Arthouse

In addition to serving delicious pizza, the staff was amazingly accommodating to our toddler’s whims. Pizza chef even ran across the street for sandwich bread to make the most buttery grilled cheese ever! Great breakfast pizza and Super attentive staff.

My friends and I were just walking around Hampden trying to find a place for dinner when we passed by Arthouse. The décor of the restaurant was so cute, we couldn’t help but drop in to take a look. Seeing that they had woodfired pizzas, we knew that was exactly what we needed on a cold winter night. Tyler, our server was very accommodating. There was a nice selection of wines and all the pizzas on the menu sounded amazing. After a difficult choice, we decided on pork belly, aubergine, and french onion. The crust was nice and thin and topped with lots of flavor. My favorite was the french onion (which tasted just like the soup) and the aubergine was a close second. The pork belly was decent but I was expecting something more similar to korean pork belly.
For dessert, we had the chocolate oatmeal cake with ice cream — just an fyi — it is very bitter! If you are a fan of very very dark chocolate (I’m talking 90% cacao) then you should try it but it definitely takes a certain acquired taste. The sweetness of the ice cream was a good way to balance out the bitterness though. At the end of our dinner, the owner stopped by and talked to us which was very nice of her! And one last thing — I love the quirky unique art displayed on the walls which you can actually purchase. Five stars for the interior design!

Went during the holidays on a tuesday and they were pretty busy, likely due to the holiday lights. We sat at the bar and it took so long for them to acknowledge us that we almost left.
But we ended up being pleasantly surprised. An older woman who was clearly not the bartender took our drink order, seemed confused, and brought us the wrong beer but we didnt care. The food was awesome and quick, the atmosphere nice, and after the initial weirdness, the service was prompt and friendly.

It’s never fun to have to be critical or dish out a bad review, especially to a newer place that everyone was so hopeful about. I just really was not impressed with Arthouse and really thought if failed to hit the mark. The drinks were fine. The pizzas all sounded great on the menu, but did not come together right. They slide off the crust and were impossible to eat, under seasoned, and had toppings that did not compliment each other. For example, the calamari on one pizza was the frozen calamari you get from a grocery store and cook yourself and it was just placed on top of the pizza– making it fall off every time you went to eat it. All together, I was expecting something a bit more put together, curated, and higher quality for the price and ambiance.

I love this place the food is great and the staff are really nice. We ordered French onion pizza and mini meatballs which was pretty awesome.

UNBELIEVABLE!!! Been coming to The Art House for a while since I moved back from Annapolis. Must say the food and service is better than ever! Great place to eat and the friendliest people to serve you and owners great conversationalists! To the owners Congratulations on making a great place greater!
Holiday party for my shop will be coming here!

This place has a cool, welcoming, stylish atmosphere. The bartender is super sweet and he kicks ass and they have a pretty good (but small) wine and beer list but… the Pizza! Maryland palettes aren’t very adventurous so I always fear that the best pizza place in Baltimore will close but believe me, the combinations they come up with are all amazing. It’s a Sunday night staple for me. Much much love, arthouse. Don’t ever change!

The restaurant has a nice, casual but still somewhat classy ambience. The spinach-​artichoke dip is a must! It tastes absolutely delicious and the bread that comes with it is wonderful.
I ordered the shrimp pizza. I cannot eat bacon, and the menu did not say that the shrimp pizza had bacon, so unfortunately I could not eat the pizza. My friend who could eat the pizza did say it tastes great, though.
Service was also a little slow.
Although this place has good potential, I wish my experience was a little better.

I have walked past this spot 1000 times and keep planning to stop in. Timing was perfect recently, as I have been staying close to home. These guys have a brick oven, but have way more than pizza.
I checked out a few of the beers on tap that sounded interesting — the beers change regularly. I ended up going with a gorgeous Malbec; 2012 El Libre from Mendoza, Spain. The wine had a nice body. The body of the wine basically refers to the way that the wine feels in your mouth. I prefer a medium body. I like it to coat my taste buds, but giving me dry mouth on the finish. This one was perfect for both my dishes.
I started with the Apple Salad. The team takes crisp apple slices, mixed nuts and chunks of blue cheese over top baby greens. The apple flavor continues through to the dressing with the apple cider reduction. I liked how the salad greens stayed crisp, giving this salad an interesting combination of flavors and textures.
I also had the Baked Oysters. I am not sure why I expected the oysters to come in their shells, but this made for a new presentation for me, but also let me eat every single bite. These oysters are in a little glass dish with bacon, baby spinach and a ton of butter and reggiano creating a bubbly crust. I had to give it a few seconds as it came out of the brick oven. Maybe some minutes — no problem — I had enough time to get a second glass of wine.

I tried the pizzas and they were delicious! Since I posted my initial review, I’ve tried many of their pizzas. Pick whichever one, I guarantee it will be good. Each time I went after the initial bar experience, I saw at a table and the service was pretty good.

Delightfully surprised by this place. I went here with my fiancée the other night for dinner and had the Caesar Salad (underwhelming despite the romaine being grilled which I enjoy), French Onion pizza (absolutely delicious, will order it again), Italiano pizza, and some wine and beer.
The French Onion has carmelized onions, beef stock, fontina cheese, reggiano, chives and I highly recommend adding crispy bacon which was the suggestion by our bartender.
The salad was lacking… the dressing was delicious, but the smoky flavor of the oven roasted romaine was too subtle, and somehow the lettuce ended up wilted. Typically the heat would do that to salad but perhaps it was the way in which it was prepared. I’ve had it elsewhere and it tasted better.
Service was great not sure what our bartender’s name was but she was a slender blonde gal.
Will be back — I enjoyed the Mob Wives playing on the tv and the happy hour wine prices!
There was some interesting art for sale (hence the name) adorning the walls. Despite it’s cozy space, if you’re into supporting local art you’ll like it.

I think I fell in love last night at The Arthouse… with the twice baked beets and the Oyster Rockefeller pizza! The beets were beautiful on the plate and provided little taste explosions with every bite. I didn’t know there could be anything better than Oysters Rockefeller… until I had the Oyster Rockefeller pizza. The plump oysters were loaded with flavor that was enhanced with a dusting of fresh herbs and parmesan cheese. All this… resting on a perfectly cooked crust coming straight from the brick oven which gave every bite the right amount of crunch without diminishing the texture of the oysters. Totally worth going out for on a cold snowy night!

For years, I have experienced simple suburban living. So when moving to the city, I was excited for the wonders of daily bars with artisanal pizza. So when I approached the darkened, dreary windows of the so called «art house», my heart sank.
Had this been the first attempt to enter this «fine» establishment, I would have been more forgiving. But nay, this was the third time I tried to fill my belly.
I was devastated. Gutted. Bereft. The facebook page said it was open. The website said it was open. The derelict front door even tauntingly advertised daily specials. Daily specials my butt.
Art house, I bite my thumb at thee.
Golden west café brought us in and showered us with warmth and happiness. We love them.
But arthouse, shame.

Full disclosure, I’ve never eaten in at Arthouse, mostly electing to take pizza to go or delivery to local businesses without restaurants. I love that they do seasonal pizza toppings, since it give me the chance to try new things, but also a few rotating pies, so there’s usually something appealing on offer. The crust can be a bit thin for multiple toppings, so best to eat it hot!

Stopped in on a rainy day just as they had opened in the afternoon and grabbed a seat at the bar. The service was great and pizza was the only thing on my mind. I ordered the «Italian» and it came out steaming hot from the brick oven and was a pretty delicious pizza. A tad bit greasy, but that was most likely from all the «Italian» meat ensemble.
It’s absolutely the best pizza in Hampden. I’ll be back, but it might be a while before I try anything, but the pizza. It was that good!

I was meeting a friend for dinner in Hampden and we were both craving pizza. I remembered reading good things about The Arthouse and suggested we give it a try. The Arthouse is right off the avenue in Hampden and it’s an adorable little spot.
After looking over the menu, we decided to split two pizzas. The French Onion Pizza was the first one we shared. The pizza came topped with caramelized onions, beef stock, fontina, reggiano, and chives. It was awesome, exactly what I would have expected french onion soup turned into a pizza to taste like.
The other pizza we ordered was the BBQ Bacon Pizza, it was topped with braised bacon, honey barbecue sauce, shaved red onion, and cheddar cheese. This pizza was also delicious. It had a nice sweet and smoky flavor to it and tasted really great.
The pizza at The Arthouse is fun and worth a visit if you’re in Hampden.

One of my friends and I came here on one of the few 90 degree days we had last month. That was not the best idea because this place is tiny, we sat right near the brick oven, and even if the AC was on (it didn’t feel like it) it wouldn’t have really done anything since the front door opened frequently.
Besides the fact that we were sweating our asses off, the food was really good, and the service even better. The waiters, who must have been sweating their asses off way more than we were, thankfully were running around filling up water glasses frequently.
We both started with salads, I got the grilled caesar and my friend got their peach salad. I’m not really a fan of warm salads but figured I’d give it a try since so many people raved about it. Turns out, I still prefer my salads cold, but it wasn’t bad. The dressing was really good, and the cheese was tasty. My friend wanted to order a second peach salad after her first.
I was originally going to get the prosciutto pizza for dinner, but I sat down next to a kid who had a margerita pizza and it looked so simple and good that I went for that. I wasn’t even super hungry after the salad but I devoured it. The crust was really good… kinda crispy, kinda light, kinda doughy all at once.
My friend unfortunately wasn’t a fan of the calamari pizza that she got (had it been fried calamari, it might’ve been better, but, still, she wasn’t eating it) and even though it was just a personal reason that she didn’t like it and there was nothing wrong with it, our server took it off the bill.
The other pizzas I saw people eating looked really good, and their dessert options sounded delicious as well. That coupled with the great service, and I’d love to go back there soon (when the effects of the brick oven will actually feel nice).

Went here on a Sunday night around 6:45PM. I think we were the only ones in there. I’m not complaining, just stating.
Went with my girlfriend and 2 of our friends. Both couples split the Grilled Caesar Salad: Grilled Romaine halves, croutons, thick cut parm slices, dressing, and anchovies. I thought this was OK. It was a little soggy, and I wasn’t a big fan of the dressing on the bottom of everything — I ended up with big chunks of dressing.
My friends got a pepperoni pizza (Cheese Pizza $ 12, plus Pepp $ 2). I didn’t try it but it looked yum.
My girlfriend and I split the French Onion Pizza. If you don’t like french onion soup, don’t get this. It tastes like they pulled out the onions from the french onion soup, and put it on a pizza. I REALLY liked this pizza. We added crispy Bacon for $ 2. A wise choice. Who doesn’t like bacon?!
3 miller High Lifes and the above cost about $ 70 total with tip with 4 diners.
Side note: My cat Piper really enjoyed the crust ;)
Happy hour is weekdays 4 – 7. Closed Mondays.

Update! Yes, initially I had a not-​so-​hot experience here, but I’ve since visited several times and have now decided that this is my FAVORITE pizza in Baltimore. The crust really makes it. It’s so freakin’ good. All subsequent experiences with the wait staff have been fabulous, so it seems they have really gotten into their groove.
The pizza is obviously the star (have liked everything I tried, and my boyfriend is a repeat-​orderer of the Italiano), but I’ve enjoyed all of the salads I’ve tried too. And they give generous pours of wine.
New favorite neighborhood joint, incredible pizza.

We debated whether this should be two stars or one, and settled on one because we woke up the next morning actually happy that we hadn’t taken our leftovers home. Harsh, I know, but… these calories just weren’t worth it!
His plate: «Fall off the bone wings», margarita pizza with ground bacon and hot peppers added
Her plate: margarita pizza with garlic added
The décor here is quite nice, and it’s a comfortable warm restaurant. The wine pours are also super generous, and the wine list for by the glass is full of things that pair well with pizza. Too bad the wine was the best thing we had here!
Service is spotty (I know, they’ve only been open a few months) and we really wanted salt and pepper. Or the waitress to notice that neither of us taking home any of the half-​eaten food might mean we weren’t satisfied, and ask for some feedback.
Let’s start with the wings — I didn’t try one. I watched D pick at them, and wrote down «worst wings in Baltimore?» in my notebook. «Fall off the bone» is supposed to refer to tenderness of the meat, and usually how it’s slowly cooked until it’s the texture of perfectly cooked spareribs (Corner Stable?) or truly great grilled and smoked wings (Andy Nelson’s or Zen West). These were more of the disintegration kind of fall off the bone. D says he thinks they were boiled and that’s about it — no flavor, no texture, not worth it.
Our pizzas were almost comically uneven — half of my crust was burned, and the other half was a little under done. Ours weren’t as bad as a few that we watched go out — and the restaurant wasn’t even that busy. Spin your pizzas. It’s how to cook in a brick oven.
The crust was not awful, though it’s not a consistent thickness so the middle was soggy and actually non-​existent in a few spots. It wanted a little salt, but was otherwise unoffensive. The tomatoes… well, they needed a few more steps away from the can they came out of, because they still tasted like aluminum, and quite literally nothing else. Hey, canned tomatoes are a staple — but you have to do something with them. Herbs? Cooking? Blending or chopping? There was also way too much olive oil — yes, a turn of oil around the crust tastes great. But this was swimming.
Roasted red pepper didn’t save this pizza, and we left most of it there. But at least the wine was good!