You can't help but have high expectations for the new Harbor East Delicatessen & Pizzeria.
The neighborhood is home to some of the city's fanciest restaurants and boutiques. Then there's the fact that Alex Smith, one of the deli's owners, is the grandson of H&S; Bakery founder/Harbor East developer John Paterakis Sr. The deli, formerly Elevation Burger, underwent a renovation costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and is now open for lunch and dinner, serving slices, sandwiches and salads, as well as beer, wine and liquor.
That's a lot for any restaurant to live up to — let alone a deli — and Harbor East Deli, which opened about a month ago, falls short.
If you ever went to Elevation Burger, you'd hardly recognize the space now. There are several flat-screen TVs and plenty of tables inside and out. The expansive menu is displayed on five more flat-screens above the deli counter.
Harbor East Deli sells pizza by the slice, something you won't find at the nearby Bagby Pizza. There are eight options, from standards such as cheese and pepperoni to the White Za, with broccoli, spinach and white garlic sauce. Slices range from $2.99 for cheese to $3.50 for specialty toppings. At 18 inches, a plain large pizza costs $15.99.
You want Harbor East Deli's pizza crust to be either soft and doughy or thinner, tougher flatbread. Instead, it's in between — brown, chewy and unremarkable. You could say the same for the toppings. It's hard to see or taste the buffalo sauce on a slice of Buffalo Chicken Pizza. Ditto for the garlic sauce on the White Za. Without the sauces, the slices don't have much character.
I challenge you to pick up — let alone take a bite out of — the colossal lamb gyro ($6.99) without spilling it all over yourself. A soft pita comes stuffed with lettuce, tomato, tzatziki cucumber yogurt sauce and thin strips of lamb. It was good, but a bit more spice and thicker cuts of lamb would have made it great.
By contrast, items that might normally be on the periphery, such as sides and salads, really shine. A 12-ounce cup of boardwalk-style fresh-cut fried potatoes ($2.49) — a fancy way of saying "french fries" — is the real deal. Munch on a few, and you can imagine your feet in the sand with the sun in your face. And the sizeable Greek salad ($5.99) is a meal in itself, piled high with cubes of sharp feta cheese, olives, a small grape leaf wrap, onions and green peppers. Though it was served in a resealable plastic container, the woman at the counter assured us it was made fresh that morning.
Most of Harbor East Deli's nine sandwiches hover around the $8 mark, which isn't bad, considering the neighborhood. With the Spicy Four Season ($7.99), charred chicken breast is layered with chopped red onions, lettuce and tomato on two thick pieces of foccacia. But it came without any oil or mayonnaise, which left the sandwich too dry.
Harbor East Deli joins a growing number of Baltimore bars and restaurants with fountain Coke Zero, a sought-after commodity among Coca-Cola fans. Depending on the time of day (and your workload), you might also want to try one of the half-dozen beers on tap. Go for the Heavy Seas Loose Cannon, which was only $2.99 — a steal at that price. This high-octane IPA is one of the best local beers around.
On Fridays and Saturdays, Harbor East Deli is open until 3 a.m., presumably to quell the munchies of the bar crowd. This could be a first for Harbor East. Not many — if any — other restaurants in the neighborhood are open that late.
Given the neighborhood and all the effort put into renovations, Harbor East Deli's food should be better than just middle-of-the-road. With time and effort, it could be. It just isn't yet.
Food: ✭✭
Service: ✭✭
Atmosphere: ✭✭
Harbor East Delicatessen & Pizzeria
Where: 1006 Aliceanna St.
Contact: 410-244-6156
Hours: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 10 a.m.-3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.