Price Key

Best Breakfast: Baltimoreans don’t like waiting for tables unless the food is brilliant; hence, the long weekend lines outside Fell’s Point’s petite Blue Moon Café ($) are a sure sign that the hearty, homemade breakfasts inside are worth the wait.

Best Bar That’s Also a Great Restaurant: If you’re the kind of diner who loves great, unpretentious food, a smashing wine selection, old-time American music, and a happily incongruous crowd, head to Fell’s Point’s cozy Peter’s Inn ($$).

Best Burgers: They’re tiny, and technically only an appetizer, but the sliders at Fell’s Point’s Salt ($$$) pack a serious wallop of flavor. That’s because they’re made of Kobe beef and topped with foie gras, red onion marmalade, and truffle aioli.

Best Scene: Pazo ($$$), an immaculately designed and executed, vaguely Mediterranean-meets-the Casbah-themed tapas restaurant and lounge has transformed an old machine shop in Fell’s Point.

Best Upscale Italian in Little Italy: For some of the most indulgent takes on popular Southern Italian dishes, head to Aldo’s ($$$), where chef Aldo Vitale has stocked a fantastic wine cellar to match his culinary creations.

Best Crab House View: During spring and summer, call ahead early to reserve a table on the west side of the outdoor crab deck at Canton’s Bo Brooks ($$$), where you can look toward the Inner Harbor and watch the pleasure boats coming in for the night.

Best Oysters: In a town known for crab cakes, getting a good oyster isn’t always easy. Mama’s on the Half Shell ($$), a Canton favorite, dishes them up in many styles, all delicious.

Best Old-School Baltimore Restaurant: Think of The Prime Rib ($$$) as a downtown, steak-powered time machine: The tuxedoed waiters, leather and cheetah-print decor, and smooth piano player will whisk you back to 1970s-era Charm City.

Best Restaurant Worth Searching For: Though located in a somewhat off-the-beaten-path location (an old mill center near Hampden), Woodberry Kitchen ($$$) has earned a coterie of feverishly loyal regulars who adore the locally sourced meals, prepared simply but with finesse.

Best Weekend Brunch: It’s not just the care with which everything is made at Hampden’s Golden West Café ($$), it’s that you can get everything from whole-wheat chocolate chip pancakes to chilaquiles (tortilla chips with eggs, cheese, and chile sauce) to wild mushroom and Madeira omelettes.