The jumbo lump crab cake everyone else in town is measured against, all backfin and almost no filler, eaten standing at a counter in the market. Closed Sundays and shut by 5pm, so this is a lunch plan, not a post-show one.
119 N Paca St, Baltimore, MD 21201
L.P. Steamers$$$ · Locust Point
Brown paper, mallets, Old Bay in the air, and a rooftop deck with a view of the Domino Sugars sign. Order crabs by the dozen and plan on two hours, because picking is the whole point.
Costas InnSeafood restaurant · $$$ · Dundalk
A big loud Dundalk crab house that has been doing this since the 1970s and steams crabs year round, not just in season. Locals argue their spice blend is heavier than everyone else's, which is the correct amount.
4100 North Point Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21222
Koco's PubPub · $$ · Lauraville
A neighborhood corner bar where the crab cake is roughly the size of a softball and comes on a squished burger bun that gives up immediately. Closed Sunday and Monday, and Tuesday it does not open until 4:30.
4301 Harford Rd, Baltimore, MD 21214
True Chesapeake Oyster Co.$$$ · Woodberry
The raw bar to hit when you want oysters from a farm that actually grows them, served in an old mill building. Closed Mondays, dinner only most nights, with a Sunday brunch service.
Thames Street Oyster HouseSeafood restaurant · $$$ · Fells Point
The best raw bar in the city and the crab cake locals send out-of-towners to. Old rowhouse on the water in Fells Point with an upstairs deck. Reserve, because the walk-in wait is real.
1728 Thames St, Baltimore, MD 21231
Steaks in Baltimore
The Prime RibSteak house · $$$$ · Mount Vernon
Leopard print carpet, black lacquer walls and a jazz trio playing while you eat, unchanged since 1965. Get the bone in prime rib and the greenberg fries, and wear a jacket because the room expects it.
1101 N Calvert St, Baltimore, MD 21202
The RuxtonSteak house · $$$$ · Harbor East
The newer money steakhouse in town and currently the one critics keep naming, heavy on prime cuts with a shellfish tower and tater tots topped with caviar. Kitchen runs late Friday and Saturday, until 11.
720 Aliceanna St, Baltimore, MD 21202
The Oregon Grille$$$$ · Hunt Valley
A stone farmhouse in horse country about 20 minutes north of downtown, dry aged beef and a bar that stays open past midnight. Worth the drive if you want quiet, and the Sunday brunch is a separate reason to go.
Rec Pier Chop HouseItalian restaurant · $$$$ · Fells Point
An Italian chophouse in the old Recreation Pier building, so you get dry aged steaks and house made pasta on the same table. Ask for a seat near the windows over the water.
The Sagamore Pendry Hotel, 1715 Thames St, Baltimore, MD 21231
The BeaumontSteak house · $$$ · Catonsville
A neighborhood steakhouse about fifteen minutes west of downtown that regulars guard a little. Less money than the Harbor East rooms, same care with the beef. Worth the short drive.
801 Frederick Rd, Catonsville, MD 21228
BBQ in Baltimore
Chaps Pit Beef$ · East Baltimore
The pit beef institution, rare top round sliced thin on a kaiser roll with raw onion and horseradish tiger sauce. Note they moved off Pulaski Highway to a new building next door, so do not trust an old pin on your map.
Andy Nelson's Southern Pit Barbecue$$ · Cockeysville
Run by a former Baltimore Colt, doing real pulled pork and ribs in a state that mostly ignores both. There is a drive thru, and they are closed Sundays.
Pioneer Pit Beef$ · Windsor Mill
A cinderblock shack on the side of the road with a charcoal pit out front, and that is the entire operation. Lunch hours only, so get there before it closes in the late afternoon.
Big Bad Wolf's House of BarbequeBarbecue restaurant · $$ · Hamilton
A small yellow brick house on Harford Road turning out brisket, ribs and smoked wings with almost no dining room. Closed Monday and Tuesday, and it is mostly a takeout play.
5713 Harford Rd, Baltimore, MD 21214
Blue Pit BBQ & Whiskey Bar$$ · Hampden
Coffee-rubbed brisket, 18-hour pulled pork, and a whiskey list long enough to get you in trouble. The Hampden crowd treats it like a bar that happens to smoke meat. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Breakfast in Baltimore
Miss Shirley's Cafe$$ · Roland Park
The city's default brunch answer, Southern plates with Maryland leanings like crab and fried green tomato eggs benedict. The Roland Park location is the least chaotic of the three, but weekends still mean a wait.
Golden West CafeSouthwestern restaurant (US) · $$ · Hampden
New Mexican breakfast on the Avenue, green chile on everything and a room full of tattoos and vinyl. Check the day first, they are closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
1105 W 36th St, Baltimore, MD 21211
Blue Moon CafeBreakfast restaurant · $$ · Fells Point
Tiny, loud, and the source of the Cap'n Crunch French toast that everybody photographs. They run 24 hours on weekends, which makes it the right call at 4am after a Fells Point night.
1621 Aliceanna St, Baltimore, MD 21231
Petit Louis BistroFrench restaurant · $$$ · Roland Park
A proper French bistro brunch with omelets, steak frites and actual tablecloths, when you want to sit down instead of stand in line. Brunch is Sunday only, 10:30 to 2, and it books up.
4800 Roland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21210
The Food MarketAmerican restaurant · $$$ · Hampden
Chad Gauss cooks playful American food and the weekend brunch is the version to catch, 10 to 3 Saturday and Sunday. A step up from diner brunch without being stuffy. Reserve on Resy.
1017 W 36th St, Baltimore, MD 21211
Top Tables in Baltimore
CharlestonFine dining restaurant · $$$$ · Harbor East
4.7 stars, 479 reviews. Cindy Wolf's Low Country tasting menu and a James Beard winning wine program.
1000 Lancaster St, Baltimore, MD 21202
Magdalena at The Ivy Hotel$$$$ · Mount Vernon
Relais & Chateaux dining room in a mansion. Quietest special-occasion table in the city.
Thames Street Oyster HouseSeafood restaurant · $$$ · Fells Point
The city's best raw bar plus the lobster roll everyone photographs.
1728 Thames St, Baltimore, MD 21231
Woodberry Kitchen$$$ · Woodberry
Wood-fired Mid-Atlantic cooking inside a converted mill. The room that put Baltimore on food maps.