So Many SoBo Restaurants to Love

Liv2eat Restaurant may have a kind of silly name, but the owners certainly take the food seriously. The menu in this South Baltimore (SoBo) charmer changes with the season to make the most of fresh, locally-sourced ingredients.

The City Paper recently voted Liv2Eat the best new restaurant in Baltimore, a well-deserved distinction. My friends and I dined here recently and had some ridiculously good risotto fritters. If you are looking for a nice restaurant with a great outdoor dining environment, this is it.

Something about Hersh's restaurant feels very sophisticated. Is it their Neapolitan pizza with the perfect crust, or their pasta, made in house? The television-less bar and welcoming bartender? Who knows, but Hersh's can transform your average Wednesday night into a special occasion (especially if you order the pizza with eggplant and chili oil). This photo does not do Hersh's justice, because I STILL have trouble taking blog-worthy indoor pictures (the photo above notwithstanding), so you will have to trust me that the atmosphere in Hersh's is worthy of a date with that special someone.

Located one block from the busy Cross Street Market area, Sobo Cafe has a thoughtful, nicely diverse menu, offering seasonal fare like pumpkin agnolotti, crowd pleasers such as pan seared salmon, and vegetarian entrees like sweet potato curry. Sobo's consistently tasty fare earns many kudos. Just this year, Sobo racked up the following awards: top 15 favorite first date restaurants (Baltimore Sun), top ten restaurants near stadiums (USA Today), and best lunch (Baltimore Magazine readers' poll).

One of the coziest spots in Baltimore to dine on pizza, especially if you are lucky enough to snag a booth near the fireplace, Pub Dog Pizza & Drafthouse serves some of the best individual, thin-crust pizzas around, topped with ingredients that really work well together.  For example, the Thai chicken pizza features Hoisin sauce, mozzarella, peanut marinated grilled chicken, roasted peanuts, shredded carrots and green onions. Pub Dog's house crafted beers, which they always serve in twos, have proven so popular fans can now purchase them to go at both Pub Dog locations (Federal Hill and Columbia), as well as liquor stores throughout the state.