Baltimore is one of the hottest up and coming food cities in the US. New openings are happening in Baltimore Maryland from the top end down to street food and meeting in the middle at market concepts like R. House and some great coffee shops Baltimore.
Baltimore is all about neighbourhoods rather than one central area. So when it comes to having a great foodie visit it makes sense to take a baltimore Food Tour.
There are some great guided food tour options but they don’t run every day so you can also take your own Baltimore Food Tour using my guide.
Baltimore Food Tours
Table of Contents
Guided Tours
- Fells Point is one of the loveliest neighbourhoods in Baltimore. This Fells Point Food Tour is for small groups and covers food as well as learning more about this historic neighbourhood.
This is a Bite of Baltimore food tour includes one free drink and four food stops over 3 1/2 hours.
Start Time: 3 pm
Meet at: Thames Street Park
2. The Little Italy and Jonestown guided food tour runs every Friday and Saturday for 3 ½ hours. The walking tour, of course, covers Little Italy in Baltimore as well as the city’s Jewish neighbourhood.
Food on offer on this tour ranges from homemade meatballs to tiramisu. The tour runs for approx 3 1/2 hours.
Start Time: 130 pm
Meet at: Lloyd Street Synagogue
3. Federal Hill claims to be the most historic neighbourhood in Baltimore. In addition to stunning architecture, this area is filled with food treats and there are some great restaurants in Federal Hill Baltimore.
This Federal Hill food tour covers everything from the famous Baltimore crab cakes to beignets. The tour runs approx. 3 ½ hours.
Start Time: 3 pm
Meet at: Cross Street Market
4. Charm City Food Tours combine history, food and culture in their city food tours. Discover the historic neighborhoods of Baltimore, Charm City, through their Baltimore food tours. Their food tours cover Fells Point, Federal Hill, Little Italy and Mt Vernon.
Additionally, their tour guide can take you to Lexington Market and Cross Street Market. Charm City Food Tours also offer a mix of culinary events.
Self Guided Baltimore Food Tour
If the organized tours don’t work for you in terms of days and timings why not do your own Self-guided Baltimore Food Tour? Food stops are a great way to explore some of the many fantastic neighbourhoods in Baltimore.
I’ve laid out my walking food Baltimore tours according to neighbourhoods. This way you can take each Baltimore neighbourhood as a bit of a block and then build your own itinerary. Where relevant I have also included other key things to do in Baltimore in that area.
⇒ If you’re especially interested in coffee check out my post on the Top 11 Coffee Shops in Baltimore
Let’s start with Mount Vernon
Assuming you’re staying at my favourite boutique hotels Hotel Indigo Baltimore you can start with a quick stroll on morning one to Ceremony Coffee.
Ceremony Coffee takes its coffee very seriously! This is a beautiful light, airy café. I suggest starting with one of their drip coffees so that you don’t build too much caffeine too fast.
Next up it is time for breakfast. Walk over to Dooby’s. Doobys is one of the best known Mt Vernon Baltimore restaurants and a bit of a Baltimore institution.
Grab one of their breakfast sandwiches and a caramel miso latte! Dooby’s Baltimore moves to a Korean menu come lunchtime but you can see the influence at breakfast.
Spend the rest of the morning/lunch exploring Mount Vernon. Visit the Washington Monument and the Peabody Institute. If you’re still feeling full add in the Walters Art Museum.
Then move on to a late lunch at Mt Vernon Market Place. There are multiple city food marketplaces in Baltimore and Mt Vernon Marketplace one of the more modern options. There are 14 different traders and you can try everything from Korean bibimbap to poutine to Ethiopian coffee.
For more food experiences in Baltimore, hop in a cab and head to Lexington Street Market. Lexington Market is the home of Faidley’s – famed for their crab cakes.
Having visited Faidley’s Baltimore and enjoyed a crab cake there I can say their reputation is well earnt. The crab cakes at Faidley’s Lexington Market are packed with large delicious chunks of crab.
Often “cakes” are more about potatoes and other ingredients. These are virtually pure crab and well worth a visit! Or if you would like to be guided check out this Mt Vernon Neighborhood Food Tour.
Federal Hill
Start your day with breakfast at the Blue Moon Café. Their signature dish is the Captain Crunch French Toast – be sure to order it with the berries and cream for a delicious breakfast and good pic for Instagram. Save your caffeine intake for the next stop.
After your Blue Moon Cafe french toast walk down to 3 Beans coffee. 3 Beans roast their own beans and have excellent coffee. Once you have finished your coffee walk down to the American Visionary Art Museum for a quirky and unique museum experience and for some photo opportunities.
⇒ Love taking photos? Check out my post on the 10 Most Photogenic Baltimore Attractions.
Fells Point Food Tour and the Harbour
Start this tour mid-afternoon. Head to Broadway Market which is in the heart of the Fell’s Point Baltimore area. Broadway Market is the place for Pierogi.
I suggest you order the mix. This will be 3 types of pierogi: just cheese, potato and cheese and mushroom and cabbage. 6 pierogi in total. You definitely want the bacon on the top.
Very close by in Fells Point is the lovely Pitango which has outdoor seating on the harbour. This is a perfect spot for a coffee and a sweet treat.
⇒ Few things are more fun than going to vegas! But it’s not just about gambling – check out my post on 35 Fantastic Things to do in Vegas besides gamble!
Inbetween pierogis and coffee have a wander around the cute shopping streets of Fell’s Point. Then walk along the harbour to the National Aquarium which is fantastic and head in for a look around this fantastic Baltimore attraction.
Post the Aquarium it is time for a drink and Baltimore bites – and the Loch Bar. The Loch Bar is at the Four Seasons hotel and has an amazing spot right on the harbour.
The Loch bar Baltimore has an extensive oyster menu. I recommend asking your waiter and getting a mix to help you understand your taste preferences!
There is an extensive seafood menu on offer at the Loch Bar which includes the wonderfully named Shellfish Towers. I would like to live at Shellfish Towers.
I asked the waiter to recommend my meal and had the amazing yellowfin poke tuna. I would highly highly recommend you have some crab soup at the Loch Bar. However, ask for the Maryland crab and the cream of crab to be combined into one and it is absolutely delicious!
If you’re looking for a guided food tour option in Fells Point check out this Fells Point Food and Culture Walking Tour.
Hampden
Head to Hampden early afternoon and have a late light lunch of the hot crab dip at Café hon. Depending on the time of year and day of the week they also offer freshly shucked oysters so take those if you’re there at the right time.
Café Hon has a giant pink flamingo out the front. You can’t miss it and it is very photogenic.
Next up grab a coffee at Spro. Then have a wonder of Hampden and a shop. Hampden is a very photogenic area of Baltimore. For something different try the Corradetti Glassblowing Studio.
Just after 5 head to Union Craft Brewing for some local brews pre-dinner. There is a happy hour in the taproom at Union Craft Brewing Thursday through Sunday and they run tours on Saturdays.
Head to The Food market in Hampden for dinner. Start off with their homemade pretzels. Which are kind of giant pieces of really tasty bread served with cheese sauce but wow. Don’t eat any of the bread they bring you if you order these.
I continued on a crab streak with the crab pot pie at The Food Market restaurant which was very rich but wow delicious. Then shrimp in a rich cheese sauce.
My meal at The Food Market Baltimore was delicious but super filling. And if you can visit The Food Market on a Tuesday – it’s half-price wine night!
⇒ philadelphia is only 2 hours by car from Baltimore. Check out my posts on the most photogenic places to visit in Philadelphia and the best Philadelphia Food Tours.
Charles Village
Start late morning with a coffee at bookstore/café Bird in Hand. Have a walk around Charles Village and see the Painted Ladies and John Hopkins.
For lunch walk over to R. House. R House is another one of Baltimore’s fabulous food markets. Check out White Envelope for arepa, BRD for friend chicken, BE.bim for Korean (I highly recommend the dumplings) and Amano Taco for chicken tacos.
⇒ Heading to NYC? Check out my post on 8 Fun Things to do in Lower Manhattan.
Save a little bit of room and walk to the Paper Moon Diner. The exterior of the Paper Moon Diner Baltimore is very instagrammable. Head inside to check out the 15-page menu.
Seriously consider ordering the bacon milkshake (and email me if you do order it – I didn’t have the courage!). The Paper Moon Diner Charles Village is homestyle American food at its best.
Boutique Hotels in Baltimore
I had a wonderful stay in Baltimore at the fantastic Hotel Indigo. The hotel has a fantastic location in the Mount Vernon area – it was very easy to get everywhere. The rooms are beautifully decorated and the hotel itself offers multiple Instagram opportunities.
⇒ Read my review of Hotel Indigo Baltimore
⇒ Hotel Indigo Baltimore > Read More Reviews on Trip Advisor ⇒ Book Your Stay
Other Boutique Hotel options in Baltimore include the Admiral Fell Inn and Inn at Henderson’s Wharf in Fell’s Point.
⇒ Admiral Fell Inn > Read Reviews on Trip Advisor ⇒ Book Your Stay
⇒ Inn at Henderson’s Wharf > Read Reviews on Trip Advisor ⇒ Book Your Stay
For something different checkout Gramercy Mansion, a 1902 English Tudor house on 45 acres just outside Baltimore.
⇒ Gramercy Mansion > Read Reviews on Trip Advisor ⇒ Book Your Stay
Baltimore Farmers Market
The Baltimore Farmers Market takes on Sundays from 7am till midday. The market is held under the Jones Falls Expressway at Holiday and Saratoga Streets. It runs April through December.
⇒ Click here to see all vendors and a map of the market
Getting to Baltimore and Getting Around
The main airport for Baltimore is BWI which is an international airport. However, there are other options. Penn Station has easy connections to new york City, Washington DC and many others.
It is also possible to use the main international airport in Washington DC as an entry and exit point but remember it is about 40 miles away so you will need to adjust for time.
Baltimore is quite walkable around the harbour area. Walking from the American Visionary Museum to the National Aquarium, for example, takes only about 15 minutes. However, once you are away from the harbour I used Ubers to get around.
Who Paid for What with this Post
Visit Baltimore was kind enough to cover the costs of my hotel, most meals and activities during my visit. I paid for my airfare. But as always my opinions are my own.
This post contains affiliate links. What that means is that if you click through on them and make a purchase I will generally receive a small commission. I just wanted to make sure that you knew!
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Amanda O’Brien is the creator and editor of The Boutique Adventurer. She has visited 80 countries and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers as well as the IFTWTA. She is passionate about wine had has just completed Level 3 of the WSET. Born in Australia, she lives in London.
Perry
Tuesday 31st of March 2020
I think loving a bit of every style is the mark of a true traveller. What a wonderful memory, and 100 times a better holiday too
Roy A Ackerman, PhD, EA
Wednesday 25th of July 2018
I find the Baltimore food scene eclectic and enjoyable, as well. Instead of the food tours (which I avoid because of dietary restrictions), I just head to the neighborhood and meander. Like you implied after the food tour section of your blog. Great recommendations!