You won't need to strain your higher faculties to add up the intentions of Joe Squared, the inconspicuous North Avenue pizza joint located between Howard Street and Maryland Avenue. Right now, though, the mirror-lined walls, the dangling plastic plants and the faux wood grain tile dance floor create an ambiance more suggestive of a mom and pop greasy spoon than the cool college hang it hopes to be.
We arrived in the early evening one weeknight, so the DJ booth and the dance floor were both empty. In fact, except for one dude at the bar and some local coeds at a table, the whole place was empty. Our party of four promptly found seating and dealt easily with the friendly bartender/server whose disposition reminded me of friends who'd spent "past lives" as ravers in the club scene -- smiling, but a little vacant.
The menu, perfectly square and sized to represent Joe's small pizza, places pub food on one side of the equation, more traditional Italian dishes on the other and a long list of signature pizzas and "panini subs" somewhere in between. The constant of Baltimore cuisine -- crabmeat -- is represented in the Chesapeake pizza ($13-$21), a Chesapeake chicken sub ($8-$15) and a crab cake sub ($8-$15).
As we dined on crisp, sourdough crusts and drank a few of Joe's specialty drinks, tables filled in, but not much. The crowd at Joe's is young, which probably contributes to what the server assured us is a totally different scene on Fridays and Saturdays, when local DJs (including Landis Expandis) often spin for what we can only assume is a party that would make our experience seem a little less, well, square.
Dish: My girlfriend and I split a 12-inch cheese pizza ($9) and a steak and pepper salad ($10). The pizza's crisp sourdough crust wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped, and the steak that came on the salad was supposed to be grilled but seemed more like the chef had run down the block to a Subway, where he reached over the sneeze guard for a handful of cold meat. Our partners in dining ordered the avocado risotto ($7) and the 14-inch Greek pizza ($16). The risotto looked good (order along these lines when you visit) and the Greek pizza was generously topped with garlic, basil, olives, spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella and feta.
Damage: Without tallying up the many beverages we imbibed, our total was just a bit more than $40. Joe's offers plenty of specials, though, and the Pils Urquell I had turned out to be relatively inexpensive. Stop by during Joe's late night happy hour when pizza is free with the purchase of two bottles of beer.
Decision: Joe's aspirations lie somewhere between fine dining and a raging, ultra-cool live music venue. The most positive aspect of our visit to Joe's was the friendly staff. The ambiance was lacking and the food was good, but paled when compared to the hype it had received. We've got high hopes and goodwill for Joe's, but for now things just don't add up.
We arrived in the early evening one weeknight, so the DJ booth and the dance floor were both empty. In fact, except for one dude at the bar and some local coeds at a table, the whole place was empty. Our party of four promptly found seating and dealt easily with the friendly bartender/server whose disposition reminded me of friends who'd spent "past lives" as ravers in the club scene -- smiling, but a little vacant.
The menu, perfectly square and sized to represent Joe's small pizza, places pub food on one side of the equation, more traditional Italian dishes on the other and a long list of signature pizzas and "panini subs" somewhere in between. The constant of Baltimore cuisine -- crabmeat -- is represented in the Chesapeake pizza ($13-$21), a Chesapeake chicken sub ($8-$15) and a crab cake sub ($8-$15).
As we dined on crisp, sourdough crusts and drank a few of Joe's specialty drinks, tables filled in, but not much. The crowd at Joe's is young, which probably contributes to what the server assured us is a totally different scene on Fridays and Saturdays, when local DJs (including Landis Expandis) often spin for what we can only assume is a party that would make our experience seem a little less, well, square.
Dish: My girlfriend and I split a 12-inch cheese pizza ($9) and a steak and pepper salad ($10). The pizza's crisp sourdough crust wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped, and the steak that came on the salad was supposed to be grilled but seemed more like the chef had run down the block to a Subway, where he reached over the sneeze guard for a handful of cold meat. Our partners in dining ordered the avocado risotto ($7) and the 14-inch Greek pizza ($16). The risotto looked good (order along these lines when you visit) and the Greek pizza was generously topped with garlic, basil, olives, spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella and feta.
Damage: Without tallying up the many beverages we imbibed, our total was just a bit more than $40. Joe's offers plenty of specials, though, and the Pils Urquell I had turned out to be relatively inexpensive. Stop by during Joe's late night happy hour when pizza is free with the purchase of two bottles of beer.
Decision: Joe's aspirations lie somewhere between fine dining and a raging, ultra-cool live music venue. The most positive aspect of our visit to Joe's was the friendly staff. The ambiance was lacking and the food was good, but paled when compared to the hype it had received. We've got high hopes and goodwill for Joe's, but for now things just don't add up.
