Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:03 Welcome to Moving to Maryland. Today we're gonna talk about our favorite restaurants in Federal Hill. I'm here with Nick and Caitlin. Hey guys. What's up
Speaker 2 00:00:10 You?
Speaker 1 00:00:10 So Nick, you've lived in Federal Hill a long time. I
Speaker 2 00:00:13 Have.
Speaker 1 00:00:14 Don't
Speaker 2 00:00:14 Show my age.
Speaker 1 00:00:15 We're gonna have you jump right into what's some of your favorite spots in Federal Hill?
Speaker 2 00:00:20 Uh, well there's, the good thing about Federal Hill is there's a lot of dining options. Yeah. Um, but I think my favorite place in Federal Hill is Outpost Outpost Tavern. It's a corner spot right near Federal Hill Park. Yeah. Um, it's got just a really kind of funky menu. Great cocktails, really kind of eclectic, you know, art on the walls. They have a Jack Rabbit hanging above the front door. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:00:44 I love that
Speaker 2 00:00:45 Place. It's awesome. Yeah. Great. Happy hour. Um, the best thing is they have something called buckets and Bubbles, which is on Wednesday night, you get a bucket of fried chicken and a bottle of champagne.
Speaker 3 00:00:54 That is a classic pairing. Like you don't get more like that is mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:01:00 <affirmative>,
Speaker 3 00:01:01 <laugh> Chef's kiss. It's odd. It
Speaker 2 00:01:03 Works. It works.
Speaker 1 00:01:04 Yeah. A newer spot. You know, I, I, um, I always go back to Mothers too. I love mothers. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I've been there forever.
Speaker 2 00:01:09 It's an institution.
Speaker 1 00:01:11 Live music sometimes. Um, but, uh, that's like one of my favorite lunch spots. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, how about you Caitlin?
Speaker 3 00:01:16 Uh, the first thing I think about is Bohi Thai. Um, that's like my go-to. Um, when, when we lived in the city, that's like the place to order Thai food from, I think for me. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and they also, like you can go there and sit down and have a meal, which like, not all of those carry out Thai places. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> also have that like, sit down atmosphere. So like it's got both and it's really good.
Speaker 2 00:01:40 And they have an awesome hidden back patio as well. Oh yeah. So it's like, you know, you kind of sneak through and there's this big terrace Wow. Inside that you just walk right outside. And when the weather's nice because it is, it is really just deceiving from when you walk in. It's just kind of like a front corner spot. And then they have a whole back patio. Wow. There. Yeah. So it's awesome.
Speaker 1 00:02:03 We laugh about the way people complain when they have to drive from Canton to Federal Hill. <laugh>, vice versa. Right. Yeah. But one of the first restaurants I would drive, cause I live in Kenton. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I would drive to Federal Hill was Blue Agave. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> been there a long time. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:02:17 It
Speaker 1 00:02:17 Has really upskill Spanish, Mexican food. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 2 00:02:21 Yeah. I mean, it's an institution. And when you think of like other Federal Hill institutions, you know, you also think of, like you said, with mothers. You also have Little Havana mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which is another institution that's a waterfront right off of Key Highway. You know, also Mexican food, great brunch, also great big space for holding events. They do live music. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:02:41 Great event space. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:02:43 <affirmative>. Yeah. For sure. For sure. And then you have another, one of my favorite restaurants, which has been around for a while, is um, Sobo Cafe, right on Cross Street.
Speaker 1 00:02:50 Yeah. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Classic. Been been around fast casual. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:02:53 <affirmative> a little, a little more upscale. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:02:55 Not say Fat Catch. Yeah. Fast casual. Yeah. Casual.
Speaker 2 00:02:58 Casual. But you know, really kind of fun, creative menu. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, they kind of mishmosh different things that, you know, really just create a really good dining experience. And the food there is really great, great service. Mm-hmm. As well. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which is awesome.
Speaker 3 00:03:12 Yep. Can't forget about Watershed. That's kind of a new addition to the community. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but they've got like the fish market vibe, lots of seafood. They have that, uh, rooftop bar mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So if you're looking for like a really cool place to, you know, hang out outside and have drinks. Yeah. That's a spot for sure.
Speaker 1 00:03:33 Yeah. Super popular before Ravens and oil games. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um,
Speaker 2 00:03:37 Yeah. And the part is with the, with Watershed, it's a part of the brand new renovated cross streete market. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So it's, you know, stall after stall of, you know, options from pizza, like pizza to Joey, you have a South Side Burger Bar, you have So Beachy, which is probably my favorite place in there. It's a, um, Haitian Caribbean spot. Oh awesome. Food They have, um, Blowfish, which is a poke. Um, you know, and the list goes, the list goes on and on in there, which is awesome.
Speaker 3 00:04:06 I can't think of anywhere else that you can get Caribbean food, honestly, like that. I, yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
Speaker 1 00:04:12 So, uh, you know, I think of Federal Hill, um, the restaurant selections are kind of spread out and I know there's some off the beaten path places that are really good. What, what are something that come to mind, Nick?
Speaker 2 00:04:23 So the one that's close to my house, which is also in the running for one of my favorite places, it's Hirsch's. It's all the way at the bottom end of Federal Hill off of Hanover or Light and Well Street. Basically. It's, unless you're going there, you'll never think about it. Cause it's right at the tail end. It's Italian, it's great pizza, handmade Pizza's, awesome pasta's, great date spot. It's very intimate. It's, you know, exposed brick. And they have a really nice outside patio cause it's the end of the block. Um, it's, it's a really good spot for, for date to, you know, bring family to come in and explore the neighborhood. Um, and if you go more down Fort Ave, you have, um, S Shot, which is another Federal Hill kind of institution. You have Barflies, which is, uh, pizza and bourbon place, which is really interesting. And also too, uh, ECU Ben, they just open their third location right off Woo Ooh. Right off Fort Avenue, which is awesome.
Speaker 1 00:05:15 Yeah. Some of the best food in the city by far. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 2 00:05:18 Mm-hmm. <affirmative> for sure. And you know, people who don't know Eki Ben, it's kind of the new, you know, city favorite. They have three locations and it's Asian fusion food.
Speaker 3 00:05:28 Yep. Just nominated for a James Beard Award. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1 00:05:31 Yeah. Got some really good breakfast spots. You got spoons I've been going to for forever.
Speaker 2 00:05:35 Yeah. Spoons is awesome. Um, blue Moon
Speaker 1 00:05:38 Two Blue Moon two. It's
Speaker 2 00:05:40 The actually first. Oh, we choosing Fells at least I think so. Uhuh, I'm probably wrong. Flip. Yeah, I'm wrong. It's flip flopped. It's definitely
Speaker 3 00:05:48 Flip flopped. That's okay. We'll forgive you. We'll let it go this time. It's fine. <laugh> <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:05:53 Just as good though. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:05:55 Yeah, yeah. Um, you have South Side Diner, which is in the south side marketplace where they have, you know, your grocery stuff. It's you, you know, your typical diner. Everyone calls you hun. You know, they do specials on the weekends. My favorite's, the biscuits and sausage gravy. And then homemade, which is a real hole in the wall breakfast spot. It's right across the street from Little Havana, but it's in the basement of a townhouse and it's this African-American known restaurant. And their brunch breakfast is incredible. You know, it's southern inspired menu. So a lot of grits, you know, a lot of just like fried stuff. You know, my favorite's, the James Brown, which is basically, it's fried catfish and grits. Oh wow. And it's, it's awesome. It's a really, really good place to go. Um, and it's, you know, really small. It's in a basement so you'd miss it unless you're looking for it and you have to make a reservation. And the staff there is great. The food is, like I said, I can't say enough great things about it.
Speaker 1 00:06:53 I think you guys, I think Federal Hill has Abby Burger won. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and I think Abby Burger two is in Phils Uhhuh <affirmative>. So, uh, great burger spot there in Fit.
Speaker 2 00:07:03 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. There's a lot of really good, um, like pub style options. Um, even on, especially with like Cross Street Place, cuz right at the corner you have MCGs
Speaker 1 00:07:11 MCGs. I
Speaker 2 00:07:12 Was just trying, which is, you know, if you're a Philly fan, I mean, that's your place, you know, they have great cheese steaks, but Philly's games, Eagles games, Sixers games, like if you're from the Philly area, that's where you hang out. And those people are rabid fans. I have a lot of Philly friends who hang out at MCGs quite a bit. But
Speaker 3 00:07:29 It's, well, that's kind of what I think about when I think of Fell fed is like, um, there's a lot of like, there's kind of a bar scene, there's a lot of sports enthusiasts. There's not quite as much of like the, there aren't as many upscale options. It's more like casual food bars, sports, like a very lively kind of atmosphere about the whole area. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. That's, that's my impression.
Speaker 1 00:07:55 And we'll get into the Locust Point restaurants mm-hmm. <affirmative> in, in another episode. But those are really close. Uh, there's some good, good selections in Locus Point. And then you have, uh, you know, you have some pretty decent selections in the casino, which is just five minutes away. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. That's true. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, you got some, you know, other cool things happening like, right mm-hmm. <affirmative> outside of Federal Hill. Yeah. So, Nick, Caitlin, myself, we're all real estate agents and we know Federal, uh, hill Locus, point all the surrounding communities inside and out. So if you're coming down here, wanna check out any of these spots, check out the neighborhood, reach out our contact infos in this post, and we'll see you next episode.
