Can we give Baltimore (& MD) some love?

Searching thru I find Baltimore is only mentioned in passing, either in searches for good crab, or en route, usually to DC, so here is a thread for Maryland. Going out there for a business circuit next week, and am looking for some good rec's. Also up in northern MD, Southern Pa, (York, Gettysburg, etc.).

In my experience Baltimore is a pretty decent food town, tho most of my trips seem to be undocumented, so I am to blame as well for this dearth of info. Will try to add more, but for now what would you recommend? And I am specifically excluding Annapolis crab shacks, which have been covered elsewhere.

It's been some time since I've been in there, but the best Greek restaurant I've ever eaten in is in Baltimore -- The Black Olive, near Fell's Point -- particularly noted for its exquisitely fresh seafood:

http://www.theblackolive.com/

The downside is, that if you go, you'll have a hard time returning to Greektown.

I just moved to Baltimore to study for 4 months so I am far from an expert but the good stuff I have had so far is:

Faidley's in Lexington Market. The lump crabcake was worth the cost.

Helmand on Charles in the 800 block is amazing Afghan food and cheap for this expensive city.

My husband and I lived in Baltimore for a year while I was clerking for a federal judge. Black Olive in Fells Point is indeed a great recommendation. When people ask what the best Greek restaurant in DC is, people in the know say "Black Olive."

We also loved the Helmand and went there quite frequently, since we lived nearby. Great, inexpensive Afghan food and nice people.

The Brewer's Art on Charles St. is a cool brew pub and restaurant. Bar is downstairs, restaurant upstairs.

People love the Lexington Ave market in Federal Hill for eating seafood and sipping beer in a casual market setting.

For a nice night out, we liked Corks, which is housed in a converted townhouse and has a great wine list. My engagement dinner was at Charleston, and it was nice, but I think we have better fine dining places here.


The Joy America Cafe in that crazy outsider's art museum (blanking on the name) is a great place for lunch and a beautiful view of the harbor. My judge took me and my co-clerks there for a farewell lunch. Sigh. They make great guac tableside.

Oooo... keep the recs coming

My fiancee and I just found out we'll be moving to Baltimore next summer (2007), so the scouting is starting now. We were there a couple of weeks ago. It was less than 24 hours worth of business trip, so we weren't looking to tour the town, but I can second the Faidley's recommendation. It's a counter joint in a fun market. I'm by no means a crabcake expert, but I thought it was extremely good, even off-season. Here's a more extensive blog post, if anybody is interested:

http://www.skilletdoux.com/43692.html

My experience is a little dated (nearly six years), but among the best sushi I've had was at Kawasaki (live scallop, abalone, albacore) - walking distance from the inner harbor area. At a weeklong conference, I had six or seven meals there. There are some other nearby sushi places as well, but this was much better. If you are a regular you can leave your chopsticks (on display) there.

Kawasaki
413 N. Charles St.,
Baltimore, MD
(410) 659-7600

You asked for Gettysburg recs, too. Mostly it's touristy stuff, but the Lincoln Diner served me a good meal one hot July day a couple of years back. It's an old favorite of Gettysburg College students, too (Mrs. JiLS's dad, included).



Lincoln Diner
32 Carlisle St
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Thanks for the good recs. I have been to Helmand, but had forgotten it - good reminder.

Will report back on the rest. I have a couple of days this week in Baltimore on business, so I will see what I can catch. Faidley's, Black Olive and Helmand are all on the list.

Will see if there is time to hit the Lincoln Diner. Perhaps we could use this as an excuse to discuss again the "east coast diner culture," which is not found around here...

For York, PA, I'd recommend The Left Bank, 120 N. George, in a semi rebuilt downtown area. Kind of a continental, bistro, neauveau menu. The husband wife team do a good effort at presentation and trying to use fresh ingredients.
And the Roosevelt Tavern is an interesting old building with good service and good steaks.

I lived in Baltimore for two years (97-99) after college and fell in love with some of the local restaurants.

A few of my favorites...
Helen's Garden on Canton Square in the Canton neighborhood just east of Fell's Point. The restaurant is moderately priced and the owners are dedicated to comfort and bistro food done well with fresh ingredients and some palate pleasing flavor twists. Aaah dreams of a lunch wrap featuring tuna with capers, romaine, nori, and wasabi spread nestled in a spinach tortilla. The restaurant is in an old beautiful row house so you will be heading upstairs to dine. You can take a water taxi over from the inner harbor to canton and walk a few blocks over to Helen's Garden.
2908 O'Donnell St., (410) 276-2233


Jimmy's in the Heart of Fells Point for breakfast. Very basic diner with good grits, great people, and a steady streeam of coffee with a "how's your mornin', hon?" Basic food but geat local atmosphere.

dvrstygrl wrote:

Jimmy's in the Heart of Fells Point for breakfast. Very basic diner with good grits, great people, and a steady streeam of coffee with a "how's your mornin', hon?" Basic food but geat local atmosphere.

Jimmy's is great. Besides breakfast, they have a great crab cake plate for like $9. You get two huge crab cakes stuffed with flakey crab meat, probably about 2/3 lb. of crab meat total.

I also reccommend "The Brewer's Art" on Charles Street about 2 miles in from the Harbor. They brew excellent Belgian style beers and you can choose from a fine dining experience upstairs or excellent gourmet pizzas downstairs in the "dungeon", which is a really neat atmosphere.

There is also a quality Tapas place about a block away from the downtown Amtrak station.

Northwest, out near the beltway, there is a great little seafood stand called "crabby cousins". $6 for a softshell on whitebread with pickles.
Call ahead, they have odd hours.
Carry out place, so take it 3 doors down to Racer's Cafe, one of the better beer bars in Baltimore, and quite cheap.

Brewer's Art
http://www.belgianbeer.com
I don't know how they landed that domain name.

Crabby Cousins
7800 Harford Rd Parkville, 410/668-0020

Always wanted to try this old-school Italian place (seriously):

http://www.sabatinos.com/

JeffB wrote:Always wanted to try this old-school Italian place (seriously):

http://www.sabatinos.com/

Remarkably similar menus ... until you get to the desserts! (Although I'll wager the seafood is a notch or two better than "our" Sabatino's.)

I did eat well for 2 days in Baltimore. Made it to Lexington Market and started with some oysters and clams, then moved on to a crab cake (best quality, lump). All very good. That was pretty much my last meal in Baltimore, aside from a mediocre crab cake at the airport.

We started with the Black Olive, which is actually down the street from Baltimore's old Italian neighborhood (where I have eaten a couple of times, and would happily go back next time, tho there is no one place I can recall to recommend), by Fell's Point. Exquisite selection of fish, whole fish nestled in ice staring up at me glassy-eyed - "I will take that one, please." Getting involved with your food, but not too attached.

For an appetizer I had grilled sardines in grape leaves. Not a cheap meal, but a damned good one.

Will post a bit later on my Pit Beef and pastry experiences, which a friendly LTH'er was kind enough to point me to.

Aaaah, I look forward to a pit beef briefing. I almost made the highway trek myself, despite the fact that it would have involved round trip taxis from the inner harbor... but in the end, I couldn't justify it, especially since it would have been a second lunch.

Anxious to hear what I missed!

I hail from Baltimore, and get back there a couple times a year at least. What they say about Paris ("it's impossible to get a bad meal there") is almost true about Baltimore, too. (The only thing that makes it not true is the increasing invasion, as everywhere else, of national chains. But even these are better in Baltimore than elsewhere! Through a complicated circumstance I had to have dinner at a Red Lobster in Owings Mills [which sounds insane--when in Baltimore, why on earth would you go to a Red Lobster for seafood?--but there was a reason], and it was better than the average Red Lobster--as if they knew they'd be run out of town on a rail if they dared to offer only their national standard of quality.)

I have practically never had a good crabcake anywhere else than Baltimore. And I have practically never had a bad crabcake anywhere in Baltimore. Baltimoreans know what a good crabcake (and good seafood in general) is supposed to taste like, and a place that offered a bad one would be closed inside of a week.

Now that I'm in my fifty-sixth year, it is still the case that the best restaurant I have ever eaten at in my entire life was a place (long gone) that my family used to go to on special occasions called The Chesapeake.

What they say about Paris ("it's impossible to get a bad meal there"

Unfortunately, no longer true, and you can also pay a lot for it and die of smoke inhalation in the bargain.

In general I agree with your estimation of the Chesapeake-Bay-area-crabcake monopoly on quality. Altho you can get good crabcakes up and down the east coast it's usually at the finer restaurants and at quite a premium (I'm thinking, in particular, of an earlier incarnation of the Striped Bass in Philly). But still, my wife and I have generally ceased ordering crabcakes anywhere not within a 100-mile radius of the Bay, and Faidley's remains our gold standard.

By the way, I'd also add soft-shelled crabs to the list of nanpareil Bay specialties.

LTH,

Baltimore is a great city, fun, easy to get around and chock full of great places to eat, from roadside crab stands to upscale Italian to terrific Baltimore Pit Beef.

One of my niece's favorites, she is a medical student at Johns Hopkins, is Vaccaro's for Italian pastries, coffee and gelato. Vaccaro's has a few different personalities, early morning coffee and pastry, mid afternoon pick-me-up, with, as Antonius might say, 'adjusted' coffee, and late night gelato and multi-layered sweet treats.

Vaccaro's


Boccaccio of Little Italy is upscale Italian, decor and service old school on the order of Sabatino's with quite good food though they overreach just a bit. Service is terrific and the room is very nice.

Buddy's Elliott Street Bar and Grill is a comfortable neighborhood tavern, Natty Bo in bottles, friendly owner and incredible no filler crab cakes. My niece tells me they had a change of chef's and, for a while, the crabs cakes suffered, but are now back up to snuff. I'd also suggest the grilled romaine salad.

Buddy's Elliott Street Crab Cake


Bo Brooks is a small chain of crab shacks, actually less of a crab shack and more of a Bob Chin's experience, but the crabs, though expensive, were really great.

Bo Brook's


Good as Bo Brook's crab were the best we had, by far, were from a roadside stand we happened upon driving to a party at a friend of our nieces.

Roadside Crab Stand, Baltimore



We brought them to the party, along with freshly steamed shrimp, and had at them.


After the party we drove across the bridge to the Eastern Shore, just sightseeing, no particular destination. We happened upon Hemingway's, right on the shore, no idea on the restaurant food, but the outside bar is a perfect place for a relaxing drink.

Hemingway's


We capped our evening at the Sip and Bite a perfect 24/7 big city diner.

Sip and Bite


I'd had just enough to drink that scrapple and eggs seemed a good idea.


I had saved a 2000 NYT's article by Steven Raichlen about Baltimore Pit Beef and went on a hunt, seems most, with one Sunday only exception, are on the outskirts of the city.

I wanted to try three that Raichlen had mentioned, Big Fat Daddy, Big Al's and Chap's. Big Fat Daddy was shuttered, Big Al's had been sold and now used gas, as opposed to charcoal, though the sandwich was quite good if you looked at it from the perspective of a roast beef sandwich as it had absolutely no taste of the fire.

Big Al's 'Pit Beef'


The sandwich was good, especially with white onion and a solid hit of horseradish sauce, but nothing that screamed Pit Beef. Cool looking stand though.

Big Al's


Chap's, on the other hand, was magnificent. Crusty on the outside from pure lump charcoal, tender and rare inside, white onion, pickle, horseradish sauce and an very nice owner who was happy to chat about his favorite subject, Baltimore Pit Beef.

Chap's Pit Beef


Chap's Pit Beef Baltimore


Baltimore's Sunday Farmers Market is terrific, great selection of produce, fresh bread, hot sauce, organic foods, some hand-made clothing/jewelry etc. and a nicely diverse selection of cooked food, including freshly grilled Italian sausage and Pit Beef.

Baltimore Farmers Market





View from Mary Lisa's roof. National Bohemian Brewery in the background, if you look close you can see Natty Bo winking.


Baltimore is a great city, I'm looking forward to returning soon.

Enjoy,
Gary

Voccaro's Pastry
222 Albemarle Street
Baltimore, Maryland
(410) 685-4905

Buddy's Elliott Street Bar and Grill
3123 Elliott Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-522-0222

Boccaccio of Little Italy
925 Eastern Ave
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-234-1322

Chaps Pit Beef
5801 Pulaski Highway
Baltimore , Maryland 21205
419-483-2379
Open Daily from 10:30
7 Days a week, open all year.

Northpoint Farmers Market
(410) 285-6686
2401 N Point Blvd
Baltimore, MD 21222

Bo Brook's

Famous politicos like to go to Little Italy. I saw Sen. Barbara Mikulski in Boccaccio once--and Spiro T. Agnew in Sabatino's!

Dmnkly wrote, in another thread:

My ladylove has landed herself a fellowship in Baltimore, so we'll be leaving this fair city come July. The plan is for a quick two year detour followed by a quicker return (assuming all goes as planned), but this is a subject that's already been on my mind for about six months. I only hope I do as good as job of it as you seem to have Smile

Dom, I hope you'll continue to post here about your Baltimore food experiences. That's my hometown, and I get back there from time to time. Bon voyage. (And bon voyage, also, to Aaron Deacon, whose thread about moving to Kansas City contained the above quote.)

riddlemay wrote:Dom, I hope you'll continue to post here about your Baltimore food experiences.

Oh, absolutely. I figured I'd either park in this thread or start up my own for the couple of years we're out there. I know it's a Chicago site, but I thought it would be nice to have a nice little collection of Baltimore posts all in one area

Dmnkly wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Dom, I hope you'll continue to post here about your Baltimore food experiences.

Oh, absolutely. I figured I'd either park in this thread or start up my own for the couple of years we're out there. I know it's a Chicago site, but I thought it would be nice to have a nice little collection of Baltimore posts all in one area

I heartily endorse LTH expatriates posting field reports -- obviously it has worked well for us with several folks, so don't worry about "it's a Chicago site."

That said, you might also want to check out DonRockwell.com, which is the LTH counterpart for Washington, DC. Some folks from there have visited LTH, and I "watch" threads there on Chicago and Cleveland just for curiosity's sake.

Yes, by all means post out of town reports. They may not get response-- few were ever qualified to post on GAF's high-end NYC posts-- but I read them and most definitely consult them when I head that way.

germuska wrote:I heartily endorse LTH expatriates posting field reports -- obviously it has worked well for us with several folks, so don't worry about "it's a Chicago site."

Right, absolutely! LTHForum may be Chicago based, but who doesn't love to travel.

I've posted a few times on Baltimore, including in this thread, and just, as in 10-minutes ago, on Houston.

Looking forward to Dmnkly Baltimore posts.

Enjoy,
Gary

Stopped in at The Black Olive for a quick lunch sandwiched between a flight arriving at BWI at 11:30 and a business meeting at 2:00. Well, I'd hoped for it to be a quick lunch.

The meeting was quite close to the restaurant, and arriving just shy of 1:00, I explained are situation to the waitron, who took our order quickly and assured us we shouldn't be crunched for time.

And then we waited. And waited. I estimate we ordered at 1:05 and received our food at 1:45. And the dishes requiring this extraordinary wait?

For me, a bowl of the soup of the day and Black Olive’s Savory Bread Pudding (from the appetizer menu); for my companion, simply grilled fish of the day (rockfish).

On top of the wait, our waiter told us no less than three times (falsely, and starting at about 1:30) that our food would be "out in just a minute." Our situation caused him little personal stress...no one seemed put out or concerned a bit, in fact.

Once we declined wine, and after we ordered our meal, no one came by to take an order for an ardently desired coffee, until after 20 minutes or so I rose to track down a waiter. And no one ever offered to refill the cup once empty. Upon request, they brought it back to the table...as we were getting up to leave.

We scarfed down our food too quickly to have a great appreciation for it, though I must say that the olive bread pudding, looking like a nicely seared slab of foie gras, was really terrific...hot, moist, delicate and hardy at the same time, and full of good olive bread flavor.

My companion's fish was simple, looked good, and he said it was.

My soup was carrot soup, which they told me they were out of, went back to the kitchen to check the replacement, told me it was fennel and onion, which I ordered. Whatever. The carrot soup wasn't bad but not particularly memorable.

And has been mentioned above, this place ain't cheap.

The bread pudding was good enough that I'd give it one more shot. I'm not normally such a stickler for service when the food is good. But this was the worst service I've had in some time.

The Black Olive
814 S. Bond Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
410-276-7141
www.theblackolive.com

Man, I am a bum. Among the legion of posts I apparently failed to make was the one about the wonderful pit beef at Chap's and pastry at Vaccaro's. Oh well, glad you got there and made the update, Gary. I can heartily second both of them.

Chaps makes a great sandwich. In talking to the grill man, I was surprised to be told they cook the beef completely on the open grill - for efficiency, I would have guessed they roast it somewhere in back and then finish it on the grill, but that is not the case. The result is delectable.

Aaron, I did not have your experience at the Black Olive, and they do have wonderfully fresh and some unusual fish to choose from. I think we were there for dinner on a weeknight and were happy to linger, though. I suppose I would go back, but there are so many other options in Baltimore to choose from, too.

LTH - best source for food recs everywhere.

On my last trip to Baltimore, I took a few pictures with this forum in mind, but forgot to post them til now. But how do I paste a picture (jpg) into a post?

Katie wrote:On my last trip to Baltimore, I took a few pictures with this forum in mind, but forgot to post them til now. But how do I paste a picture (jpg) into a post?

Check out the [url=http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=22731]How-To Crib Sheet for LTHForum.com
[/url].

If you still have questions, you can post a reply to that thread...

sazerac wrote:My experience is a little dated (nearly six years), but among the best sushi I've had was at Kawasaki (live scallop, abalone, albacore) - walking distance from the inner harbor area. At a weeklong conference, I had six or seven meals there. There are some other nearby sushi places as well, but this was much better. If you are a regular you can leave your chopsticks (on display) there.

Looks like those six or seven are all you're going to get:

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/060414baltimore.htm

The website is down and the phone numbers for all three locations have been disconnected.

Too bad. That sounded really good tonight.

Dmnkly wrote:

sazerac wrote:My experience is a little dated (nearly six years), but among the best sushi I've had was at Kawasaki (live scallop, abalone, albacore) - walking distance from the inner harbor area. At a weeklong conference, I had six or seven meals there.

Looks like those six or seven are all you're going to get:

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/060414baltimore.htm

That's pretty awful. The place was quite unusual in that the 'head' chef (then) was a young Nepali guy (how often do you see that?) - with impressive skills. He mentioned wanting to take part in some upcoming national sushi chef competitions or so, and trying to persuade the managers. The place got too busy for them to let him or something like that. Too bad, I can still remember how perfectly sweet, like young tender coconut, the diaphanous sliced live scallop was. And gratis it's quick-grilled liver with ponzu was lovely too (as was the liver I got from someone else's order )
Damn shame it's gone.