Only the pizza is square at Joe Squared on North Avenue
by Lynn Williams
maindish@baltimoreguide.com
Joe Squared Bar & Pizza is anything but square. In fact, the word “quirky” might have been coined for the kind of place that serves Buffalo wings with chocolate and walnut sauce.
Named for owner Joe Edwardsen and the shape of his pizzas, Joe’s is a study in contrasts—and eccentricity. It’s a bar on a semi-divey block, but it has gained a reputation for really good, interesting food. (The Slow Food group meets there.) The menu encompasses usual-suspects pub grub, pastas and paninis, flights of fancy such as alligator fritters and the aforementioned wings, and an assortment of risottos that could have come from the classiest Italian kitchen in town. The patrons are quite an assortment, too; on a given night you can find hipsters, hiphoppers, families, and loud guys with wifebeaters and tattoos, watching boxing at the bar.
About those wings: they’re not a joke. The waiter assured me that the sauce is more of a Mexican molé thing than a Hershey’s thing. And right he was. The wings ($8.50 for a one-pound order) were big and meaty, and coated in a thick, dark, bittersweet sauce that, while it definitely involved chocolate, certainly fell on the savory side of the ledger. The blue cheese dressing was also exemplary. Where has this recipe been all my life?
The pizzas are available in basic models, creative models (chicken, corn and apples?) and design-your-own models, with a list of toppings—including spaghetti—that I doubt any other pizzeria in town could match. The default crust is thin, but if you want a thick, whole-wheat crust, or even a round one, the kitchen will oblige. We tried a medium-sized “flag” pizza ($12), divided into green (pesto), red (marinara) and white (garlic) stripes, in tribute to the Italian flag, and a small Chesapeake ($13), which flaunted 10 different toppings including crabmeat, crawfish and candied ginger. Both were crisp-crusted and terrific, and inspired me to create my own combo next time.
There are a baker’s dozen risottos on offer, and all look tempting. Would it be scallops, tomatoes, Boursin and cilantro? Venison, arugula, sesame seeds, Swiss and thyme? If the simple spinach risotto, moist and rich with walnut oil, roasted garlic and provolone, was any indication, all are worth sampling. And at $6 or $7 for a small order, an affordable thrill.
Less than thrilling was the lemon curd cake ($5)—not made in-house—which would have been at home at a kid’s birthday party. The mango sorbet, served in a mango shell, was pricey at $7, but was a gently exotic end to a pleasantly surprising meal.
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I am particularly pleased to put in a plug for the upcoming fundraiser for Mercy Hospital’s NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). Not only is it a cause dear to my heart—my own daughter spent her first few days of life in Mercy’s NICU—but it offers plenty of good food from local restaurants. This second annual event is called Nick and You2, and the “U2 part” seems to have inspired an Irish theme; look for Irish music and Guinness aplenty. The party will be held on Thursday, May 10 from 5:30p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Center Club, 100 Light St. Tickets are $60, and include free parking. For further info, call 410-332-9290.
