FAVORITES: Best Restaurants

I just went out to an amazing dinner in Fells Point and I think it would be awesome if anyone would comment on some of their favorite restaurants in Baltimore!!


I'll start (with the dinner I just had...).

--Peters Inn (Fells Point). It's a small bar/restaurant with really delicious food. I had scallops and cheddar cheese grits. My friend had Pumpkin Bisque and they also had ribs, sirloin steak, seared tuna and macaroni and cheese!!

Tio Pepe's for Spanish food.

Amicci's for Italian food.

Blue Agave for Mexican Food.

Henninger's for all around great food with a funky atmosphere.

I'll think of more later...

Well, it depends on whether I want a quick meal, or if I want to get "all fancy-spancy." For the quick meal, I'd go with my friend Bernie to Trinidad Gourmet (within walking distance of campus on 31st street). For the "fancy-spancy" deal, I would hit up Brass Elephant in Mt. Vernon.

Bo Brooks in Canton. By far my favorite place in Baltimore to eat, especially in the late spring with the weather is just perfect. The crabs are amazing!!!

I looooove Sascha's 527 Café! It's a cute sit-in restaurant in the Mount Vernon neighborhood that's only a few blocks away from the Peabody Institute (to be specific, it's on 527 North Charles Street, hence the "527" in its name), and it frequently has a different jazz group (it could be anything from a soloist with two accompanying musicians to a quartet) playing there at night. It can seem a little pricey, but for the ambience and the quality of the food, I think that the menu is reasonably priced.

Anyway, I love that restaurant - I've gone there so many times since last year that I already don't know how many times I've been there!

So far, I've been to:

Gertrude's {in the Baltimore Museum of Art}
The Cheesecake Factory {in Inner Harbor}
Ruth's Chris {in Inner Harbor}
Ruby Tuesday's {in Charles Village}
Chick-fil-A {, in Towson}
No. 1 Chinese {in Charles Village, I think .. I got delivery}

I guess that's it. It's a pretty sad list because you can find all of those restaurants elsewhere {except Gertrude's and Ruth's Chris are definitely special! GO TO THOSE!}, but I have grand plans for this weekend {family weekend!}. We're hoping to hit:

Cafe Hon {in Hampden}
Bertha's {in Fells Point}
Obrycki's Crab House {in Fells Point}
Rusty Scupper {in Inner Harbor/Harborplace}

I'll come back and let you know how it goes!

Lauren,

Ruth's Chris is actually a chain also ... sorry to tell you ... but it is still good for a juicy steak.

Also a strong piece of advice ... cross off either Obyricki's or Rusty Scupper on your Parent's Weekend list and choose Bo Brooks instead. You and your family will not be disappointed. Especially if you are looking for an amazing Crab Feast.

This story has nothing to do with favorite restaurants (maybe it does...I don't know), but I'll tell it anyways. I was once at dinner with a faculty member, and she asked me what I liked about Baltimore. For some reason the first thing that comes to mind is crabs. "I've never had crabs!" Om...g. Did I just say that?

This post has been edited by JHU_Jermaine on Nov 2 2007, 08:04 PM

hahahahahahaha Jermaine that is amazing. /hilarious/awful. But mostly amazing.

Awww ... Baltimore.

The City of Crabs!!!

One World Cafe.

Amazing grilled cheese and the only place I've found carrot juice that I like (other than my grandmother's kitchen). It's a really cool place, we went on a Saturday evening for tea and carrot juice and it was just nice to hang out there.

I'm not sure if this was answered in another forum page, but what are the best surrounding restaurants for vegetarian food?

One World Cafe, which Mandy mentioned before me, is extremely close to campus and is GREAT for vegetarian food. They have all kinds of tofu dishes and vegetarian interpretations of meat dishes {the "not dog," the "fakin bacon," the FBLT, etc.}, and the setting is a sort of Bohemian coffee shop. It's nice to try out, even if the feel doesn't sound like it's your thing. I didn't think it'd be mine, but i really liked it!

Okay so, now that I actually have a frame of reference {that being the fact that I've been to more than just like 3 restaurants around here, }, I'd have to say that my two favorites are Cafe Hon in Hampden and Bertha's in Fells Point. We did go to Bo Brooks as Daniel suggested and, while we enjoyed our experience {we sat overlooking the harbor, were treated very well, and I very much enjoyed my "fried fish sandwich," which ended up being three huge strips of fried flounder - see my upcoming, not-yet-posted blog entry!}, I am more excited to return to these two places than any other I've been to so far in Baltimore.

At Cafe Hon, which you will recognize first by the GIGANTIC pink flamingo on the building {I'm not lying, it's massive}, I got the "Thanksgiving Dinner" .. and, because it was so good, I ate the rest of it today for dinner! The atmosphere there is extremely friendly and warm, and made me feel like I had been there a million times before. It's quirky: there are many different colors on the walls, many different decorations marking each of the two dining rooms {both of which we were able to get a taste of, since we were seated at a table right in between the two}, and many different characters as employees. And their pie is fantastic. "The Avenue" in Hampden is also really nice so, if you go to eat there, make sure you check out all of the shops that are around it! I also bought a t-shirt and a ring from their little gift shop, which is just as quirky as the rest of the restaurant - they have a little bit of everything for sale there!

When we came into Bertha's we heard that John Astin had just left .. I resisted the urge to brag and say that, actually, he teaches at my school. But anyway, we got there around 9PM {late! lol} and my parents and I split a bowl of mussels in Spanish sauce, a plate of veggie ravioli, and a bowl of Maryland Crab soup. It was all fantastic - when the food was gone, I knew in my mind I was overly filled, but I just wanted more! The atmosphere there is great too. The bar part of Bertha's is a little claustrophobic, but the two dining rooms are sort of warm and slightly dark {to create a mooood, lol}, and are decorated with LOTS of neat items on the walls. I bought a shirt from there too {and you get free bumper stickers!}, and afterwards we stopped at this cute little cafe/ice cream shop for gelato.

That was long, lol, but that's what I learned from my family weekend.

BREWER'S ART.

Obviously a great choice for the over-21 crowd because it's a micro-pub, but in general the food is fantastic. Great burgers in the "pub" section, and amazing food in general in the actual restaurant. I went there with my family for my 21st birthday this past weekend and had a great time. Plus it's pretty close to campus... a few blocks south of the train station.

As a vegetarian, I can definitely say I love One World Cafe.

Donna's is probably my favorite though. I'm a REALLY picky eater, so if a restaurant has food I like...then it's a good restaurant for me! Anyway I like Donna's because it's a quick walk from campus and it has pasta and pizza. It's not too fancy, but a really good date restaurant.