Grano Emporio

Grano Emporio is a charming setting for a solid Italian meal.
It’s the kind of place where you look at the menu and think «I don’t want to pay $ 20 for a plate of pasta» and then you get it and eat it and think «that was totally worth $ 20».
Set in a what had clearly been a large house on Chestnut Street just off the Avenue in Hampden, there are tables in a variety of room, many of which make for a semi-​private experience that adds to the quirk and charm.
The other part of the charm comes from the staff who clearly are family, and know and love their Italian cuisine on offer. That family feel comes through in the fair priced wine list, which offers quality Brunellos and Barolos under $ 80.
Riding the trend of charcuterie and cheese boards, Grano is now offering an option to assemble your own antipasta from various roast and pickled vegetables like peppers, eggplants, and artichoke hearts. Do that, and get the burrata, and your table will have a fine appetizer to start.
All of the pasta dishes deliver, but the squid ink tagliatelle served with calamari and hot peppers is a favorite.

I wish I lived in Baltimore so I could visit Thia gem more often.
We went here for my husbands birthday and it was perfect. The staff was attentive from the moment we walked in the door, the décor was quaint and adorable and the wine and food were perfect.
He had the lasagna and I had the fish special. The lasagna was the perfect amount of cheese and meat and the fish was well balanced with great flavor. The house wine was wonderful and the cherry pie was literally the perfect cherry on top. Go out of your way to check out this restaurant.

Last minute get together with friends before everyone went their own way for Easter. Had a glass of wine at the bar while they were getting us a table (we made reservations at the last minute) and served by the lovely bartender, Julia. Had the primo table in the bar area — one of us wanted a full dinner, one of us wanted a bowl of their fabulous gumbo and one of us picked and chose assorted items from the antipasti bar! Good time was had by all — staff, service and atmosphere is just what you want from «your favorite restaurant».

We had a huge, loud group on a Saturday evening. I am not from the area so was concerned about how well this would all work for us. From the beginning of the reservation I dealt with a lovely woman who was helpful and accomodating. Everything was good. The apps., to the pasta dishes, to the special fish entrees. The wine list was very reasonable. We were set-​up in a private room which was helpful with this group. We had a wonderful evening and I would highly recommend this restaurant. A special thanks to a great wait staff, especially James. Thanks!

Wonderful hostess, friendly service, good to excellent food and excellent wine list. The dining experience is so much better than most of the trendy overpriced hipster establishments in Hampden (such as The Food Market) that its unfair to Grano Emporio to even compare them.

Really cute little restaurant in Hampden. We went there on a Thursday night and sat upstairs thanks to some Unilocal reviews. It wasn’t very busy, but it had a very cozy feel. We were dressed up as we were going to a party later, and I didn’t feel out of place but it seems like a more casual place. The waiters and hostess were amazing. Very polite, very attentive. I had the lasagna. It wasn’t my favorite; it just seemed like a lot of sauce and little else to me, but the other people I was with really enjoyed what they ordered. They also didn’t have one of the items on the menu, which we found out about after we ordered, but nonetheless it was pretty great. Will definitely be there again.

A group of twelve of us recently visited this establishment for a friend’s milestone birthday. (It was supposed to be a surprise; Friend figured out we were throwing him a party, but he didn’t know where, and we dug up people he hadn’t seen in years, so it was still kind of a surprise!) The downstairs seating area is quiet and mellowly lit, and features a bar and deli take-​out off to one side. We sat in the upstairs loft, along with one other larger party. Because our party was large, we had two very helpful and attentive servers tending to us. The setting is rustic, with hardwood chairs and floors, no carpet or other sound-​absorbing surfaces.
The wine menu is extensive, but has few options for those wanting only one glass. Almost all the wines on the list were priced per bottle only, only two had per-​glass prices, and the rest of the glasses were house wines.
I started with a simple Caesar salad. Points to this place for remembering that actual Caesar salad contains anchovies; four long anchovies graced the salad, along with the salty fish making an appearance in the dressing. The ahi tuna entrée I wanted was out, so I went with the second choice, a mushroom ravioli in cream sauce. Five large, handmade ravioli came to me napped with a generous portion of white wine mushroom sauce. The ravioli were oh-​so delicate and melted in the mouth! There was actually too much sauce for the number of ravioli given, so I had to mop up the rest with bread. Oh, the bread. Springy, warm, crusty, yeasty, a touch of sourdough aroma, served with olive oil rather than butter… Yes, Italian restaurants are supposed to get bread right, but this bread was amazing.
I can’t comment on the prices or dessert, because Birthday Boy’s brother took care of both. But the savory food is on point, and the atmosphere is conducive to a first-​date or couples’ date night atmosphere! Parking in Hampden tends to be tricky at times, though, so if you have a reservation, go early and plan to drive around looking for a space. If I still lived in Baltimore, I wouldn’t mind being taken here for my, ahem, twenty-​ninth birthday!

Amazing food, wonderful service, and fantastic atmosphere. We started with customized cheese plate and ½ liter Chianti. And then, we also customized our seafood entrees with risotto, which was exquisitely delicious. Lastly, we had vanilla cherry gelato and Valentine’s day special, chocolate mouse. It was a wonderful meal!!! High recommended and will definitely go back!

Wonderful food and staff. Waiter was friendly and atmosphere was sophisticated yet homely.

Great place for lunch in Hampden. Seems to only be open on Friday for lunch. But it is worth the wait. Everything is so fresh! I am an Italian girl that likes my Italian Food and Grano keeps it authentic. It dosent have the over dose of garlic, onions and oregano that so much Italian food suffers from in Baltimore. I love Daniella for a quick bite but if you want a full service meal in a pretty space, try Grano. The service is attentive but not quick so be prepared for a leisurely meal. The house salad is Amazing! Wish they sold their dressing. The pastas are fresh, and the pannini are made with fresh mozzarella. Also the marinated olives are yummy.

Lovely legit Italian restaurant in Hampden! Their pasta dishes are quite good, and two vegetarians ate here happily. It’s a bit pricy, including the wine/​drinks, but besides that which you come in expecting, you get a great experience. The place has an inviting atmosphere and our waiter was attentive. The mushroom ravioli was excellent. Would definitely come back for a special occasion (just came randomly the first time).

We had a lovely evening at Grano Emporio last evening, food, service and ambience excellent. We are from DC and dined with some Baltimore friends who have been here before. We had mushroom ravioli, lobster risotta, mussels, and Zuppa di Pesce. The food was great, our waitress was great and we thank them for an evening we enjoyed. Great neighborhood, DC, check it out!

Food is consistently good– Service varies.
We’ve been in a few times now, and had mixed experiences. The pasta has been pretty reliably good. My concern is with the level of attention from our server. Seems like when we were upstairs, the attention to detail was better. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but if you are giving this place a shot & want to feel pampered, ask to sit upstairs. Better yet, ask for Caroline (sp?) as your server. Great wine suggestions & attentive without intruding.

Excellent service, great atmosphere, okay food.
The dishes my husband and I ordered are not on the menu listed on Unilocal so I can’t remember the exact names, but I had the muscles with pasta in lemon sauce. The muscles were good, but neither of us detected any lemon flavor on the dish. We also found the dish to be extremely underseasoned, a similar problem we noticed when we ate at the sister-​restaurant, Grano Pasta Bar. The dish really needed salted, but there was no salt on the table.
My husband had veal cacciatore with handmade agnolotti. It was seasoned significantly better, though the portion seemed a little smaller than we expected. He was still hungry after.
As appetizers, we shared the tuna empanada (the best thing we ate, by far — soooo delicious), olives (also delicious) and herbed goat cheese (okay).
Overall, it was a good dining experience. We live close enough to walk, so we may eat here again for that reason… but not because the food was great.

Wonderful food that is always fresh!
The patron, Gino, is a wonderful host and chef!!!

This is not your typical review. But then, I didn’t have a typical experience. I have always had a deep appreciation for the people and world around me. But all my senses are super heightened post brain hemorrhage… not in a physical sense… Resonance… I am at Grano Emporio with an 18 oz. Porterhouse, salt, pepper, olive oil and garlic… grilled to perfection… a bottle of Italian beer… sitting on the porch shielded from the dropping sun by grapevines that cover the porch… listening to a street musician sing children’s songs such as, «This Old Man», and catching a glimpse of a group of women through a small gap in the grape vines, which frames them with the backdrop of the brilliant blue of the static graffiti art painted on the brick wall canvas, as they lick their cones from the Charmery… before the wind takes its share of the ice cream… I realize what I am seeing this evening is… a … living… still life. …I think I want an Old Bay and Caramel ice cream cone. They might have those in heaven, but I am getting one while I walk this Earth now. Grano provided me with more than fine dining, it gave me a super fine experience.
L.I.F.E…living is fantastic everyday!
– feeling present at Grano Emporio on Chestnut.

We dined there last night. We had the mussels in garlic and white wine sauce for an appetizer and the excellent scallops and linguine in a cream sauce. Both were exceptional. The cream sauce was light and very flavorful. We also loved the option of a carafe of wine.
The service was polite and the restaurant is nicely decorated and very clean. We dine out quite often and will add this to our short list of favorites. This will be our go to place for Italian, or just great food in a very comfortable, quiet place.

I finally tried Grano Emporio for dinner this past Saturday. After a busy day my fiancé and I were hungry early so we opted for dinner around the senior citizen hour right when the restaurant opened.
We were the first table to be sat at least downstairs anyway (didn’t venture upstairs but they have seating there too). We sat in the cozy dining room behind the sunny open windows adjacent to the hostess stand.
Tyler K was our server-​very knowledgeable and unobtrusive yet attentive. We enjoyed a moderately priced $ 38 bottle of Sicilian red ‘516 Perricone Castelluci Miano’, the prosciutto di Parma, some Parmesan cheese, olives, the linguine Marechiaro, and the Lasagna Al Ragout. The olives were so so, a bit on the dry side, and the cheese was softer than I anticipated. I typically like a firmer Parmesan. My fiancé enjoyed every last morsel of the Prosciutto.
For the mains, the linguine was perfectly al dente and the mini clams were arranged in a circle flanking the pasta finished with a flavorful broth. I tried the lasagna and the sauce was amazing. As the future wife of an Italian I need to step my sugo/​sauce/​gravy game up.
Both the owner, a genial looking Italian gentleman as well as the chef (a non Italian but certainly skilled in the kitchen) were present throughout the evening. As other parties started to arrive the dining room grew lively and we could no longer hear the sounds of just our silverware and chatter.
Total was $ 111 ish with tip $ 136 for dinner for two. I would love to come back and bring my parents and two other patrons so as to occupy the 6 top right in front of the window in a sunroom style area of the dining room.
We also purchased wine and beer from the bartender– wine is 30% off for to go orders. They have a nice selection in front by the host stand.

A couple weeks ago, I brought my girlfriend here to celebrate her birthday and the overall experience was excellent. First, you may want to visit TravelZoo because they have a great voucher for this restaurant where you can get a three course meal with wine for two for $ 60.
The wait staff was very friendly and allowed me to decorate the table with flowers and a balloon so I can make her birthday extra special. The restaurant itself is very cosy but definitely has some personality to it. Definitely not a cookie cutter establishment, like the Olive Garden. My girlfriend felt even more special as each waiter/​waitress stopped by and wished her a Happy Birthday. I even got a thumbs up from the cook.
I ordered the Shrimp Linguini, which was delicious. My only regret was that I forgot to take home my leftovers.

Grano Emporio is a fabulous little Italian place in Hampden. Barely off the Avenue, it’s easy to find and is in a few former row homes on Chestnut. The former row home layout does give Grano Emporio a rather cramped feel, but once you get some good food and wine in you, you forget that there is another person sitting a foot away from you.
We started with a bottle of white wine since they were running a 40% special (how can you beat that??), and the marinated olives. The were a variety of different olives that had a deep flavor, and they were a nice little preview before our meals. The bread we got was cold, and not all that great, but because they were pretty busy, we knew we would be waiting for awhile and we had better eat up.
Our dinners were worth the wait! We had spaghetti and meatballs, and sausage risotto. I had never had meat in risotto before, and it was delicious! Both pastas were cooked pretty well, and had really nice flavor. Everything just had a homemade feeling as if my grandparents had made it.
The portion sizes were also pretty reasonable, so we didn’t feel at all guilty ordering the chocolate flan for dessert. But we definitely felt pretty full after that! The flan was very decadent, topped with a light caramel sauce that just made it all the more delicious.
Since the bottle of wine was 40%, we were able to get all this without totally breaking the bank. It’s a really nice spot for a date night or a night out with friends (but not too many because there’s not a lot of room!) We’ll definitely be back!