THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Grano Emporio Awards

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Grano Emporio Restaurant Review:

In the beginning, Gino Troia created Grano, a tiny corner pasta bar on Hampden’s 36th Street “Avenue.” It was a humble little joint, with a short menu of pastas and mix-and-match sauces, served up at a luncheonette-style counter and a few tables. In short order, those tables were some of the hottest in town, thanks to the Troia reputation --- Towson’s much posher Café Troia is a longtime fave --- and the fact that the pastas and sauces were just that good. (Inexpensive, too.) Happily for its fans, a larger location soon joined the Grano family. Grano Emporio is ensconced in a former tearoom, with two levels of seating, a bar (the Chestnut) and a dining porch shaded with European-style umbrellas. The menu is more extensive, with seasonal Italian entrées and a daily risotto as well as the tempting pastas. Don’t look for the original Grano’s cheap-and-cheerful informality, though. Reservations are a must, mains are pricey, and as everything on the menu is à la carte, including the bread basket, you may spend a pretty penny for your “home-style” dinner.