This is the city’s buzziest restaurant and Maryland’s first mezcaleria. Tortillas are nixtamalized on site, with corn from small producers in Oaxaca and Puebla, and they’re best experienced by ordering the tamales loaded with elote and queso chihuahua, hongos con huitlacoche, and barbacoa de borrego tacos. This spot is always busy, so come early for a better chance at securing a wooden stool at Happy Hour for margaritas and queso fundido.

This low-lit French restaurant is good for a special occasion or just a weeknight dinner of small plates with a date. The chalkboard menu changes regularly, and one of our favorite pastimes is checking the restaurant’s Instagram story for their daily updates. For dinner, order anything with the focaccia—we consistently dream of the jamon buerre—and save room for dessert.

If you’re talking Maryland, you’re talking crab cakes—specifically the ones from Faidley’s, a seafood stand located in Downtown’s Lexington Market. They literally invented the jumbo lump version in the early ’90s (before, it was made with a mix of crab meat, lowering the cost but lessening the flavor). These consist of huge chunks of jumbo lump, a dash of crushed saltines, dry mustard, Old Bay, and secret sauce that makes for something not too salty, not too Old Bay-y, and almost all crab.

There’s something enticing about a high-low pairing. The combination of crispy chicken with bright bubbles is an exceptional combo. From its diner-meets-Jetsons-era aesthetic to its well-seasoned chicken served on a cafeteria tray, it’s easy to see that this spot doesn’t take itself too seriously (despite the Veuve Clicquot). Come with a few friends and share a bucket alongside some shrimp and grits, which have five butterflied shrimp served generously on a rich heap of bacon-flecked grits.

This was one of the first Venezuelan spots in Baltimore, but their rotating dishes go far beyond the classics: you’ll see things like latin gyoza, pescado frito, and a hamachi tiradito with brushes of squid ink and pops of salmon roe that could get an impressionist hyped. Bring a date, a group of friends, or your favorite plant daddy to hang out in the jungle vibes, and always get dessert.

The Chesapeake Bay is the third largest estuary in the world, and there are few better places to sample the quality of the seafood and produce than at this vaulted, light-filled space inside the (free!) Baltimore Museum of Art. And on a nice day, a meal on the patio overlooking the sculpture garden wins our vote for best outdoor dining in town.

The space blends British pub culture (oak booths and a constant stream of soccer and pints) with a communal dining hall, including a small stage for visiting musicians. There are expert renditions of spam musubi and savory typhoon fries, and it’s worth bringing a group and ordering at least three plates per person so you can try most of the menu. They even do a great brunch. The cocktails are also worth a mention, with fun twists on tropical flavors.

This Fell’s Point restaurant has been buzzy since it opened in 2022. Step inside and you’ll immediately understand why—if the smell of fresh baked pizza doesn’t clue you in, the charm of the wooden dressers and lace curtains will. Inspired by the chef’s Yugoslavian grandmother, the small menu features pierogies and kielbasa alongside a list of tavern pizzas. It truly feels like a baba’s dining room.

While Ekiben is known for the extremely good Neighborhood Bird Bun, a giant slab of fried chicken tucked inside a pillowy steamed bun, the menu also has solid vegetarian options, like tofu nuggets and tempura broccoli. Swing by for a casual lunch when it’s less crowded and you’ll be greeted by a blast of hip-hop, friendly staff, and the glorious smell of fried chicken. They have three locations, but we prefer their spot in Hampden because there’s way more seating and plenty of parking.

Staffed by servers with an encyclopedic knowledge of the menu, the space is intimate, with banquette seating wrapping the dining room and a handful of chairs at the bar where you’ll probably be chatting with your neighbors by the end of the meal. Most of the dishes center around twists on classic Italian dishes, like beet carpaccio and a tuna tartare cannoli, but there’s also a fantastic ziti bolognese. Save room for the tiramisu.

If the crab service appetizer, which does the crustacean three ways (chilled, baked, and fried), is on the menu, get it, and definitely order anything that riffs off a state classic like scrapple musubi or Southern Maryland stuffed ham.

The seasonal Peruvian tasting menu at this intimate cocina features excellent courses like ceviche in tiger’s milk, or well-seasoned veal skewers served with Peruvian corn and rocoto pepper sauce. It’s one of those places where you could show up alone and take down a plate of exceptional lomo saltado, or show up with a date and have a nice chat with the chef (who comes out at the end to talk to every table), all while the service remains completely unrushed.

Getting a reservation can require some forward thinking, but there’s also plenty of bar seating for walk-ins. More importantly, the lip-tingling wings with a spicy and sweet rub served with housemade ranch and the moist and well-seasoned rotisserie chicken are worth any hassle. It’s not all poultry here either—the biggest fungi skeptic we know loves the smoked mushroom bowl, sides like sweet potato puree are worth exploring, and the daily-changing desserts are necessary to save room for.

After catching the latest A24 movie at The Charles, walk next door to discuss over a meal at Foraged. The whole description of this “hyper-seasonal eatery,” fueled by the chef’s foraging expeditions in the woods, sounds like a Portlandia sketch, but this place always delivers. Their menu has dishes like the “last of the season tomatoes,” wild Maryland catfish, and grilled beef short rib on a carrot and celery root puree that’s seasoned and cooked perfectly.

Sometimes you just need a restaurant that checks all the boxes for everyone—a spot that’s cozy but classy, nice enough for the parents, but casual enough for your Uncle Nick who always wears a Ravens jersey to dinner. That’s Petit Louis Bistro, a north Baltimore French institution known for its “Civilized Lunch” (a steal at $35 for three courses) and impeccable service.

The best place to eat oysters in Baltimore is at Dylan’s, where you can watch the shucker work behind the bar or take a seat in one of their booths and admire the restaurant’s controlled chaos from afar. The menu usually has at least one Maryland option, like wellfleets, but you can also try some briny and sweet bivalves from Virginia and New Brunswick. For dessert, the basque cheesecake is so good that when it pops up on their menu, locals in Dylan’s neighborhood Facebook group sound the alarm.

Every noodle dish is a banger, though we’re partial to the Toki Classic, featuring tonkotsu pork broth and a generous serving of chashu pork. The appetizers are worth ordering too, like cloud shrimp that are fried in potato starch and somehow manage to be both umami-rich and very light. When available, the okonomiyaki brussels sprouts pack a sweet and spicy punch, and the karaage is well seasoned, juicy, and served with kewpie mayo.

The storefront has extremely limited hours, so Saturday breakfast is the ideal time to go and try their handmade biscuit sandwiches, with a melty goodness that will power you through the day. The menu changes slightly throughout the year, but the brisket on a gruyere biscuit is a classic, along with plenty of options for vegetarians.

NiHao in Canton cranks out dishes at a speed that one could only describe as “frantic,” which makes for a chaotically fun meal of excellent Sichuan dishes. Expect to reach over your friends with chopsticks to grab bites of eggplant with garlic sauce, popcorn chicken, and a satisfyingly crackly-skinned Peking duck. It all happens in a renovated townhouse with a back patio that’s perfect for big parties if you make a reservation in advance.

This Baltimore institution whips up the area’s best pit beef sandwiches, made of thinly sliced rare roast beef that’s been cooked quickly at a high temperature. According to the owner, the key to good pit beef is serving up a lot of it, so that the slices never have time to dry. Sandwiches come with just meat, on a soft and squishy bun, and you should dress them up with an array of sauces (go with the classic tiger sauce, a horseradish/mayo combo), sliced onions, and pickles.