Eat in Station North, Baltimore

Alma Cocina Latina ★ 4.5

Alma Cocina Latina in Station North is a rare Venezuelan fine-dining room, where chef Hector Romero plates arepas and roasted duck with guava jelly.

Order: An arepa spread, then the roasted duck breast with guava.

Tip: It is one of the country's few Venezuelan tasting rooms; the rum and cocktail list runs deep.

Sophomore Coffee ★ 4.5

Sophomore Coffee on Maryland Avenue is a compact, focused cafe pouring a tight rotating menu of single-origin espresso and filter in Old Goucher.

Tip: The menu is short and the line moves fast; it leans serious single-origin over sweet drinks.

Sources from: Rotating single origin

How they serve: Espresso, Filter

Le Comptoir du Vin ★ 4.5

Le Comptoir du Vin in Station North is a tiny natural-wine bistro from Rosemary Liss, pouring grower wines beside a weekly-changing French menu.

Signature pour: A grower's wine off the chalkboard list

Wine focus: Natural French and low-intervention wines

Food: Weekly-changing French bistro plates

Tip: The menu changes weekly and the room seats barely a dozen; reserve well ahead.

Fadensonnen ★ 4.3

Fadensonnen in Old Goucher is Lane Harlan's natural-wine, sake and beer garden in a converted carriage house, pouring skin-contact wines under string lights.

Signature pour: A skin-contact natural wine or a pour of sake

Wine focus: Natural wine and sake

Food: Snacks, beer-garden plates

Tip: It is part wine bar, part sake bar, part beer garden; the back patio is the place to be in summer.

Dutch Courage ★ 4.2

Dutch Courage in Old Goucher is a gin-focused cocktail bar on North Charles Street, building its list around gin and tonics and a long back bar of botanicals.

Signature drink: Gin and tonics, gin cocktails

Food: Small plates

Tip: It is gin-forward but the team mixes anything; the patio is a draw in warm weather.

Le Comptoir du Vin ★ 4.8

Station North natural-wine bistro on Maryland Ave since 2018; chalkboard menu changes weekly, Bon Appetit Hot Ten 2019, named for a Lyon counter.

Why locals love it: A dozen seats behind an easy-to-miss Station North storefront, where the menu changes weekly and the natural-wine list is among the city's most serious.

Tip: Reservations open in batches and vanish fast; follow the bar's social feed for the drop.

Fadensonnen ★ 4.2

Fadensonnen is a converted old goucher carriage house pouring natural wine, sake and beer in a string-lit back garden most visitors never find.

Why locals love it: A converted Old Goucher carriage house pouring natural wine, sake and beer in a string-lit back garden most visitors never find.

Tip: The back patio is the place to be; it runs as part wine bar, part sake bar, part beer garden.

Baltimore Eagle ★ 3.9

The Baltimore Eagle on North Charles Street is the city's long-running leather and LGBTQ nightclub, reopened after renovation with a bar, dance floor.

Tip: It runs Thursday to Sunday; theme nights and dance parties draw the biggest crowds.

Fadensonnen ★ 4.3

Fadensonnen in Old Goucher pours natural wine, sake and beer in a string-lit carriage-house garden, a laid-back evening room from Lane Harlan's team.

Tip: The back patio is the spot in warm weather; it is part wine bar, part sake bar, part beer garden.