Dominic's Italian Grille

I’m disappointed to write this review since we've been frequenting this restaurant for over 20 years. In the past, we would have given their steak and cheese subs a perfect score of 5. Our family and friends have enjoyed them hundreds of times. However, on our recent visit, we ordered two of them, and they were awful. It seems they’ve changed the meat or something else has altered, and they just weren’t good at all. We ended up not eating them! Please, Dominic's, return to the original recipe and ingredients for this classic sub. If needed, consider raising the price slightly, but please don’t compromise on the food quality.

The hospitality here is truly exceptional! I absolutely love this place!

The crust is neither thin nor thick; it’s somewhere in between, but it’s fresh and tasty. The pizza is cut in typical Maryland style, rectangular. I saw a critique stating that the pizza absorbs the sauce, and there might be some truth to that— we requested extra sauce, but I’m not sure if it was forgotten or if the crust soaked it all up, as it wasn’t very saucy. Nonetheless, the pizza was quite good. The sauce had a fresh tomato taste, rather than tasting like tomato paste. It wasn’t overly sweet, tangy, or spicy. The Italian sausage was definitely the highlight; they clearly use high-quality sausage, not breakfast sausage or those disappointing little crumbles, but generous chunks packed with fennel flavor. The pepperoni, onions, and black olives were just what you’d expect, and there was enough grease on the pizza to enhance the flavor, even though it was a bit light on sauce. We also ordered onion rings, which were decent but not spectacular. We had really been craving them, but they’re probably not something we’d order every time. Usually, we opt for a Caesar salad with our pizza, but after walking 5.5 miles that day, we decided to indulge a little. We’ll definitely try the Caesar next time. On Mondays, they have a 25% off pizza special, so I might swing by for lunch since it’s closer to home than my usual Monday-Tuesday discounted pizza spot. We’ll likely return for a dinner date night too, especially since they have a cocktail menu that got my husband excited. It leans heavily towards whiskey, which I’m not a fan of, so I’ll gladly take on the role of designated driver. The staff was incredibly friendly, and they all seemed to know each other well. One of the women at the bar was actually off the clock but enjoying drinks with friends. The atmosphere had a cozy neighborhood bar vibe, with a fun crowd joking around. They played music that I liked, although we were a bit disappointed that they switched from Rush shortly after starting “Tom Sawyer.” There’s no sign indicating that you should seat yourself, but that’s the setup. It’s very casual here. I’m looking forward to trying some of the other Italian dishes, as we haven’t found a go-to pasta place nearby yet.

I give this restaurant a 5-star rating because of the excellent service. However, I noticed that the cleanliness of the establishment needs improvement, as we saw roaches everywhere.

Service: Dine in Meal type: Lunch Price per person: $50–100