Giolitti Delicatessen in Baltimore: Italian Cold Cuts and House-Made Pasta

Giolitti is a neighborhood Italian delicatessen in Highlandtown that stocks imported cured meats, fresh mozzarella, and prepared foods, with a strong focus on Ligurian and Southern Italian products. The operation is small, family-run, and built around mail orders and walk-in retail rather than table service; most customers arrive to buy ingredients or ready-made sandwiches to take home.

What Giolitti actually is

Founded in 1947, Giolitti occupies a single storefront on the 3100 block of Greenmount Avenue. It functions primarily as a specialty grocery and sandwich counter. The shop stocks imported Italian cheeses, oils, vinegars, and canned goods alongside fresh items like house-made mozzarella and pasta. The counter serves sandwiches built from its own cured meats and imported prosciutto, which are sliced to order. There is no seating; transactions are quick and transactional.

Menu and pricing

Sandwiches run between $8 and $14 depending on meat choice and weight. A basic prosciutto sandwich costs around $9; sandwiches with multiple meats or additions like roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella approach $13 or $14. Imported meats sold by the pound range from $16 to $24, with house-made items like fresh pasta priced at $6 to $9 per pound. Confirm current prices by phone before a visit, as they shift with market costs for imported goods.

The shop also sells prepared items like lasagna, ravioli, and sausage in quantities suited to single households or small families, typically $12 to $18 per unit. These are made fresh; inventory is limited and changes daily.

How Giolitti compares to other Baltimore delis

Giolitti serves a narrower product range than Attman's Delicatessen, the larger Jewish-style deli in Lombard, which stocks smoked meats, Eastern European prepared foods, and shelf-stable goods across a much wider footprint. Attman's is also famous for its pastrami sandwich, a Baltimore institution. Giolitti's strength lies in Italian specificity: if you want San Daniele prosciutto, fresh burrata, or house-made tagliatelle, Giolitti is the choice. If you want a quick, meaty pastrami sandwich or broader Jewish delicatessen products, Attman's serves you better.

Compared to Formaggio's in Fells Point, an upscale Italian marketplace with wine, Giolitti is less curated and cheaper. Formaggio functions as a sit-down wine bar with antipasti plates; Giolitti is pure retail and quick takeout. Formaggio's wine list and prepared boards reflect fine-dining markup; Giolitti prices are neighborhood-deli level.

For sandwiches alone, Giolitti competes with chain sandwich shops and casual delis across the city, but its imported-meat quality and house-made pasta distinguish it. A prosciutto sandwich from Giolitti uses imported ham; a prosciutto sandwich from a chain uses commodity lunch meat.

Who it suits and who it does not suit

Giolitti suits people cooking Italian at home who want quality ingredients, neighborhood residents buying lunch, and mail-order customers (the shop ships nationwide). It does not suit diners seeking table service or a sit-down meal, people looking for a broad grocery selection, or those who want to browse without time pressure. The shop is small and service is efficient; lingering is not the model.

What the first visit involves

Walk in, scan the case of cured meats and fresh mozzarella, order a sandwich if you want one (specify thinness of slices and which meats), or ask to see bulk items like pasta or prepared lasagna. The staff will slice and wrap to order. Payment is cash or card. The transaction takes 5 to 10 minutes. If you plan to order prepared food, calling ahead ensures availability; daily inventory is limited.

Hours, parking, and logistics

Giolitti is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Mondays. Confirm hours before visiting. Street parking is available on Greenmount Avenue; there is no dedicated lot. The neighborhood is Highlandtown, roughly 2 miles north of downtown, accessible by car or Charm City Circulator (Green Line). The location is not a tourist destination; it serves the local Italian community and food enthusiasts who know where to find it.

Giolitti survives because it fills a specific role in Baltimore's food ecology: a source for authentic Italian ingredients and sandwiches built with real imported meat, in a neighborhood that remembers the city's Italian heritage.