Vendors, food trucks and stalls: the cheapest, fastest, frequently best food in Baltimore.

Don't-miss vendors

Faidley's Seafood ★ 4.7

downtownMon-Sat daytime, closed Sunday

Faidley's stand inside Lexington Market serves the city's benchmark crab cake since 1886, almost all jumbo lump, eaten standing at a counter off brown paper.

Try: Jumbo lump crab cake

Tip: Order the all-lump grade and eat it at the stand-up rail; it also fries a classic lake trout.

119 North Paca Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Connie's Chicken and Waffles ★ 4.2

downtownDaily, market hours

Connie's Chicken and Waffles works a stall inside Lexington Market, frying hand-breaded chicken to order and stacking it over waffles for the lunch crowd.

Try: Hand-breaded fried chicken and waffles

Tip: It started as a Lexington Market stall; the chicken box is the cheap, filling order.

112 North Eutaw Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Chaps Pit Beef ★ 4.4

greektownDaily, lunch to evening

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.

720 Mapleton Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21205

Ekiben ★ 4.6

fells-pointDaily, lunch to evening

Ekiben grew from a food cart into a Fells Point counter, building a citywide following on steamed bao like the Neighborhood Bird fried-chicken bun.

Try: Steamed bao buns

Tip: The Neighborhood Bird bun is the order; the line moves fast at the tiny counter.

1622 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21231

Walther Gardens Snowball Stand ★ 4.0

downtownSeasonal, late spring to summerCash only

Walther Gardens runs one of the country's oldest snowball stands, shaving ice over syrup and topping the egg-custard classic with marshmallow each summer.

Try: Egg-custard snowball with marshmallow

Tip: It is summer-only and cash-friendly; the egg custard with marshmallow is the Baltimore order.

4725 Walther Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21214

Clavel ★ 4.6

hampdenDaily, lunch to late

Clavel in Hampden presses its own nixtamalized corn tortillas for tacos al pastor and ceviche, a counter-and-bar room that started as a tortilleria project.

Try: Tacos on house-nixtamalized tortillas

Tip: The house tortillas are the point; pair tacos with an agua fresca or a mezcal.

225 West 23rd Street, Baltimore, MD 21211

Broadway Market ★ 4.0

fells-pointDaily, daytime to evening

Broadway Market at the foot of Fells Point's square gathers grab-and-go counters for oysters, tacos and coffee under two rebuilt sheds with a rooftop bar.

Try: Oysters, tacos and market counters

Tip: Graze across the stalls; Connie's Chicken and Waffles and the oyster counter are the anchors.

640 South Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231

Matthew's Pizza ★ 4.3

greektownTue-Sun, lunch to evening

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.

3131 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224
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