 There are five crucial questions a journalist must ask (and answer) when researching and developing a story: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. These Five W's, along with a bonus "How" for further clarity, will preclude each blog post to provide proper insight into this weird, wild nomadic journey. The Five W's + H: Who: The traveling trio of Christina (the fiancé), Sophie (the cat) and me (the writer) What: Top 5 places to drink up Where: Baltimore, Maryland When: December 2020 - March 2021 Why: We had a great six month stay in Chicago, but it was time to escape before frigid, frosty weather engulfed the Windy City. We narrowly evaded sub-zero temps and arrived in Baltimore welcomed by more survivable 30 and 40-degree days. Aside from more bearable (slightly) weather, moving to B'more felt like a great opportunity to discover a new city we had only experienced through HBO’s The Wire—a great show but not exactly indicative of everyday life for many in Baltimore. Curiously, I did not, in fact, link up with Marlo Stanfield and secure my own corner slanging rocks, nor did I join a team of ragtag police officers building cases via wiretap. Pretty disappointing really. + How: Saving ourselves from the grind of one painstakingly long drive through the Midwest, we cut our roughly 11 hour and 700-mile ride into two treks. The first leg of this relatively brief journey (for us, at least) passed through South Bend, Indiana and Cleveland, Ohio before we called it a day just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This set up a brief morning drive across Pennsylvania, through Maryland and to our new home in the Harbor East neighborhood of Charm City. (Note: As of this writing, Covid-19—aka the plague—has infected more than 29 million people and killed at least 525,000 more here in the United States alone. As a result, for the first month or so in Baltimore, restaurants and bars were shut down and limited to takeout only. After eateries began to open, and the weather started to cooperate, we were finally able to dine out (outside, of course) at a few places before leaving. We were able to visit about half of the spots on this list, and the rest we enjoyed takeout or delivery. Luckily, none of the restaurants on this list have been forced to board up their doors and, per usual, all of these restaurants feature outdoor eating areas and/or offer to-go ordering when open for business. Hopefully, with vaccinations ramping up and people practicing safer social interactions, we are primed to finally escape this dire pandemic. Let’s continue to mask up, stay socially distanced and be safe out there.) Five Places to Drink Up: Baltimore, MDQuotable: "Dive bar with elevated cuisine." After a month or so waiting to find a quality place to venture for an outdoor meal, we started small at a tavern-looking restaurant called Barley's Backyard. Serving brunch, lunch and dinner, this Fells Point transplant has the look and feel of a dive bar yet features surprisingly elevated cuisine. Let's break down what makes Barley's Backyard one of the best bars in Baltimore: Snacks (I hope you enjoy cauliflower) Buffalo Cauliflower: Roasted cauliflower drenched with buffalo sauce and served with a side of ranch. The cauliflower is moist enough to melt in your mouth and packs some serious spicy kick. Cauliflower Flatbread (pictured above): The staggering amount of cheesiness of the Garlic White with Spinach Cauliflower Flatbread at Barley's is akin to a dad-jokes only setlist. Brunch Crab Cake and Asparagus Bennie: You, dear reader, will notice a trend in this article as living in Baltimore requires you to try something with seafood (preferably crab) at every restaurant you visit. It's basically law here. This Baltimore take on the classic Eggs Benedict (pictured half-eaten above) consists of locally sourced crab, fresh asparagus and two poached eggs resting on a fluffy English muffin. It’s enough to feed two, but is clearly intended to satisfy just you. Our first stop for a meal in Charm City did not disappoint, and our follow up visit only solidified the fact that this is a top spot for some cheap adult beverages and dive-bar defying cuisine. Loch Bar (240 International Drive Baltimore, MD 21202) Dine-In Only Quotable: "Scrumptious seafood with harbor views." Nestled next to the Four Seasons Hotel in the bustling Harbor East area of B'more, Loch Bar doesn't just get by with its scenic looks. The fare here is predictably seafood-centric, with an emphasis on freshness and substantial portions. To start, The Holy Grail Oysters (pictured above) might be the most flavorful crustacean I’ve ever had the pleasure of slurping down. Harvested directly from nearby Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, these plump and juicy oysters go down smooth with a crisp aftertaste. The Buttermilk Hush Puppies (pictured above), packed with sweet corn and scallions and deep fried to perfection, are a devilishly delightful way to start your meal on the heartier side. Don't sleep on the Shells N' Cheese either as this gooey, crunchy bowl of goodness is packed with cheddar cheese and topped with crispy breadcrumbs. For the main course, keep it simple with the Maine Lobster Roll (pictured above). A buttery split top bun comes bursting at the seams with fresh poached lobster and topped with fresh chives and celery leaf. A cold drink and some fresh seafood on the Loch Bar patio on a 50-degree sunny day (that's basically considered a heat wave on an early March afternoon in Baltimore) is a combo that can't be beat. Nanami Café (907 South Ann Street Baltimore, MD 21231) Takeout Only Quotable: "Freshest sushi in Fells Point." After trying a handful of sushi places around the harbor, I decided to branch out (and lucked out) and discovered the best tasting sushi I could find in Baltimore at Nanami Cafe. I was able to snap a few shots of each of the following sushi pieces below. Here's my rundown: Maki Rolls Oscar: This fried concoction (one of the few cooked sushi rolls I've thoroughly enjoyed in my travels) comes packed with tuna, salmon, white fish, hot spicy mayo and a slice of avocado to cool things down. It's the perfect melt-in-your-mouth morsel jam packed with a plethora of different flavors. Lee: With Yellowtail and avocado on the inside and tempura flakes and wasabi mayo on the outside; each crunchy, succulent and spicy bite is brimming with taste. Chesapeake No. 3: Fried tempura shrimp is the star of this locally-inspired roll topped with tempura flakes, garlic sauce and old bay seasoning. It's similarly crispy akin to the Oscar Roll, but the fried shrimp gives it a different flavor and consistency. Nigiri The Bluefin Tuna (Maguro) and Hamachi (Fresh Yellowtail) are some of the freshest sushi I've found in my (limited) east coast travels. The Hamachi comes with thinly sliced jalapeño peppers on top for an extra kick. I was disappointed not to be able to physically eat at the restaurant, but even takeout at Nanami yields some of the freshest sushi you can find in Baltimore. Golden West Café (1105 W 36th St, Baltimore, MD 21211-2410) Takeout Only Quotable: "Vegetarian and vegan eats with down south flair." Just north of Baltimore City lies a staple of these here blog posts: excellent vegan/vegetarian food that's just straight up delicious. Golden West Cafe brings a Cheesecake Factory-sized menu consisting of comfort food favorites that feature little to no animal products. One thing you should know about me is I love chicken and waffles. It's the perfect pairing of salty and sweet, spicy and savory, heaven and earth—OK, maybe I went a little too far but you get the gist. To put it scientifically: the combo is amazeballs. Consequently, when I found out you could get that same chicken and waffles goodness minus the whole butchering a chicken part and with buffalo flavor on top, I was ecstatic. The Vegan Hot Honey Chick'n and Waffle consists of a fried vegan buffalo chicken breast-ish hunk of deliciousness parked on a house-made vegan waffle and topped with scallions and powdered sugar. The spicy buffalo sauce, sweet powdered sugar and syrup, and savory crunchy waffle initiate a trifecta of tastiness on your taste buds. Grab a side of golden, crispy Tator Tots and you just might reach brunch nirvana. Angeli’s Pizza (413 South High Street Baltimore, MD 21202) Takeout Only Quotable: "Award-worthy cauliflower pizza and the friendliest service around." New York style thin crust has never tasted better on a cauliflower crust, and southern hospitality has never been more prevalent at a Baltimore pizzeria than at Angeli's Pizza. Originally opened in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1986, Hurricane Katrina forced Angeli's to close down their original location. This NOLA transplant was able to subsequently relocate to Baltimore in 2017, and now offers high quality pizza in the Little Italy neighborhood of Charm City. A little bit of customer service goes a long way towards customer satisfaction in the service industry, and Angeli's has hospitality in spades. For instance, the second time we got takeout here, we were gifted with enough Garlic Cheesy Bread to feed our entire apartment building. The final time we went, as if they knew we were leaving and wanted to bless us with a going away gift, the crew at Angeli's gifted us an entire bottle of their house made red sangria—one of the best sangrias we've ever tasted. Basically, what I'm intimating is Angeli's bribed me into adding them to my wildly popular travel blog that has ballooned to approximately five regular readers (Hi, Mom!). Or maybe Angeli's just prides itself on great customer service. The world may never know. Angeli's is more than just a smiling face, though. The New York-style cauliflower crust on their pizza is nearly identical in taste and consistency to its doughy counterpart. The caramelized onions, a favorite on our make-your-own pies, melds perfectly with the cheesy, gooey goodness of the cauliflower pizza. Bonus: Ruben’s Mexican Food (1043 S Charles St Baltimore, MD 21230) Takeout Only Quotable: "Neighborhood taco shop with the best California burrito east of the Mississippi (or at least in B'more)." Similar to its massive California Burrito, Ruben's Mexico Food isn't much to look at on the outside but features a whole lotta tastiness on the inside.
Ruben's stuffs their Baltimore version of the Cali Burrito (Balti burrito? I'm trademarking that ASAP) with french fries, tons of steak (this is a main issue with other, underachieving California burritos), guacamole, Mexican cheeses and a heavy dose of their spicy Ranchito sauce. Each bite is succulent, yet crispy. If you close your eyes and take a bite you can almost imagine yourself in sunny San Diego enjoying the original California burrito in much warmer temps. On the breakfast side, the Senor Hash burrito stuffs a flour tortilla with fluffy scrambled eggs, refried beans, crispy hash browns and loads of Mexican cheese. It's a monster of a burrito to start your day with, but you deserve it. Add on Queso and Fries and dip some golden salty spuds into spicy, cheesy queso goodness.
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