Faidley's Seafood is a seafood restaurant in Downtown, Baltimore.
Faidley's Seafood at Lexington Market has sold its jumbo lump crab cake since 1886, a stand-up counter where you eat the city's benchmark cake off paper.
Signature dishes: Jumbo lump crab cake, Lake trout, Raw bar
Must order: The jumbo lump crab cake, broiled, almost all crab and no filler.
Tip: It is a stand-up counter inside Lexington Market; order the lump grade and eat it at the rail.
Address: 119 North Paca Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
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.
Ekiben in Fells Point built a citywide following on steamed bao, plating the Neighborhood Bird fried-chicken bun and a tempura broccoli bun in a tiny shop.
Signature: Neighborhood Bird bun, Tempura broccoli bun, Bowls
Order: The Neighborhood Bird steamed bun, fried chicken with herbs and spicy sauce.
Tip: The Fells Point shop is counter-service and tight; there are also Hampden and Locust Point outposts.
Mama's on the Half Shell on Canton Square is a neighbourhood crab-and-oyster house, working steamed crabs, oysters and a crab cake across two busy floors.
Signature: Steamed crabs, Oysters, Crab cake
Order: A dozen steamed crabs in season, or the crab cake the rest of the year.
Tip: Weekend afternoons overflow with locals; ask for a seat upstairs or out on the patio.
LP Steamers in Locust Point is a classic two-storey crab house, steaming blue crabs heavy with Old Bay and serving a rooftop deck above Fort Avenue.
Signature: Steamed blue crabs, Crab cake, Old Bay shrimp
Order: A dozen heavy steamed crabs and a pitcher, eaten with mallets on the deck.
Tip: The rooftop deck is the seat to ask for; bring cash and patience in peak crab season.
Papermoon Diner in Remington is a daytime diner crowded with toys and mannequins, plating big breakfast plates and milkshakes amid the maximalist decor.
Signature: Pancakes, Milkshakes, Big breakfasts
Order: A stack of pancakes and a milkshake.
Tip: It opens Wednesday to Sunday for daytime hours and the decor is the draw; arrive early on weekends to beat the line.
