Earlier this year, the New York Times released its list of “22 of The Best Pizza Places in the United States” and the list included one Maryland restaurant.
Little Donna’s, located at 1812 Bank Street in Baltimore, offers tavern pies, which is a type of pizza with a thin, crispy crust, square cuts, and sauce and cheese that extend to the edges. The restaurant offers a variety, like the Tomato Pie (crushed tomato sauce, shaved garlic, wild oregano, EVO), Taco Pizza (LD cheese blend, housemade chorizo, green chili crema, shredded lettuce, crushed corn chips, tomato salsa), Bianca (LD cheese blend, fresh ricotta, lemon marinated greens & sesame seeds), and more.
Robbie Tutlewski is the owner and chef at Little Donna’s. Hailing from Gary, Indiana, he pursued his culinary education at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago. Over the years, Robbie has had the honor of working alongside some of the industry’s most esteemed chefs. After spending a decade in Phoenix, Arizona, he has now made Washington, DC his home.
According to the restaurant website, during his time in Arizona, Robbie collaborated with Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, one of his key mentors and a cherished friend. Together, they opened new restaurants, where Robbie gained invaluable insights into the integrity and intention behind the food we prepare and consume. After relocating to Washington, DC, he honed his craft at the innovative Tail Up Goat before taking the bold step to launch his own venture. Robbie shares his life with his wife and their two dogs, a pit bull and a pug. He has a passion for punk music and was once in a band humorously named “Sounds Like Sh*t,” but fortunately for all of us, he discovered his true calling in cooking and nourishing others.
Cooking has always been a central part of Chef Robbie’s life. It began like it does for many—cooking at home with family. As a child, he learned to make pierogi (dumplings) with his grandmother, affectionately known as Little Donna, who hailed from Yugoslavia. Although he wasn’t initially keen on cooking, he was the only one permitted to assist her, thanks to his patience and small hands that were gentle enough not to tear the dough.
Robbie grew up in a household where his grandmother prepared soup, bread, and pie every single day. This diminutive powerhouse, standing just 4 ½ feet tall, would rise with the sun and work tirelessly until midnight. She treated their home like a bustling commercial kitchen, ensuring that every guest was well-fed and sent home with leftovers. That was the essence of Donna, or “Little Donna,” as Robbie’s sister Jill fondly called her.
These remarkable women nurtured Robbie’s love for cooking, and although they are no longer with us, their influence remains a source of inspiration and strength. Little Donna’s embodies their values of hard work, honesty, and the importance of caring for others through the comfort of a home-cooked meal.
The New York Times’ Brett Anderson writes, “It isn’t surprising that Robbie Tutlewski decided to put soft-shell crab on pizza. Little Donna’s — which made The New York Times’s 2023 list of the nation’s most exciting restaurants – is in Baltimore, after all. Here, crab is an all-but-mandatory menu item. And the soft-shells really take to the treatment. They’re pan-fried, quartered and then scattered atop a cooked white pizza, where their buttery juices settle into the cheese. The seasonal special is just one example of how Mr. Tutlewski channels a lifetime’s worth of experiences through his pizzeria.”