12 Best Restaurants in Baltimore

Baltimore enjoys a four-season climate with some snow in winter months from December to February and warm and humid summer months from June to September. It can be visited at any time of the year due to its temperate climate. The peak tourist season is from May to September. So, book accommodation and flight tickets well in advance to get the best deals.

The major city of Maryland is an important seaport due to its location on the mouth of Inner Harbour on the juncture of the Chesapeake Bay. Apart from many attractions like National Aquarium, Inner Harbour, Oriole Park, Fort McHenry National museum, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art and Maryland Zoo. It is also visited by numerous tourists for its popular festivals like Artscape and Free Fall, its nightlife, food, and warm hospitality.

Some of the best restaurants in Baltimore are:

Woodberry Kitchen located on Clipper Park Road, Woodberry is one of the best restaurants in Baltimore. This upscale restaurant was once a factory or mill. The old factory or mill was converted into a trendy rustic-chic restaurant in 2007 by Spike and Amy Gjerde. This James Beard Award-winning restaurant specialises in using locally sourced ingredients from the Chesapeake farmers. Woodberry Kitchen has a profound reputation and impact on the local Baltimore restaurants community and has the passionate support of the best farmers, producers, and watermen of the Chesapeake Bay region. Even their commitment to procure local products and sourcing is extended to their stellar cocktails and mocktails.

The ambience has a casual rustic décor with exposed brick and natural wood which is perfect for casual dining. The menu and dishes are of American cuisine with a refined twist. Most of the dishes have popular local products like regionally grown greenery, Maryland farmstead cheeses, and Tilghman Island crab pots. The restaurant's knack of integrating local ingredients has boosted the state’s cooking heritage. Their not to be missed dishes include house-extruded pasta, glazed doughnuts, rockfish rolls, Tilghman Island crab cakes, and crispy flatbreads with roasted zucchini. The Woodberry kitchen is on the pricey side, but the elegance and taste of the food justify the prices. As the restaurant is quite famous in the locals as well as the tourists, prior reservation is recommended.

Charleston is one of the best restaurants in Baltimore for fine dining. It is one of the Baltimore restaurants to go to for celebratory meals or to celebrate special occasions by the locals of Baltimore. The chef Cindy Wolf has been a seven-time nominee for the prestigious James Beard Award and has been wowing the locals and tourists alike with her low-country cooking for two decades. The Charleston, with chef Cindy Wolf has set the bar for all fine dining restaurants in Baltimore with the ultra-elegant environment, fine service, and the food. Chef Cindy Wolf and her partner Tony Foreman also have many other conceptual restaurants in Baltimore, but Charleston has always been the forerunner in all their restaurants in Baltimore. This restaurant has racked up countless accolades since its debut in 1997.

The restaurant has a pre-fixed menu with seafood, meat and poultry dishes along with the best wine list of Baltimore. Chef Cindy Wolf combines her personal unique style to the classic French techniques in all her dishes. Her partner and wine director Tony Foreman ensures the wine and other alcoholic drinks match the high standard of her cooking. The prices are beyond average but justified as per the taste and presentation of the dishes along with the elegant and memorable fine dining experience.

The Bar Clavel in Remington is one of the best restaurants in Baltimore for delicious food at bargain prices. Lane Harlan and her Sinaloan –born chef-partner Carlos Raba has successfully created this restaurant like a taqueria in Sinaloa. The cosy dining area with its long communal table and six-seat bar make the restaurant cosy and bustling with chatter. The restaurant has white walls with plants in between and lights strung ceilings giving it the same ambience as the taquerias in Sinaloa. The layout allows the natural light to fill the space even at night, giving it a pleasant and welcoming vibe, attracting diners even late night or at closing time.

Lane Harlan is famous for her well-running restaurants in Baltimore. Harlan with her team and partner Carlos Raba has successfully recreated the Sinaloan cuisine menu to attract Baltimoreans. One should try their bubbling queso fundido, handmade tortillas, acidic aqua chilli, tacos, and cochinita pibil along with agave-based spirits and natural wines. Bar Clavel is famous for its Happy hour, where from 5 to 7 pm every weekday they knock off $4 from their amazing house margaritas, and even their queso fundido is discounted. Be sure to arrive early during Happy hours as it gets very crowded during this time. The restaurant is famous for its Mexican food, margaritas, and mezcal.

Ekiben may not be one of the best restaurants in Baltimore per se, but it is definitely one of the most famous restaurants in Baltimore for pan-Asian takeaway. The famous eatery was started by a trio of ambitious young chefs who run the show of this joint with great passion. The dishes are a tasty mix of Ethiopian, Indian and Thai flavours. The dull broccoli and tofu are redressed in Ethiopian flavours in their veggies and bean curds with a twist. The broccoli in Ekiben is topped with chopped onions, fresh herbs, and rice vinegar to give a unique taste. Similarly, tofu bites are marinated in spicy peanut sauce to make a distinct dish. Diners throughout the day and especially during lunch break, cram into this eatery’s tight quarters to relish their fusion dishes and steamed bun sandwiches when they are piping hot.

This happening pan-Asian takeaway specialises in veggies loaded rice-bowls, steamed bun sandwiches, and small- plate specials. One should not miss their signature Neighbourhood Bird, broccoli tempura, peanut- sauced tofu nuggets, Thai chicken meatballs, or Taiwanese fried chicken. Though space is small, the taste of the food and the bargain prices make-up for the lack of it and easy takeaway dishes always attract people for return visits.

Ida B’s Table is located in a historical building apt for the person on whose name the restaurant has been named. The elegant restaurant, which is among the best restaurants in Baltimore, is named after Ida B. Wells, a fearless and trailblazing African- American journalist known for her reporting and advocacy of the civil rights movement. The restaurant located in a former warehouse is in a building that also houses the independent media outlet, the Real News Network. The media house is also partners in the restaurant with Chef Dave Thomas and his wife, Tonya. Chef Dave Thomas and his wife Tonya are famous with a notable history of providing soul-satisfying food along with stories to their diners.

Ida B’s Table has not restricted the influence of the fearless journalist in just the name but has incorporated her legacy on its walls and the menu. The newspaper themed menu has renamed its sections such as appetisers as leads, salads as op-eds, entrees as features and desserts as final edits. The dishes are packed with bold flavours and have a powerful origin story, giving proper homage to Ida B. The restaurant uses locally sourced ingredients to make creative Southern American food which combines African traditions and flavours with the Caribbean and other flavours. The tagline of the restaurant “Modern Soul Food” is justified with the elegant ambience and delicious food served with soul-satisfying stories. The Ida B’s table restaurant is very famous with reporters, city officials, and executives for its fried chicken with Liberian greens, fried blue catfish, cornbread, and cocktails.

This South Baltimore bistro is the perfect place to hang out with friends or go for a cosy meal with family. The unassuming restaurant is one of the best restaurants in Baltimore for a quiet and cosy meal with drinks at a reasonable price. This restaurant was started by Chef Josh Hershovitz in a quiet residential block. The restaurant mostly has homemade pasta, wood-burned pizzas, Neapolitan, antipasti, and creative salads along with curated wine and cocktails. The pizzas are charred, but the chewy crust and unique ingredients such as lemon, clams, pistachio, and kale make it distinct from other pizza joints. Many standout dishes of the restaurant like crostini and ravioli are made with house-made ricotta which adds a creamy texture to these dishes. Another popular pizza is Carciofo pizza with lemon, artichokes and spring onions.

Hersh’s is popular for its minimalistic ambience with funny menu details. The guests feel welcome and comfortable in the unassuming environment and the tasty food at an average price makes them return again and again. The ordinary dishes like pizza, green beans, corn or peas are turned into appetizing dishes by the magic of Chef Josh Hershovitz with homemade oils, aiolis, and focaccia. Try their Naples-inspired pies with pistachio and kale or squid ink tagliolini or basil ravioli or and salad for the perfect meal.

The Brewer’s Art was one of the best restaurants in Baltimore two decades back when it debuted and still, it features in best restaurants in Baltimore after more than two decades of successful running. It was opened as a new radical concept for those times where elegant fine dining didn’t go hand in hand with strong Belgian beers, and craft beer was not heard of. This cool and cavernous brewhouse started on North Charles Street, incorporated white tablecloth fine dining with Belgian beers.

Now the Brewer’s Art serves some of the most refined dishes in a beautiful and elegant ambience. The stylish architecture is divided into two parts with elegant upstairs for fine-dining customers and an almost pitch-black basement bar below for the lovers of strong brews. The must-have classic dishes of the restaurant include Beazley, steak fries with rosemary garlic fries and mussels steamed in a pale ale. Earlier their legendary Beazley was named Ozzy but was renamed as Beazley after the famous Black Sabbath Singer took offense and hit the restaurant with cease and desist. The place was pretty well known along with its popular dish, for a celebrity to take notice of a dish named after him.

La Cuchara in Woodberry is another famous one of the best restaurants in Baltimore. The restaurant, built in a former raincoat manufacturing factory, has a rustic ambience with a fusion of exposed brick with whitewashed dining room walls. The whole décor of the enormous restaurant gives a vibe of the transcontinental journey or the intersection of northern Spain with southern France with a rectangular bar in the centre.

Chef Ben Lefenfeld incorporated the flavours of Basque Country in the dishes with the best Mid-Atlantic produce in La Cuchara. The ambience and the dishes of the La Cuchara whisk diners to Spain’s Basque region. The menu mostly focuses on snacks or pintxos like cod croquettes or mini eggplant sandwiches and Jamon y queso. Though the snacks are more popular, still their main event dish like the stellar rainbow trout served with authentic Serrano ham is not to be missed. The restaurant is very popular with after-work crowds and happy hour diners when their pintos and appetisers are half-priced. The not to miss dish includes patatas bravas, shishito peppers, Tortilla Espanol and pan con tomate. Their wine list is pretty extensive and includes the best ones from both Spain and France. The perfect time to visit would be the super-affordable Happy Hours.

The Food Market is another one of the best restaurants in Baltimore, which are remodeled from an old building. Once a grocery store, this restaurant is located right in the centre of Hampden in Baltimore. The Food factory is located in industrial surroundings on the busy and option filled 36^th Street Avenue. The Chef Chad Gauss made sure the menu is as electric as the restaurant with an open industrial kitchen and cuisines from all across the world. The dishes are high on flavour with both classic and contemporary dishes on the menu.

The Chef Chad Gauss has received numerous awards for his gourmet comfort food served in this restaurant. The restaurant has an inviting vibe with a relaxed ambience with intimate tables along with bar seating. The menu is in sync with the ambience with hearty dishes focusing more on comfort eating. Must-try dishes of the Food Factory include braised pork tacos, roast beef short rib, crab pot pie, beer-cheese fondue, fried oysters “Carbonara”, double bison burger, crispy lobster fingers, and turkey sausages tacos. The food options cover mostly everyone with a pocket-friendly price. The restaurants specialise in four different kinds of Bloody Marys and a diverse variety of Champagne cocktails, making the Food Factory an apt location for comforting brunches and get-togethers with good choice of booze.

Dylan’s Oyster Cellar is one of the best restaurants in Baltimore who started small and later expanded into a full-fledged restaurant as it gained popularity and success. The great success story of Oyster expert Dylan Salmon inspires all aspiring restaurateurs of Baltimore. He started with a pop-up in a basement in Vernon with his unique concept and later opened a fine restaurant in a prime and corner location in Hampden. In the new restaurant, he expanded the menu to include seasonal salads, clams, shellfishes, coddies, trouts along with oysters and cocktails.

The co-owner and shucking Sherpa Dylan Salmon have shown that he can manage a whole menu and not just his expertise oysters. The stylish restaurant now serves the best shellfish in Baltimore with an oyster list which still draws a huge crowd. One should always try their oysters with their speciality cocktails. Their other specialities include Maryland coddies, fried whole belly clams, round fish-and-potato cakes, green chilli cheeseburger and whole rainbow clams.

Rye Street Tavern was opened by Chef Andrew Carmellini. Chef Andrew Carmellini is the winner of the New York Beard Award and opened this stunning restaurant as his second restaurant in Baltimore. This restaurant specializes in Chesapeake seafood and local comfort food like fried chicken.

The restaurants flaunt floor-to-ceiling windows with a comfortable outdoor seating arrangement. The striking interiors of Rye Street Tavern are designed by local interior designer Patrick Sutton. The interiors have plenty of stylish, unique design elements with rich leather, steel and wood finished furniture complimenting the aesthetics. The restaurant also flaunts a 25- foot column spanning the two floors of the restaurant. The bar is not to be missed with its East Coast oysters, shrimp, tuna poke and ceviche. The Rye Street Tavern is now one of the best restaurants in Baltimore known for its outdoor seating with stunning views of the sea with delicious food at reasonable prices.

The almost new fine dining restaurant Tagliata has fast gained popularity in the Baltimore restaurants arena. The swanky joint is now one of the best restaurants in Baltimore known for its speciality in steak and classic Italian dishes with contemporary flavours. The restaurant is located on the edge of Little Italy, so the Italian influence is there.

The Tagliata, since its opening, has attracted the Baltimore crowd with its romantic ambience and freshly made pasta. The comfortable and stylish interior has plush chairs along with a piano bar and a beautiful patio strung with lights to give a romantic touch. Though most dishes on the menu are on the pricey side, they do have dishes under $ 20 like the eggplant parmesan. It is one of the best restaurants in Baltimore for fine dining to celebrate special occasions.

On the whole, Baltimore is a must-visit tourist destination, and for you to try the best restaurants in Baltimore. You can book your flight tickets in advance or customise your visit with the best tour package deals, with the lowest airfares, discounted hotel accommodations and for all other information to make your Baltimore trip pleasant, hassle-free, safe and which can be treasured for all times.