Baltimore’s Best Restaurants

Price Key

Best Breakfast [1]: 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 [1] ($) are a sure sign that the hearty, homemade breakfasts inside are worth the wait.

Best Bar That’s Also a Great Restaurant [2]: 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 [2] ($$).

Best Burgers [3]: They’re tiny, and technically only an appetizer, but the sliders at Fell’s Point’s Salt [3] ($$$) 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 [4]: Pazo [4] ($$$), 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 [5]: For some of the most indulgent takes on popular Southern Italian dishes, head to Aldo’s [5] ($$$), where chef Aldo Vitale has stocked a fantastic wine cellar to match his culinary creations.

Best Crab House View [6]: 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 [6] ($$$), where you can look toward the Inner Harbor and watch the pleasure boats coming in for the night.

Best Oysters [7]: In a town known for crab cakes, getting a good oyster isn’t always easy. Mama’s on the Half Shell [7] ($$), a Canton favorite, dishes them up in many styles, all delicious.

Best Old-School Baltimore Restaurant [8]: Think of The Prime Rib [8] ($$$) 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 [9]: Though located in a somewhat off-the-beaten-path location (an old mill center near Hampden), Woodberry Kitchen [9] ($$$) has earned a coterie of feverishly loyal regulars who adore the locally sourced meals, prepared simply but with finesse.

Best Weekend Brunch [10]: It’s not just the care with which everything is made at Hampden’s Golden West Café [10] ($$), 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.