One of the perks of being in academia is getting to travel for conferences. Last weekend I had to present a poster at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Conference in Baltimore, MD. It’s always great when my husband gets to travel with me because we love to explore new places and try to visit the local favorites. We were quite lucky for this trip because we stayed with our friends from college, Alex & Jake, and they showed us their favorite spots. We also were super excited to meet their Bernese Mountain dog, Otto, because for the past year we have only gotten Snapchats of him. Otto was a big fur ball of love!
If you ever get the chance to visit Baltimore, I highly recommend it! They’re known for their crabs–particularly crab cakes and soft shelled crab sandwiches–but they weren’t in season for this trip. We still found some great places with excellent food and hope to return in the summer! Here are our favorite areas, restaurants, and bars we visited:
Fell’s Point
Fell’s Point is a historic district in Baltimore with lots of restaurants, bars, and shops. This area has so much charm and I am kicking myself for not taking a lot of pictures of all of the storefronts. I guess I was just having so much fun soaking it in at the time. Some of our favorite spots were in Fell’s Point (Thames Street Oyster House, Barcocina, Kooper’s Tavern, A Horse You Came In On Saloon). I can’t wait to go back so we can spend more time in Fell’s Point.
Thames Street Oyster House – 1728 Thames St, Baltimore, MD 21231
“Tims”? “Tymes”? “Tames”? However you pronounce it, this was by far our favorite restaurant and for good reason. If you love oysters as much as we do and you visit Baltimore you have to check this place out! I would recommend calling ahead for a reservation because it’s a little small and gets busy really quick. We almost didn’t get a table. Thames Street Oyster House was our favorite because they had an excellent variety of oysters to choose from that came from the best places in the Northeast to get oysters. I have never been to a place that had descriptions of each oyster to give you a sense of what to expect. I’m guessing that is something that is more common in the Northeast? You also get to order oysters like you would sushi–you get to pick which ones and how many. Thames Street Oyster House was simply amazing. It’s no wonder why they have won so many awards.
Kooper’s Tavern – 1702 Thames St, Baltimore, MD 21231
@kooperstavern – kooperstavern.com
I must admit that the only reason we walked into Kooper’s Tavern was because it had a stained glass window of a dog on the outside. I’m glad that we walked in because it had a great vibe. Being dog lovers, we fell in love with all of the dog paintings on the walls and the fact that It was named after the owner’s dog Kooper. The doors to the bathrooms were quite funny, too (you’ll just have to see them yourself!). They had a great selection of beer and the staff was super friendly!
Barcocina – 1629 Thames St, Baltimore, MD 21231
@barcocina_baltimore – barcocina.com
Alex and Jake recommended Barcocina for brunch. We were the first ones there so it was pretty quiet. Also, we went on a weekday so I imagine that it gets much busier on the weekends. If you go, I recommend getting the Barcocina Guacamole. I just recently learned that I am not allergic to avocado anymore, so I have been eating so much of it lately. This guac was quite different, but certainly very tasty. It had a pasilla-lime-balsamic sauce drizzled over fresh guacamole with some shredded queso. I never would have thought that balsamic would go well with guacamole, but it had great balance and taste!
MaGerk’s Pub & Grill Federal Hill – 1061 S Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21230
@magerkspubfh – magerkspub.com
We were at MaGerk’s several times while we were in Baltimore. It was close to where our friends lived, so we ended up hanging out there a lot. We had a lot of fun at MaGerk’s! We are planning to move to Philly this year, so we were intrigued by all of the Philly decor and Philly inspired menu. MaGerk’s prides itself on having the best cheesesteaks outside of Philly and I must agree!
Faidley’s Seafood – 203 N Paca St, Baltimore, MD 21201
@faidleysseafood – faidleyscrabcakes.com
If you want the best crab cake in Baltimore, or anywhere for that matter, head to Faidley’s Seafood in Lexington Market. I must say that the surrounding area is a bit sketchy and most everyone told us that we were crazy for walking through that area. I highly suggest going during the day time and getting a ride there and back. Despite the area, going to Faidley’s Seafood is definitely worth the trip. It has been open since 1886 and has won countless awards for their crab cakes. At first I thought it was a little pricey, but once I took a bite into their crab cake I was in heaven and forgot all about the price.
Here are a few more places that we visited and liked:
The Local Oyster – 520 Park Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201
@thelocaloyster – thelocaloyster.com
Crossbar Der Beirgarten – 18 E Cross St, Baltimore, MD 21230
@crossbarbaltimore – crossbarbaltimore.com
The Abbey Burger Bistro – 1041 Marshall St, Baltimore, MD 21230
@abbeyburgerfedhill – abbeyburger.com
Banditos Bar & Kitchen – 1118 S Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21230
Cheers!
Kelly
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