There is a hidden gem deep inside the eerily empty hallways of the under-development Rotunda shopping center on 41st Street in northern Baltimore city.
It is Casa Mia?s, a New York-style pizza joint that draws customers from as far as Catonsville and Towson, according to owner Shabir Malik.
“If you love your New York pizza, you come here cause you can?t find it anywhere else,” he said.
Malik bought Casa Mia?s six years ago.
“I saw this place and liked it very much, and the previous owners had only been in business for over one year. After taking it over, I learned they could not manage very well,” Malik said.
“I keep my eyes on everything that is happening,” Malik said. “I always try to buy better ingredients, and we have a good recipe. I don?t go for something that is cheaper just to make money.”
Most of Casa Mia?s ingredients come from US Food, but the meatballs come from a specialty Italian grocery. “I tried different meatballs. I didn?t like the ones from US Food, and people love these real Italian meatballs,” Malik said.
“I?m from New York, and my biggest gripe about Baltimore was the pizza,” said Annie Sandor, marketing director for Clear Channel radio stations WPOC, WSMJ, WCAO, located on the second floor of the Rotunda. “Casa Mia?s is good. It has the thin crust and comes in a big slice, like they do it in Manhattan.”
Other retailers in the Rotunda include Giant, Rite Aid, Radio Shack and a few others, but business has been slow for many.
In 2004, New Jersey-based developers Hekemian and Co. bought the site and have promised a renaissance of the space.
“What we have been trying to do is make the Rotunda do what it has always done,” said Chris Bell, Vice President of Hekemian and Co. “That is be a gathering place and shopping place, a place for both work and life. All we?re really adding to the mix is new apartments.”
More information
» Casa Mia?s of the Rotunda
410-467-0596
» Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays; noon to 6 p.m. Sundays
