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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.