Restaurants
Known primarily for our shellfish — particularly crabs, oysters, and shrimp—Baltimore’s culinary scene offers just about any cuisine you want. The scene includes innovative and traditional restaurants that offer five-star service and epicurean menus. On the other hand, we have some of the best casual, down-home food around.
Some restaurants still serve endangered species fish meals. If it’s important to you, then ask about your particular aversion when you make your reservation.
To keep up with the Baltimore food scene, subscribe to the Downtown Partnership Baltimore e-mails and visit www.DineDowntownBaltimore.com for special menus, food-related events, and specials. Sometimes you might learn that Yankees umpires dine in Little Italy or Harbor East.
Baltimore has a winter and a summer restaurant week when 90 or more restaurants offer prix fixe lunches or dinners. This is a great time to try that restaurant that’s always been tempting, but just not tempting enough. They really want to have fun and rename the days of the week to help you with Yumday, Chewsday, Winesday, Thirstday, Fryday, Platterday, and Dim Sumday, offering a “different kind of delicious daily.”
In 2009 the three-course dinners were $30.09 per person, plus taxes, gratuities, and liquor. The winter week is toward the end of January and the summer week is in late August. You should reserve early because these programs are popular. Don’t moan if you are late calling, though, because many of the restaurants have extended the week into two weeks because of the popularity.
If you mingle with the locals enough, you’re sure to participate in the “best crab cake” discussion. Just after that comes the debate about who makes the best crab soup. I’m partial to cream of crab or she-crab soup. Others prefer vegetable and tomato-base (what do they know?). The 4th Annual Summer restaurant week in August 2009 kicked off with a Crab Soup Stakes. Set at the Harborplace Amphitheater, people were invited to sample soups from 10 of Baltimore’s best restaurants and then vote for a favorite. Top honors went to Alizee on 4 West University Parkway for best Maryland crab soup and Brightons in the Intercontinental Harbor Court Hotel won for best cream of crab soup.
Baltimore is still a big small town and small neighborhood joints provide some of the best surprises. Friendly service, small and interesting menus, and a selection of local beers and artwork make these smaller, off-the-beaten-path places a great experience. At Peter’s Inn in Fell’s Point, the restaurant occupies the first floor of a small row house, and owners Bud and Karin change the menu weekly depending on what’s fresh at the market.
No trip to Baltimore is complete without a stop at one of the many local diners, where some of the servers have waited tables for 30 years. We know they’re great and that the waitresses may have had tall hair for a long time, but there was never any tall food served here. One of the best, Bel-Loc, has been around since 1964 and “suddenly” it’s the in diner to visit because Southern Living magazine has named it the best diner of the south. We knew that.
There is a statewide smoking ban. That means absolutely no lighting up in any bar or restaurant.
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Address: 36 Light St.
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Address: 10 Art Museum Dr.
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Address: 720 B Aliceanna St.
4. Chaps Charcoal Restaurant (Aka Chaps Pit Beef)
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (410) 483-2379
Address: 5801 Pulaski Hwy.
Description: Gus and Bob Creager started this “hole in the wall” in 1987 and it has been going strong ever since. It’s been a highlighted stop when Charm City Cakes owner Duff Goldman took Diners host Guy Fieri to Chaps. It’s totally possible that the same producer has worked on numerous shows because Anthony Bourdain and Adam Richman also visited. The bottom round beef is sliced thin, not “pulled” or “chopped.” You can ask for rare, medium, well, or a mixture. Throw on a little white onion and some tiger sauce (horseradish and mayo) and you’re all set. You can order turkey, pork, corned beef, and sausage. The restaurant opens daily at 10:30 a.m. closing at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday.
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Address: 550 Light St.
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Address: 1019 East Lombard St.
7. James Joyce Irish Pub And Restaurant
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (410) 727-5107
Address: 616 South President St.
Description: Set in the up-and-coming Harbor East neighborhood, James Joyce has quickly become a popular spot for casual fare and live music several evenings a week. Baltimore has its share of Irish restaurants (no, not every one is listed here) but this one is notable for its convivial atmosphere and its varied menu. Traditional Irish fare is featured here, but the salads topped with meats and seafood are a delight, as are the hearty main courses available after 2:30 p.m. With so much variety, you can eat cheap or you can splurge. There’s a children’s menu here. Valet parking is available in the evening. Parking is also available in the nearby garage.
8. Amicci’S
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (410) 528-1096
Address: 231 South High St.
Description: The High Street restaurant that opened in 1991 bills itself as “VERY” casual. The signature appetizer that’s big enough to share or order for a meal, at $13.99 for lunch and $14.99 for dinner, is a round Italian bread loaf, brushed with garlic butter, toasted and filled with jumbo shrimp in a creamy scampi sauce. The restaurant serves beer, wine, and cordials. It’s open Monday through Friday for lunch and daily for dinner. Reservations are a good idea, especially on weekends or summer weeknights.
9. Sotto Sopra
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (410) 625-0534
Address: 405 North Charles St.
Description: If you’re in the Mount Vernon cultural district, figure this eatery to be Little Italy North, a place where you can find some great homemade northern Italian fare. The chefs change every 18 months; the basics of osso buco, carpaccio di manzo, vitello tonnato, and costata de vitello remain constant. Look for a special menu on Opera Night, a pairing of music and fine dining. Owner Riccardo Bosia shares your enthusiasm for good food and fine singing. Check the schedule.
10. The Hippo
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (410) 547-0069
Address: 1 West Eager St.
Description: So many places in Baltimore (including a lot of banks and office buildings) were built as something and then converted into something else, that this building is a refreshing concept because it was built as a nightclub, the Chanticleer, in the mid-1930s. After serving as the prime entertainment spot, it became the One West Restaurant in 1961, and the Hippo opened its doors on July 7, 1972. It is believed to be the oldest gay nightclub, with the same name, in the country. Within the three rooms, the main dance bar is said to have one of the most progressive light shows on the East Coast. The saloon side is open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Address: 1727 East Pratt St.
12. Watertable
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (410) 685-8439
Address: 202 East Pratt St.
Description: Located in the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, Watertable (with dynamite views of the Inner Harbor from the fifth floor location) has contemporary American cuisine, crab cakes, salmon, and tuna served every day in new and traditional ways. Save room for dessert because they’re all made in the hotel kitchen. Remember to take your camera and arrive early (if possible) if you want a window table. Reservations are absolutely necessary; you can park in the hotel parking lot or walk over from the Inner Harbor area.
City: Baltimore, MD
Category: Restaurants
Address: 5700 Newbury St.