Baltimore for Lunch

Hi,
I will be in Baltimore next weekend and I'm meeting some folks for lunch (they live in Alexandria, VA). I was searching through old posts and was wondering if anyone has a good recommendation for lunch? We will have a "mom" with us...my friend and her fiance. (She says he's a bit of a food snob in that he likes well-known joints.) I say to H**l with that.
Where are the good eats!!!

Thanks

ps,
i will be staying near Fells Pt.

Try the restaurant at the Art Museum. Sit on the patio. It's surprisingly good.

The Black Olive in Fells Point is open for lunch daily. Expensive but one of the best Greek restaurants in the country IMHO, and it should satisfy anyone who's a fan of fresh fish.

http://www.theblackolive.com/

If you are staying near fells point, I would heartily suggest heading east one neighborhood to Canton Square (possibly via water taxi) and Helen's Garden restaurant. The food is fresh, high quality, and sometimes inventive. They also have a wonderful wine selection. It is in two convereted rowhouses which can give a lovely Baltimore experience. When I lived in Baltimore this is where we went for special occasions at a still affordable price-point.
http://www.helensgarden.com/V2/

If you want a fun dessert place, I would suggest going to Little Italy which is essentially attached to Fells Point for Vaccaro's Pastry Shop. They have good gelato as well as wonderful pignoli cookies that are a true dream with espresso. Feel free to bring a few back with you- I wouldn't mind.
http://www.vaccarospastry.com

Have a lovely trip

I second the recommendations of either Black Olive, which is right in Fells Point, or the Joy America Cafe at the Outsider's Art Musuem. The latter has a cool view of the harbor and great guac made tableside. For more adventurous fare, you could see if The Helmand (Afghan food) is open for lunch. That's in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, right near where my husband proposed. Sigh.

I'm getting hungry!

Thanks so much

Try this thread - some of the same recs, but also some other stuff, too. The Pit Beef is great, but perhaps a bit too, umm, gritty an atmosphere based on your parameters.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=62269#62269

funghi wrote:ps,
i will be staying near Fells Pt.

In that case, be sure to visit the Fells Point Diner and order the entire left side of the menu (including the Maryland Fried Chicken). Or maybe just French Fries with gravy and a cherry Coke while waiting for someone to leave and give you a ride home. And if you see someone who has a box of popcorn in his lap... don't eat it.

Still Levinson's best film (though Baltimore-set Avalon comes close, mostly thanks to my man Kevin Pollak) and the one that always makes me feel creepy about ever wanting to collect records.

"Mathis or Sinatra??"

"Presley."

-- REBmond Marble, the filthiest (Jewish) person alive

We ended up having a delicous lunch at the Black Olive, which was only a block from my hotel.
We tried the grilled octopus salad w/red onion, capers and the most amazing sauce. I could've eaten three plates full of the tentacled delicacies.
We also shared a sampler plate of tarama, tzatziki, and hummus, and an eggplant dip...not baba ganoush......sorry can't remember the name...with olives and feta cheese. The feta was incredibly smooth...just delicious.
We then tried the seared scallops and arugala salad, grilled lamb chops, and this luscious orzo dish with shrimp and a really good cheese......maybe kefateri (sp).
We finished with coffee and baklava for dessert....it was just right......not as sweet and sticky as most and it had a nice cinnamon flavor. Our waiter was great too.

Thank you for the great rec! ps,
I can't say enough about that octopus...and the taramousalata.......oh dear god!!!!

Woman's Industrial Exchange
333 N Charles St
Baltimore, MD 21201-4318
(410) 685-4388

Tomato aspic salad and chicken salad. If it has not changed since my last visit, then a very time warp restaurant well worth a visit.

Regards,

In Fells Point, is Bertha's (as in Bertha's Mussels) still good? It was the last time I was there, but that was going on twenty years ago. If it is still good, you should go there--mussels served a multitude of ways, in an 18th-century building that's never been reconfigured, as best as I can tell.

We didn't make it to Bertha's. I laid eyes on the place and saw many bumperstickers that read: "Eat At Bertha's," but sorry, I didn't get a chance to try it.

We had a nice crab cake from Faidley's in the Lexington Market...I think i drowned the sucker with too much hot sauce *urp
and
had more crab cakes at Phillip's......(i was with a group and they pre-planned the whole trip foodwise). I must say the crabcakes topped Faidley's. Really light and delicious, not to mention the luscious arugala salad w/blackberries, pine nutz and a little feta cheese.

I also ate at Sabatinos in Little Italy. The calamari left much to be desired. I could still be chewing! The Caprese salad was just delightful. My pasta dish was nothing to write home about....shrimp scampi over limp fettucini.

Go Black Olive!!!

funghi wrote:I also ate at Sabatinos in Little Italy. The calamari left much to be desired. I could still be chewing! The Caprese salad was just delightful. My pasta dish was nothing to write home about....shrimp scampi over limp fettucini.

The thing to get at Sabatino's (in my experience) is the Shrimp Juan. (Don't know the story behind the decidedly non-Italianate name.) Large, correctly-cooked (not into submission) shrimp in some kind of garlic/wine/butter sauce. It's reekalicious!

Cool. Now you should go for the cycle and dine at the Sabatino's in Newport CA and the Sabatino's in Boston's North End. Presumably, you have been to the Chicago Sabatino's. Unfortunately, the Dallas Sabatino's closed. As previously discussed, the Chicago, Newport and Dallas Sabatini are related. The others, while very much in the same spirit, do not appear to be related.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/20 ... hover.html

No..never tried the chicago Sabatinos. Is it any good?

I gotta say the waitresses in Baltimore were my favorite kind.........older, black dresses, white aprons, call you "hon", gruff and no nonsense but nice.

I think you'd like it. Much has been written here.