Calling Baltimore Residents! Looking for some help :)

[Spyder]

Hey guys!

I moved down to NoVA from NJ a couple of months, and my gf is coming to visit this weekend. Having only been to Baltimore once together for a quick visit, we have largely left it alone.

Anyways, gonna be there sunday! Any cool restaurants/bars/neighborhoods you recommend? And most importantly, whats the best place to get crab cakes?

Thanks!

 

[SpyvSpy]

Don't know if there is Phillips around Baltimore but there crab cakes are good.

 

[Monkeydad]

I live in PA but visit the Inner Harbor a lot and was born in MD.

There's a Phillips in Harborplace, a mall right on the harbor right by the big war ship parked in the water (by the dragon paddle boats). They are right inside the doors to the left at the top of the steps by the ship. They have an outdoor balcony you can eat at too. If you go up steps a second time and see women in orange shorts serving mediocre wings, you've walked too far.

They ARE very good.

 

[perry]

Used to live in the area.. Inner Harbor is probably a good place to start for a first visit. Up the street is Camden Yards, one of the more beautiful ball parks in the country and worth seeing. Stop by Babe Ruth's house on the way. Philips, while not the best, will be a reliably decent place to get crab.

 

[dpm802]

Native Balti-Moron here.

Forget the Inner Harbor. Its a tourist trap. Expensive, and there's nothing really there worth seeing.

The neighborhood you want to check out to get the real feel of Baltimore is Fell's Point. Its the oldest part of the city, and the original seaport. You can get to it via the Water Taxi from anywhere around the harbor ... or just jump in a regular cab and tell him "Broadway and Thames St." Once you get down there, you'll find lots to see and do within walking distance.

For crab-cakes ... Baltimore has the best crab cakes in the world, and the best crab-cakes in Baltimore are from Faidley's at Lexington Market. Period.

A good choice for steamed crabs is O'Bryckey's ... be prepared to wait in line to get in there, but the wait is worth it.

Other good sight-seeing destinations are Ft. McHenry, the National Aquarium, the Science Center, the Edgar Allan Poe house (and his grave-site,) the Walters Art Gallery.

If you want to treat your girlfriend to a really nice, really cheap meal ... The Women's Industrial Exchange, 333 N. Charles St. Within walking distance of the Walters Art Gallery. Great place to eat breakfast or lunch for about $5 a person. I've never had dinner there, but I imagine they do that quite well, also. Some of the waitresses there are well over 70 years old, and have been working there since they were teens. (Just because the meal is cheap, don't skimp on the tips.)

 

[TickTock]

Lots of people think Faidley's in Lexington Market has the best crabcakes in town (though I haven't had them). It's a stand-up only food stand in a market that is in a somewhat but not too shady area, so if your gf is queasy about urban grit don't go.

A fun neighborhood with lots of bars and restaurants is Fell's Point, a fixed up but still gritty place that has a good reputation for nightlife.

The Inner Harbor is fun but very touristy and the bars and so on are mostly things like Hard Rock Cafe that are pretty generic. It's not far from Little Italy, so if it's a nice day you could mill around the Harbor and then head over for a canoli.

Go to the Baltimore forum on chowhound.com and root around for a while, you'll find lots of great stuff.

My favorite place to eat in Bmore is Dukem, a great (and shockingly inexpensive) Ethiopian place near Symphony hall--if you like good Ethiopian food don't miss it. Another great local place is The Helmand, (on Charles St.) a very authentic Afghani restaurant (I think the owner is Karzai's brother or something). It's got a great 'classy' atmosphere but isn't that expensive, and get the pumpkin appetizer. (pumpkin steamed in garlic with a yoghurt sauce on it--it sounds so unlikely but everyone gets it and it's fabulous)

 

[TickTock]

Heh--Dave and I were typing at the same time about Faidley's and Fell's Point.

I'll also second the Walter's Art Gallery. It's an excellent smallish museum right next to the Washington Monument (which all Baltimoreans know was built before that other Washington Monument in DC) in the very lovely Mt. Vernon neighborhood, which is a great place for an architectural walk and also Charles St. just north of it has lots of 'destination' restaurants (Brewers Art is a pretty good brewpub not too far away).

If you happen to be in town during the week another time, check out the Peabody Library, which (I just checked) is open Tuesday-Friday 9-5. It's in the set of buildings right across from the Walters that houses the Peabody conservatory, and is probably the most spectacular room you'll ever be in. It's about 5 stories tall (on the inside) and quite amazing.

Oh, and the Walters is free to get in (as is the BMA (Baltimore museum of Art up near Hopkins--but the BMA, while nice enough, is probably not worth a special visit since you probably have easy access to the DC art museums)).

enjoy!

 

[dpm802]

Lots of people think Faidley's in Lexington Market has the best crabcakes in town (though I haven't had them). It's a stand-up only food stand in a market that is in a somewhat but not too shady area, so if your gf is queasy about urban grit don't go.

+1 on Lex-Mart being in a shady part of town ... I thought about that after I entered my post, and was going to edit my entry to include that warning, but you beat me to it.

Faidley's crab-cakes are absolutely awesome, even by Baltimore standards ... but if you're pressed for time or worried about being in a run-down area, skip the trip to Faidley's and you can find decent crab-cakes almost everywhere else. There is nothing else to see at Lexington Market except Faidley's, and it might not be worth the time and trouble to make a special trip there just for the crab-cakes. Faidley's does deliveries anywhere ... so maybe you can have them shipped to you back home in NoVa is you really want to taste what they're all about.

Another local delicacy you might want to try is a "coddie." Cod-cakes ... I used to get them served on a saltine cracker, slathered with mustard. Only a nickel a piece when I was a kid, but we're talking about the 1960s.

The Inner Harbor is fun but very touristy and the bars and so on are mostly things like Hard Rock Cafe that are pretty generic. It's not far from Little Italy, so if it's a nice day you could mill around the Harbor and then head over for a canoli.

If you must go to the Inner Harbor, stay out of the Light Street and Pratt Street pavilions ... they are the most touristy of the tourist traps there. The National Aquarium is right there. You'll have a very long wait if you're not a member, but you can get a membership there and they have a special entrance where you get right in for free. The cost of a membership is just a little bit more than having to buy two regular tickets, and you can bring your GF in as a guest for about $1.

My favorite place to eat in Bmore is Dukem, a great (and shockingly inexpensive) Ethiopian place near Symphony hall--if you like good Ethiopian food don't miss it. Another great local place is The Helmand, (on Charles St.) a very authentic Afghani restaurant (I think the owner is Karzai's brother or something). It's got a great 'classy' atmosphere but isn't that expensive, and get the pumpkin appetizer. (pumpkin steamed in garlic with a yoghurt sauce on it--it sounds so unlikely but everyone gets it and it's fabulous)

I'll have to check those out next time I'm back in Charm City. I'm stuck here in South Jersey due to my job, but I'd rather be living in B'more, no doubt about it.

Sometimes, when I'm really feeling homesick, I just sniff some Old Bay seasoning and it harkens back to what downtown used to smell like.