Highlandtown's Greek diaspora pocket along Eastern Avenue, lined with souvlaki houses, bakeries and the diners that still pour strong coffee.
Matthew's Pizza in Highlandtown calls itself Baltimore's first pizzeria, open since 1943 and known for a thick-crust pie and a crab pie loaded with lump.
Signature: Thick-crust pizza, Crab pie, Cheese pizza
Order: The crab pie, a thick crust topped with jumbo lump and Old Bay.
Tip: The room is tiny and cash-friendly; the crab pie sells out, so go early on weekends.
Chaps Pit Beef on Pulaski Highway is the benchmark for Baltimore pit beef, charcoal-grilling top round rare and piling it on a kaiser with tiger sauce.
Signature: Pit beef sandwich, Tiger sauce, Pit turkey
Order: The pit beef on a kaiser, rare, with tiger sauce and raw onion.
Tip: Order it rare with tiger sauce and onion; the stand recently moved a few hundred feet down Pulaski Highway.
Chaps Pit Beef on Pulaski Highway is the city's benchmark pit beef stand, charcoal-grilling top round rare and piling it on a kaiser with tiger sauce.
Try: Baltimore pit beef sandwich
Tip: Order it rare with tiger sauce and raw onion; this is the classic Baltimore pit-beef build.
Matthew's Pizza in Highlandtown has fired thick-crust pies since 1943, including a crab pie loaded with jumbo lump and Old Bay that draws steady crowds.
Try: Crab pie by the pie
Tip: The crab pie is the order to plan around; it sells out, so go early on weekends.
The Creative Alliance in Highlandtown runs cooking workshops in its Creativity Center kitchen, community-led sessions ranging across global home cooking and baking.
Tip: Workshops are tied to the arts centre's calendar; they fill fast and often sell out in advance.
Chaps Pit Beef on Pulaski Highway delivers a hefty, cheap pit beef sandwich, charcoal-grilled rare top round on a kaiser with tiger sauce and onion.
Try: Pit beef sandwich
Tip: A pit beef sandwich is a meal on its own; order it rare with tiger sauce.
Matthew's Pizza in Highlandtown shares a cheap, filling thick-crust pie that has fed the East side since 1943, with a famous crab pie for a splurge.
Try: Thick-crust pizza
Tip: A plain thick-crust pie feeds a group cheaply; the crab pie is the worthwhile upgrade.