Restaurants

Ringing in the New Year with Captain Larry's and the Kids

Captain Larry's takes their role as a family-friendly pub seriously. On any given day, you can see youngsters playing together - typically creating works of art with sidewalk chalk - while their parents linger over crab cakes and fish tacos. "Larry's," as it is affectionately known, also hosts a New Year's Eve party for kids, complete with a ball drop, kid-friendly fare, party accoutrements and a start time guaranteed to get the kids home to bed at a reasonable hour. Here, one of the owners helps a young patron pick out just the right party hat and lei.

Festive gear rests temporarily on one of the pub's tables.

Two young revelers get ready for the ball drop! Captain Larry's made a little extra room on their floor for the kids to congregate. Unfortunately, my husband and I could not stay for the actual ball drop, but trust me, the excitement was building!

Adult beverages are, of course, still available during the family-friendly event. After all, Larry's IS a pub.

Of course, several weeks before the New Year's Eve bash, Captain Larry's also welcomed Santa Claus. With his hearty "Ho, ho, ho" and confirmation that every child in Captain Larry's was on the "nice" list - thereby assuring happiness all around - this Santa was a big hit with both the kids and their parents!

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.

More Delicious Dining Options

Blue Agave stands out among the crowded Federal Hill bar and restaurant scene for its house-made salsas and sauces, not to mention margaritas and Baltimore's largest selection of tequila.  I highly recommend their chipotle chicken skewers!  Always lively, Blue Agave is a great spot for dinner with friends, lunch with your favorite colleagues, or happy hour.

Located on Broadway in the heart of Fell's Point, Tapas Adela features Spanish cuisine.  The mouth-watering menu includes well-known Spanish tapas, from patatas bravas to croquetas, as well as Baltimore twists on the classics, such as crab cake rellenos, in which the chef fills Padron peppers with jumbo lump crab.

Sophisticated yet friendly, Mount Vernon's City Cafe appeals to a wide range of diners, from the neighborhood crowd to symphony patrons, coffee fanatics to cocktail connoisseurs.  Baltimore Magazine recently lauded City Cafe as one of the area's top 50 restaurants and a top brunch spot.  If you go, try the Moroccan chicken salad.  Delicious!

Captain Larry's: A Family-Friendly Pub

Thanks to Captain Larry's, many lucky South Baltimore children will have unique memories of New Year's Eve.  Captain Larry's rings in the new year with an indoor ball drop, family-friendly menu and lots of fun nonalcoholic beverages for the kids.  The event has proven so popular that the captain has to take reservations and drop the silvery glittery globe twice.  Parents love this event, because they get to celebrate with their friends and kids - down the street from home.  After the second family-friendly seating, Captain Larry's opens for regular New Year's Eve business.  After all, it is a pub!

I took these photos during another big event at Captain Larry's - the annual chili cook off.  This year the chili cook off benefited Jake's Law and the place was PACKED.  Captain Larry's owners are very community-oriented, and it shows in the events they sponsor and their loyal following.  As far as the food is concerned: try the fish tacos, considered by many to be the best in Baltimore, and the turkey club, made from fresh-roasted turkey and garnished with avocado.  Tasty!  

This painter set up her studio across the street in order to paint Captain Larry's, a sure sign of its popularity and status as a Baltimore institution.    I should mention that Hilltop is a fine carry out!

Too Lazy to Make Your Own Eggs? Favorite Breakfast and Brunch Spots!

Fell's Point's Blue Moon Cafe serves a dose of rock-and-roll style with great breakfast food until 3:00 p.m. during the week and 24-hours a day on weekends. Baltimoreans had long flocked to the funky, welcoming Blue Moon Cafe when Guy Fieri featured it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and made its Captain Crunch-encrusted French toast famous.  Homemade biscuits and cinnamon rolls complement a wide range of omelets and other egg dishes, pancakes and French toast, and generous servings guarantee that you will walk out with a doggie bag or a very full stomach. The Blue Moon Cafe is on one of my regular weekend running routes, and I always see a crowd of people waiting for a coveted seat in this fun and funky Fell's Point breakfast spot.  

South Baltimore's Little Havana offers a Cuban-inspired Sunday brunch, with everything from Huevos Rancheros to Churros con Chocolate.  As a bonus, you can dine outside in the nice weather.

Jimmy's Restaurant is an institution on Broadway Square in Fell's Point.  If you are looking for an inexpensive, quick, tasty breakfast, old-school atmosphere, and perhaps a glimpse of a local politician, Jimmy's is your place.

No discussion of breakfast or brunch in Baltimore is complete without mentioning Miss Shirley's, which serves some of the most mouth-watering fare anywhere.  Miss Shirley's now has three locations, two in Baltimore and one in Annapolis.  The downtown Baltimore location, pictured here, is so popular that the restaurant took over the large lobby of the office building in which it is located.  Miss Shirley's has southern roots - think cornmeal-encrusted fried oysters and Bayou omelet - but also serves goodies for people with a serious sweet tooth, such as raspberry white chocolate waffles.

A cozy yet classy spot in Federal Hill, Metropolitan Coffeehouse and Wine Bar is casual enough for a no-makeup, hair-in-a-ponytail Sunday breakfast but special enough to take out of town guests.  The menu ranges far and wide, from a breakfast banana split overflowing with berries, melon, cantaloupe, pineapple, vanilla yogurt and granola to the decidedly less healthy cheesesteak and eggs.

A no-frills diner with good food and very loyal patrons, Pete's Grille sits in the heart of Waverly next to the year-round 32nd Street Farmer's Market.

Delicious and creative food is the hallmark of Clementine restaurant in the Hamilton/Lauraville neighborhood.  Like Clementine's dinner menu, the brunch menu features dishes with far-reaching origins, from the Korean hot pot to the Indian scramble.  Clementine makes most of its own condiments, such as fig-habanero sauce and corn relish, as well as its own sausage, scones, muffins, and breakfast breads.

The Papermoon Diner offers "day-ending" breakfast ... meaning if you eat it all, you will want to retire for a long nap.  The eclectic outdoor decor - note the table settings on the three yellow moons - continues to the interior, where the Moon serves great diner food for breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Seeking to add a little class and music to your Sunday brunch?  Look no further than the Jazz Brunch at Ze Mean Bean Cafe in Fell's Point.  With its roots in Eastern Europe, Ze Mean Bean excels at pierogies, Hungarian goulash, and anything with Polish kielbasa, but this charming spot also offers classic breakfast dishes such as blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs with melted Gruyere.  The lunch and dinner menu expands to offer an even greater variety of signature Slavic dishes, such as Holupki and Chicken Kiev, and chef's specialties like rosemary pesto lamb. 

Featured in at least one previous post, Artifact Coffee serves yummy homemade pastries (I had a chocolate doughnut there this morning, in fact), great coffee from their espresso bar, and tasty breakfast sandwiches on English muffins, also homemade.  

Located within Hampden's recently restored Union Mill, Artifact Coffee is definitely a hot spot for the hip, but it has very broad appeal.  During our recent trip to Artifact, my husband and I sat near a large extended family and a guy quietly doing some homework over a cup of coffee. 

Culinary Greatness at Clementine

Makers of Fine Food, Indeed!  Clementine restaurant, located in the Hamilton/Lauraville Main Street, offers creative, tasty fare crafted from local ingredients and has long been in the forefront of Baltimore's farm-to-table scene.  Featuring housemade charcuterie, beverages, and condiments, the menu changes daily but always offers favorites such as Winnie's Fantastical Mac and Cheese.  I checked, and today their dinner menu ranged from delicata squash to duck congee, while their brunch menu included an Indian Scramble, Belgian Waffles, and Seared Duck Hash.  Seriously, something for everyone. 

In addition to its bewitching food, Clementine also offers a carefully curated selection of wine, which can be purchased even if you don't have time to stop in for dinner.  But you should really stop for dinner.

Baltimore's Pubs ... the First of Many Such Posts!

It's only fitting to start this post with one of the oldest pubs in America, The Horse You Came In On ... affectionately known as The Horse to many.  People have been downing pints and listening to live music in this Fell's Point mainstay since before the Revolution.  Baltimore has an endless supply of great restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs, taverns, you name it.  This post focuses on the kind of place where it makes more sense to drink a beer than a glass of wine, where people young and old gather to watch games, listen to live music, or grab a casual dinner and engage in some easy camaraderie.

Another great spot for listening to live music and "Baltimore's Best Dive Bar," Leadbetters is just down the street from The Horse.  I really like Leadbetters because for some reason, even with the music, it's still possible to talk to people without saying "What?" constantly.

Also in Fell's Point, One Eyed Mikes offers "fine dining in a casual atmosphere," an intimate dining room and outdoor dining patio, and the world's first Grand Marnier Club, which is handy if you like Grand Marnier!  When I hear fine dining, I tend to think of fussy, small portions and high prices, but the food here is hearty and great for a casual lunch with friends but also sufficiently impressive to take out of town guests or a first date.  Oh, and the Grand Marnier Club is a good conversation-starter.  Lifetime Grand Marnier Club members get their own bottle of GM, stored at the bar.  Naturally, the bartenders have an impressive repertoire of drinks with Grand Marnier as a key ingredient.  I only learned this from conversation with the bartenders, not from drinking their GM concoctions, but I do believe it! 

Moving north into Mount Vernon - I know, I know ... I didn't even begin to capture all of the wonderful pubs of Fell's Point, such as Cat's Eye and Wharf Rat, but if I wait until I get all of the pictures I need, I'll never get around to posting anything, so think of this as a sample - Mick O'Shea's offers live music and is a big hit with the happy hour crowd.

The Hamilton Tavern, a relative newcomer to Baltimore, regularly wins Best of Baltimore awards for its Crosstown Burger, but I'd like to give the owners credit for their rustic chic decor, which extends into the bathrooms, where they have plastered the walls (tastefully) with excerpts from classic books and poetry.  HT also has a rooftop garden, and the owners are committed to locally sourced ingredients.

Located in the Hamilton/Lauraville Main Street, the Hamilton Tavern attracts people from throughout the region with its warm atmosphere, delicious food, and great beer and wine selection. 

Located around the corner from Belvedere Square and the Senator Theatre in Govanstowne, the Swallow at the Hollow has been around for a long time, but if you haven't been there recently, it has changed in recent years and is worth checking out.  The relatively new owner renovated the dining room a couple of years ago and updated the menu, but the Swallow retains a cozy, unpretentious atmosphere and is a great spot to watch a game and/or have an inexpensive meal!

Birroteca - Don't Miss It!

The Jones Falls Valley, which connects communities such as Woodberry, Hampden, and Remington, has an abundance of historic mill buildings and industrial space and has attracted the attention of a number of quality developers, artisans, and restauranteurs.  Birroteca joined the ranks of the culinary hot spots of Baltimore last year.

As it says on the wall, Birroteca specializes in craft draft beers, as well as artisan pizza, four kinds of bruschetta, and family-style specials that vary based on the day of the week.

The upscale yet cozy and friendly atmosphere, coupled with delicious food and a great beer and wine selection, keeps people coming back in droves.  Call ahead to make a reservation, because this place is always busy.

Inside the Newly Rebuilt Mt. Washington Tavern

The outdoor, upstairs deck at the rebuilt Mt. Washington Tavern looks like a fine place to watch a football game (note the large television and comfy seats in the background).

With his restaurant heavily damaged by fire in 2011, the owner of the Mt. Washington Tavern took the opportunity redesign much of the interior.  This lovely second floor room boasts a perfect set-up for private parties.

The next three photos capture some of the design details, which clearly made an impact on me during a recent visit.

Maryland's rich history in horse racing on display.

Nice touch for when you need to hang your hat.

The Mt. Washington Tavern is located in the village of Mt. Washington and a stone's throw from a light rail stop.  The food is reliably tasty and the bar cozy - a good bet for meeting friends who live north of the City!

Dinner and a Glass of Wine, Please! 

The Wine Market Bistro is located in the Foundry on Fort in Locust Point, next to my gym.  The food is fantastic and you can select your own bottle of wine from the attached specialty wine store.  Sometimes I find it hard to pass this restaurant by on my way to the gym.

The Wine Market also boasts a very nice happy hour at their sophisticated yet friendly bar.

Fleet Street Kitchen, a relatively new addition to Harbor East/Little Italy's already stellar collection of restaurants, has a great farm-to-table menu and wonderful selection of wines.

Fleet Street Kitchen is one of three, soon to be four, restaurants in the Bagby Restaurant Group family, which also includes the Bagby Pizza Co. and Ten Ten.  Baltimore Magazine recently bestowed the "Best Pizza" award on Bagby's Pizza, which you can see here next to Fleet Street Kitchen.  Bagby's Pizza has broad appeal and is a good bet for people both with and without children.

Station North's Tapas Teatro boasts a cozy bar, urbane atmosphere, delicious small plates, and a movie theater next door, not to mention a lively outdoor dining scene on Charles Street. 

 

South Baltimore's Tabrizi's easily claims one of the most scenic spots for outdoor dining on the water, and their Mediterranean menu offers tasty and healthy fare.  The setting is so spectacular, a lot of couples choose to get married here, so regulars know to check their website before heading over.

This view of the bar captures the Harborview neighborhood, in which Tabrizi's is located.

Clearly, not ALL Tabrizi's diners are going to be drinking wine!

To many devotees of the Brewer's Art's award-winning beers, drinking wine at this Mount Vernon establishment is a sacrilege.  Something about the atmosphere in the main floor of the Brewer's Art, though, just makes people (and not just me) order a glass.  Perhaps it is the high ceilings and architectural detail that lends an air of sophistication to the atmosphere.

The Resurrection is the Brewer's Art's most famous beer, and their garlic rosemary fries their most famous snack.  The Brewer's Art has a front bar (pictured here), a cozy middle room with comfortable seating,

and a sophisticated dining room in the rear of the building.  The dark and intimate basement bar has a much different - but equally special - vibe.  There are a lot of little nooks and crannies, so patrons can have their own little space to sit and discuss the meaning of life.  Baltimore's bicycle messengers have long claimed the basement at the Brewer's Art as a home base, so it is not unusual to see all manner of bikes attached to the railing leading to the basement.

Decisions, Decisions ... Where to Dine?

Great for BYOB and easy outdoor dining, Baba's Kitchen in Locust Point/Riverside Park serves up delicious Mediterranean food, including fantastic falafel.  When I get better at taking indoor photos, I'll add a picture of their interior, which is one of the nicest in Baltimore, in my opinion.  Baba's is casual (no waitress service) yet elegant and delicious.

Long - but fast-moving - lines are the norm at Nalley Fresh, where customers can order salads, bowls, or wraps and choose from a creative array of proteins, dressings (the cilantro vinaigrette anyone?) and toppings (such as banana peppers, Wasabi peas, and toasted sunflower seeds).  Don't worry, they also have the more expected items, such as broccoli and cucumbers.  For variety and freshness, Nalley Fresh is hard to beat.

Nalley Fresh has two locations, one in Baltimore County, and the one pictured here at Calvert and Baltimore Streets.

Harbor East's Gordon Biersch is a nice addition to the city's waterfront dining options.

People from all over travel to Mount Washington for a gourmet Haute Dog.  Open for lunch seven days a week, Haute Dog's signature dog is served with tomato and onion jam, bacon and onion marmalade, and Dijon.

Right next door to Haute Dog, Bonjour Bakery Cafe offers delicious artisanal bread, quiche, flatbread pizzas, and an array of sweets.  A very sweet place to buy sweets.

Baltimoreans have a ton of great restaurants to choose from ... which will be a recurring theme on this blog since I love to eat!  Miss Shirley's Cafe makes breakfast seem like dessert ... on your birthday!

Another view of Miss Shirley's beautiful outdoor dining patio.  This is downtown on Pratt Street, but Miss Shirley's also tempts palates in Roland Park.

Tooloulou's (the Cajun word for crab) serves extraordinary pizza and po'boys with from this small shop in Hamilton/Lauraville.  Their cheddar jalapeno biscuit is a meal unto itself.

Continuing with the Cajun theme, Ethel & Ramone's is a charming spot in Mount Washington which serves delicious gumbo and jambalaya.

Pete's Grille is a tasty diner-type place in Waverly which famously served Michael Phelps many calorie-laden breakfasts.  The mortals love it, too!

Maggie's Farm in Hamilton/Lauraville - one of the hottest spots in town for locavores - is new to Baltimore's restaurant scene.  I have to admit I haven't been there yet, but I've heard great things.  It's difficult trying to keep up with all the great restaurants in Baltimore, but that's a good problem to have.