavors and levels within. Like I said, it is well worth trying, and I will be back. And I will be ordering my own entree next time! The location, decor, and atmosphere however are just perfect.

    (3)

  • Gary A.

    Warm and informal ambiance, professional but personal service, and top notch food. The pastas were al dente perfection. Baltimore has long needed a true rustic Italian restaurant and Bottega more than fits the bill. Now that the word is out, however, reservations are now almost required as the odds of getting a table as a walk-in - especially on weekends - are pretty slim. Highest and unqualified recommendation.

    (5)

  • Zoe S.

    After reading reviews of Bottega I was dying to try it, but it took forever to make a restaurant since no one ever answered the phone or returned my emails. Finally I made a reservation via yelp. Loved everything about the venue and ambience, and the service was terrific -- it's BYOB and we forgot wine so our waiter (co-owner) quickly remedied that by bringing us some red table wine - gratis. Food was overall impressive -- my pasta dish (spinach ricotta balls in butter and sage sauce) was to-die for, and my husband's pasta with a bolegnese sauce was tasty, but my main course -- a hanger steak, though cooked well, was flavorless. My husband's pork shank, on the other-hand, while it looked a bit unappetizing, was packed with flavor. We shared a lemon panna cotta for dessert and it was fresh, creamy and fabulous. Looking forward to going back and trust that in time, every dish will be an A+. They are doing something right at Bottega!

    (4)

  • Crouse H.

    I was hoping for much more judging by the reviews on here (which I now think are probably made-up/contrived). Bottega is located on a rather desolate and unsafe-feeling section of Maryland Avenue, up a half-dozen steps or so off the sidewalk. Employees of the restaurant and their friends stand outside smoking all evening, which blows into the tiny dining room every time the door is open. Plus, it's freezing cold air coming in too-- being that we are currently experiencing single-digit temperatures in the evenings. The server seemed preoccupied, and as a result was inattentive. Our water glasses remained unfilled after the first emptying. Bear in mind it was only ours and another table in the place on a Friday night. The food? Not nearly as fab as the other reviews make it out to be. It was ok, but none of it was memorable. Pasta was cold and overdone, Sauces were flavorless and bland. Salt helped a little. I was wishing I was at Olive Garden with unlimited salad and bread sticks, not kidding. Oh, and parking SUCKED on Maryland Avenue. I wish these guys the best of luck because I know their heart is in the right place, but seriously 5 stars? How???

    (2)

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Map

Opening Hours

  • Tue

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : Yes
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : No
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Dinner
    Parking : Street
    Bike Parking : Yes
    Good for Kids : No
    Good for Groups : No
    Attire : Casual
    Ambience : Casual
    Noise Level : Average
    Alcohol : No
    Outdoor Seating : No
    Wi-Fi : No
    Has TV : No
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : No

Categories

Italian Cuisine

The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.

Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.

If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.

Bottega

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