Baltimore Restaurant Help
 

We are looking for 2 different things...

1. nice moderate priced wonderful local food (seafood) or Ialian restaurants in or near the inner harbor (but we also have a car). and

2. a nice bar to meet and hang out after dinner in the inner harbor area even in a hotel... somewhere we can relax, people watch and be comfortable.

All help appreciated !! Thanks !!

sorry,..... we would like a bar to hang out that has like comfy chairs and / or sofa style sitting areas... thanks !

what hotel will you be staying in?
That hotel, unless it is a motel variety, should have a nice bar/lobby/lounge....\

As far a good restaurants:

Italian: Chiapparelli's
237 S. High St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-837-0309


And for seafood, this was fabulous:

Atlantic
2400 Boston St
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-675-4565

we are staying at the marriott waterfront

Your hotel is very close to Little Italy and there are numerous restaurants to choose from. Chiapparelli's is not as good nor as clean as it used to be, you can do much better at just about any other restaurant in the neighborhood including Boccacio, Amicci's, Germano's, Della Notte, Aldo's ($$$$). There are also several bars and restaurants adjacent to your hotel including Fleming's, Roy's, James Joyce Pub. A great wine store where you can also have a sample is nearby called Bin 604. The hotel also has several bars that are comfortable for lounging. Baltimore does not have as many local seafood places as one would expect. Atlantic is a good choice. There is also McCormick and Schmick near by which has local seafood specials and a local fave Asian flavored restaurant is Eurasian Harbor.

For italian restaurants in Baltimore, you may want to cart over to the section of Baltimore known as "little italy."

The classic Maryland seafood house is Phillips, in one of the Inner Harbor pavilions. Locals think it's touristy and don't patronize it, but I've taken visitors there and they love it. Most of the dishes are reasonably priced, but the crabcakes are high simply because of the shortage of backfin crab meat (I think it's now running about $40/pound). If you're willing to splurge, go for the highest-price crabcake dinner--it may well be the finest crabcake you've ever had in your life.

If it's a nice evening, I would hang out for drinks at one of the outdoor cafes at the Inner Harbor pavilions. The chairs may not be supremely comfy, but the view is incomparable.

Just a followup to Linda0515's advice, backfin crab meat isn't the best crab; backfin is mid-range crab. Jumbo lump crab meat is the best and most expensive crab meat. Jumbo lump costs about $25/lb in local markets but a jumbo lump crab cake platter (2 crab cakes) can cost anywhere from $20-30 as an entree. Go over to Cross Street Market in Federal Hill, not too far from your side of the Inner Harbor and just buy a pound of jumbo lump and eat it out of the container!! That's the best and easiest way to mejoy crab. Many locals including me swear by G&M Seafood's crab cakes in Linthicum which is a 20 minute drive from where you are staying. Great crab cakes, not much atmosphere.

I was going to send you to Federal Hill, as well. Just drive (South..toward DC?)about 2 miles on Light Street from the Inner Harbor. Great little restaurants with nice neighborhood bars -- On Church Street is "Corks" which isn't far from tbe Cross St Market (but that place is kind of fun too there are a couple of bar like areas that do seafood and draft beer. WAY more interesting and HUNDRED TIMES TASTIER than anything you'll find at Phillips. We have eaten at a little place on Light Street called "Regi's" which has some outdoor tables and a cosy dining room, plus a bar for hanging out in...and a couple of doors up Light Street is Blue Agave, which has some of the best gourmet Mexican food you could even imagine (and lots of Tequila to sample...). This is the part of town where "we locals" like to eat. I don't think I've ever had a really good meal at the Inner Harbor (and that includes McCormick & Schmicks) OH yes -- and another place to visit is going to be to the, um, East? on Fells Point. You will have a blast at Bertha's Mussels.

I have yet to have a good meal in Baltimore. I can't tell you where to go but I can tell you where not to go:

Inner Harbor,Della Notte,G&M.
I am going to take Andy's suggestion and try Chiapparelli's and Atlantic.

I need to proof these things -- the Federal Hill area is actually only about 10 blocks from the Inner Harbor, not 2 miles...and it is certainly a place where you can find great food and a lot of fun.

Dimimmos' (Italian) is the best. Take the water taxi over to Little Italy from the Inner Harbor. You'll feel like you just stepped into an episode of The Sapranos. Get the Veal Chop!!!