Food & Drink
Review: Ukrainian Dishes Shine at Pizza Harbor in Federal Hill
The pizzas are solid, but the pierogies, stuffed cabbage, and other delicacies from the co-owners' native Ukraine are what have customers hooked.
From the outside, Federal Hill’s Pizza Harbor looks pretty much like every other run-of-the-mill neighborhood pizza joint in every other neighborhood in the city. Its name, as nondescript as they come, also belies what’s inside.
The first clue that your assumptions are wrong appears when you walk through the front door and notice the far wall, painted yellow and blue. Art from the village of Petrykivka, in the Dnipro region of eastern Ukraine, hangs from it, and on another is a falcon carved in the shape of a Ukrainian trident.
Take a seat at the bar and behind it you’ll see up to 10 bottles of Ukrainian beer, which is about 10 more than we’ve seen in any other Baltimore bar. The drink menu includes a Kyiv Mule, and, along with the standard menu of pizza, sandwiches, and wings, comes another with stuffed cabbage, pierogies, and borscht.
A little more than a year ago, co-owner Myroslava Semerey took Pizza Harbor, once a part of the HomeSlyce franchise, independent. Her daughter, Iryna, joined the business and the two decided to add flavors from their native Ukraine to the operation.
“Not many restaurants in the area are able to present our Ukrainian cuisine, so people do not have to wait for the festivals in the summertime,” Iryna says. “They can come here anytime to have something special, homemade Ukrainian food.”
Something special indeed. While the pizzas and the like are solid, it’s Myroslava’s homemade Ukrainian dishes that truly shine.
Holubtsi is cabbage stuffed with rice and ground veal, beef, and pork. “Because it’s very time-consuming, [my mom] would always make it on Saturday evenings for Sunday lunch and dinner,” Iryna says. “I cannot eat any other stuffed cabbage; it is the best I’ve ever had.” We concur.
Chebureky is essentially a version of an empanada, a large, deep-fried pocket of dough filled with ground beef. “That is our version of fast food,” Iryna says.
Pierogies are better known around these parts, and Myroslava’s are among the best we’ve eaten. The secret? “The dough has to be soft and pliable,” Iryna says. “My mom makes it with potatoes, and she adds some cheese as well.”
The majority of Pizza Harbor’s customers are not Ukrainians, rather people from the neighborhood who have stumbled onto this gem and become hooked. In the last six months, sales from the Ukrainian menu have surpassed that of the regular one, Iryna says.
What’s more, she says, she and her family have received lots of moral support from customers who understand that, because of Russia’s ongoing invasion of her native country, it’s a trying time for Ukrainians everywhere.
“We have family members who have been killed in the war,” Iryna says. “For us, we are filled with worry every day because you never know what to expect. We are living once again through the history that’s repeating itself because Ukraine went through these turmoil times before.”
Half a world away, the Semereys are doing their part, through food, to ensure that no one forgets the plight—and the beauty—of Ukraine.
PIZZA HARBOR: 2 E. Wells St., Federal Hill, 443-230-4240 HOURS: Tue.-Wed. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Thur. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. PRICES: Appetizers: $7-15; salads: $10-15;
sandwiches: $12-17; entrees: $27-47; pizzas: $11-32; Ukrainian dishes: $8-15.