There was a touch of grey among the clouds when we ducked into The Grateful Fed from the quiet side street on which the bar resides in South Baltimore. Although it looked like rain, the drops never materialized, and when we left, the sky was filled with sunshine.

Were we daydreaming? Hard to say, especially after a fun-filled evening that featured stiff drinks and solid food set to a non-stop soundtrack. Owners Sam Sunderland and John Leonard love improvisational rock, and in particular, the guitar licks and poetic lyrics of the Grateful Dead. 

Sunderland, 32, spent lots of time on the road following Dead & Company, the band’s most current iteration. When they opened this small, corner rowhome bar with a punny name in August 2024, they wanted to create a space where people could come for conversation, a cosmic escape, and good cocktails.  

“I like the creativity that comes with the Grateful Dead’s music,” Sunderland says. “Viewing that in a cocktail or sandwich space seemed kind of cool to me. It lends itself to exploring different flavors. The main thing was making a comfortable space people can’t wait to get back to. That’s what the summer tour is to me.” 

That vibe was conveyed from the second we walked in, saw the framed Dead posters on the wall, and heard a live version of the Allman Brothers Band’s instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” on the sound system.

“I’m playing the entire concert,” our bartender declared. Immediately, we could tell that there’s something a little out there here. 

The Grateful Fed isn’t satisfied to create a particular aesthetic and call it a day. Lots of thought has clearly gone into the menu. Alongside classic cocktails like a negroni and gimlet sit hybrids like a Screwball espresso martini, mezcal paloma, and watermelon jalapeño margarita.

The signature drink, called a Future Ball, is a relic from SoBo Market, which previously occupied the space. Two rocks glasses appear before you—one is basically an Old-Fashioned with a large spherical ice cube infused with sugar, syrups, an orange peel, and a cherry. When you polish that off, pour the contents of the other, neat whiskey and sweet vermouth, over the starting-to-melt-but-still-largely-intact cube and voila! A second drink, essentially a Manhattan, is created.

If that’s too far out for you, there’s a nice selection of craft beers, seltzers, and a few wines and mocktails available.  

Uncommon appetizers dot the menu. Roasted jalapeños stuffed with a mix of cheeses. Cubed grapefruit-infused guac topped with Tajiín. Best of all were the Puff, Puff Pastries (get it?), which are flaky and filled with short rib or veggies. With apologies to the soups, tacos (including birria), and flatbreads on the menu, sandwiches are the star here. Sunderland is an enthusiast.  

“I always joke with my wife that the saddest part of a sandwich is the first bite of the second half because you know it’s gone after that,” he says. 

Standouts (in flavor and moniker) include Uncle John’s Ham, Reuben & Cherise, and Werewolves of London (broil, that is). Of course, there’s also a grilled cheese, a concert parking lot staple.   

Along with a few communal tables in the back and the main bar, there is outside seating along the side alley.

Regardless of what kind of music you listen to or lifestyle you lead, The Grateful Fed brings a welcome chill environment to a neighborhood that is often partying at full speed. We’ve found that trips here are, as it says on the sign out front, always a hoot.  

Locals Only oozes attitude. And the Federal Hill bar is unapologetic about it.

Start with the décor inside the space that previously housed Pretty Awesome Live Music (P.A.L.M.) and Social Pub & Pie. “Pizza is my Porno” screams one sign. On another wall hangs a portrait of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with several free-floating hands flipping the bird in the background. On another is a neon sign with a slice of pizza and the declaration “I licked it so it’s mine.” Message received.

“We weren’t trying to overthink it,” Andrew Wheeler told Baltimore when he opened the pizza-focused bar in 2023. “I’ve been in the neighborhood for 15 years now, and I understand the clientele. They don’t want something that’s stuck-up or too fancy. They want cost-effective offerings that are fun, and a playful vibe to go with that.”

That playfulness permeates every facet of the place. The cocktail menu trends toward the sweet and offers several drinks not seen elsewhere.

Frosty’s Kinky Coco is made with Deep Eddy vodka, hot chocolate, and heavy cream and garnished with whipped cream, marshmallows, and chocolate sauce. It’s liquid dessert for grown-ups. Mint & Mischief is a peppermint espresso martini, and the one we drank was perfectly prepared. You don’t see many cocktails with Fireball in them these days, but the Fire N Cider uses the cinnamon whiskey to create a warming drink that especially satisfies on a chilly night.

A few wines and seltzers are available, as is a selection of canned beers. Orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit crushes are made with freshly squeezed fruit and they’re just $5 during happy hour.

Pizza is the focus of the food menu and Locals Only does it right. Creative combinations, fresh toppings, and a slightly pillowy crust make for solid pies. The Chimi Neutron was the pizza of the week when we visited in December. Topped with shaved rib-eye, red onions, peppers, and a garlic-bread crust, it was the secret ingredient—chimichurri sauce that made it great.

The Cheesus Christ features truffle ricotta, mozzarella, Parm, hot honey, hazelnuts, and herbs. The Golden Arches is a pie with ground beef, mac sauce, shredded lettuce, American cheese, pickles, red onion, and sesame seeds. Ronald McDonald would surely approve.

On the “Not Pizza” section of the menu, a plate of fries topped with Parmesan, truffle oil, garlic, and herbs stood out. Wings, burgers, and the Naughty Nugget, a chicken sandwich with honey mustard, also are available.

The clientele at Locals Only skews younger. On weekend nights the place can get packed. There’s a deejay spinning tunes, the tables downstairs are moved aside to make room for dancing, and the upstairs often opens for those who want to eat.

Despite a sign on the back wall proclaiming, “Locals Only—F*ck Off,” the bartenders we encountered couldn’t have been more friendly. They, like us, know that we’re all in on the joke.

Seeking respite on election night before the results started rolling in, we canvassed for a happy hour spot with top-notch drinks, excellent food, and, most importantly, no TVs. The winner: Cosima, the beautiful Sicilian restaurant in Hampden that recently revamped its menu in hopes of making itself a more attractive candidate for all.

With its location inside an old sailcloth factory in historic Mill No. 1, Cosima feels like an oasis, removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. Owner Judith Golding and concept director Donna Crivello have maintained it as a fine-dining staple since it opened in 2016, but in October it pivoted to add more Italian street food and affordable pizzas and pasta dishes. The new philosophy works especially well at its lovely, large, U shaped bar that faces an open kitchen.

Cocktails here always have been, and continue to be, outstanding. The night we visited, beverage director Aaron Simons was behind the bar. He was a wealth of knowledge and one-liners; when we asked if a certain pasta dish was a small plate, he said, “Every plate is a small plate if you believe in yourself.”

We started with an Arancina, the restaurant’s signature take on an Old-Fashioned. Made with Buffalo Trace bourbon, Amaro Sibilla, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur and served with an orange peel, it’s a smooth drink that works before or after a meal. The Il Focolare, on the other hand, is like dessert in a glass. It’s a combination of Baltimore Spirits’ 1904 apple brandy, Aperol, Bigallet China-China Amer, lemon juice, and apple brandy brulée. Perfect for a chilly fall evening.

For round two we leaned on Simons’ expertise. He recommended the Il Fumatore, a mezcal-based cocktail he accurately described as being pleasingly smoky and tart.

Cosima’s happy hour deals are among the best in town. From 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays (that’s right, weekends are included too) at the bar, the Arancina is just $8 (it’s regularly $15). There are $5 Negronis and Spritzes, $7 select glasses of wine, and a high-quality selection of $5 draft beers (including local favorites like Brewer’s Art Resurrection, Monument City 51 Rye, and Diamondback Green Machine).

We ordered arancini and a bowl of fried olives from the street food section of the menu to go with our drinks. Both were nice complements. Tuesday is pasta night, which means half off all pasta dishes. We went with the eggplant ragu, a hearty helping with tomatoes, onion, fennel, raisins, capers, and olives. Contrary to Simons’ quip, this plate was almost too big for even two of us to finish. Wednesdays, bottles of wine are half off, and Thursdays all pizzas are $10. (We’re partial to the Semplice, with rustic tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, pecorino, roasted cherry tomatoes, and basil.)

Shifting courses is never an easy thing for a restaurant that’s been around as long—and been as respected—as Cosima. But if the early returns are an indication, Cosima’s future will be as successful as its past.

It’s a rare jewel of a bar that can give you a hangover on Friday night and help cure it on Saturday morning. Mama Koko’s is that kind of jewel. A coffee shop that serves breakfast and lunch by day, it transforms into a cocktail bar with outstanding drinks and small plates Wednesday through Saturday nights. We love it in all its forms.

Housed in the historic James E. Hooper House in Old Goucher, the setting of Mama Koko’s is as alluring as its food and drink. Built in 1886, the mansion retains an old-world charm. Climb the steps through the front door and into the foyer and you’ll find a large wooden fireplace and piano.

There is a bevy of rooms in which to hang out. On the main level, there are some high-top tables and a bar that serves draft cocktails. Other rooms have couches where larger groups can congregate. There’s outdoor seating in the back, and another bar that serves hand-mixed specialty cocktails. The upper levels house artist studios, pop-up stores, gallery space, and more. Feel free to bring your drink and wander throughout.

The concept, general manager Angola Selassie told us in August, shortly after it opened, comes from his mother, Kokahvah Zauditu-Selassie.

“One day I’m inside her kitchen, and I take a look around and see Star Wars collectibles, vintage coffee posters, references to New Orleans, stacks of books, an ancestral shrine, a bar cart—and I thought, we should theme [Mama Koko’s] after our house and the hospitality my mother gives,” he said.

The eclectic decor hints at a fascinating menu that includes breakfast smoothies like the Green Gangsta (apple, peach, pineapple, mango, spinach, wheatgrass, spirulina, and ginger), and lunch items like Cajun shrimp and grits. But when we visited on a bustling Friday night in October, the focus was on the cleverly named cocktails like Pharaoh Dance and Cruel Summer.

We started with a Perfect Crime, a combination of mezcal, velvet falernum, China-China, tamarind, and grapefruit. Each specialty cocktail is ranked on a scale of refreshing to spirited and comforting to adventurous, and this one accurately graded toward refreshing and adventurous. It was slightly but not overwhelmingly smokey, with a hint of orange.

Next, we tried a Noble Ember, a draft cocktail that’s Mama Koko’s take on an Old-Fashioned. Hibiscus, vanilla and orange bitters, and lemon and orange oils give the drink a tangier flavor than its traditional brethren. Beer, wine, cider, and mead also are available, and people in all the rooms seemed be enjoying the full array of offerings.

Nine bar bites, including fried plantains, smoked collard greens, and Liberian meatballs, incorporate flavors from the Caribbean, New Orleans, West Africa, and French cuisine. A plate of Poisson Boule—fried red snapper balls with a spicy peri peri sauce—was excellent.

A bowl of rice and beans also hit the spot. The menu says they’re “Ms. Jackson’s original recipe…there’s a story here, just ask.” Although we didn’t get a chance to, we will when we return. And we’ll definitely return—on a Friday night and Saturday morning.

Unlike most speakeasys, Order of the Ace isn’t hard to find. Connected to The Ruxton, the Atlas Restaurant Group’s swanky new Harbor East steakhouse, it fancies itself a “secret society” where “mysteries unfold.” But it need not manufacture a backstory; it is without question a cocktail bar worth seeking out.

The intimate bar and lounge serves some of the most creatively conceived drinks in the city. The menu’s signature cocktails are divided into four categories based on price, ranging from $20 to $36 (with one outlier we’ll get to later).

The libations stem from the mind of Andrew Nichols, Atlas’ head of mixology. “A lot of cocktail bars nowadays focus on the flavors that they’re putting together in a drink first and then find spirits that will work well with those flavors,” he says. “We wanted to take the opposite approach, so we picked out the spirits, then designed around those.”

Among our favorites is the popular Eyes Wide Shut, Nichols’ riff on a paloma. Made with an additive-free Mexican tequila called El Tesoro blanco, grapefruit and lime juices, green peppercorn, Thai basil, and pandan, a plan native to Southeast Asia, it has a pleasingly earthy flavor.

Many Paths Up the Mountain is an incredible combination of Takamine koji-fermented whiskey, Mugi shochu, Madeira (a fortified wine), Wagyu, yuzu, ginger, and black garlic. The drink, which pairs well with Wagyu sliders, one of a few small bites on the menu, is served in a beautiful glass with an image of Mt. Fuji in the base that is handmade by Kimura, a Japanese company.

At the peak of the menu, both literally and figuratively, sits the Holy Grail, a $72 jewel made with 50-year-old Jacky Navarre cognac. Nichols worked on it for months.

“There’s a transformation that happens in really old cognac,” Nichols says. “[At first] you might get chocolatey notes.

As it progresses, you start to have flavors that are more complex. I get passion fruit in this particular bottle “We took the spirit and surrounded it by small measures of ingredients that shared those flavors,” he continues, “and combined it with an old oloroso sherry, lychee liqueur, and then two infusions, one of Osmanthus flowers as well as Lapsang souchong,” a Chinese black tea smoked with pine.

Two of us split one and we’re here to say that if any drink can be worth $72, this is it. The notes of tea are evident, as is the smooth warmness of the cognac. Each sip produces a different, subtle flavor.

There may not be a more stylish place to drink in the city. Designer Patrick Sutton created an alluring yet understated feel. Tables surround a piano in the middle of the room making watching, not just listening to the jazz that’s performed every night especially pleasurable. The highlights of the décor are large portraits of an eclectic mix of luminaries, including Billie Holiday, Albert Einstein, and Frank Sinatra painted by local artist Beth-Ann Wilson.

Their faces are vibrant, and they seem to be looking out of their frames as if to say, “Mind if I join you for a cocktail?”

Sports bars are ubiquitous in a city like Baltimore, with our passionate fan base for the Orioles and Ravens. Yet in Pigtown, a neighborhood close enough the stadiums that you can almost hear the roar of the crowd, they’re curiously scarce.

Enter Flock, a new gathering place for football and baseball diehards that opened in February. The concept is a partnership between Alex Aaron, the CEO of Blank Slate, the Baltimore-based development company that bought the building, and Mark Anthony Walker, the founder and CEO of the local Sphere Restaurant Group.

“This was a unique opportunity,” Aaron says of the establishment, which occupies the former home of Pigtown Ale House. “When we acquired the property, our original intention was to lease it to a restaurateur to create new energy.”

Instead, the building owner and the restaurateur decided to partner up to create what Aaron calls “a fresh concept in the community.”

Flock, which features a black and purple scheme, is located on Washington Boulevard directly across the street from Carroll Park, about a mile from M&T Bank Stadium. When we checked it out in the summer, the Orioles were flying high and their game against the Cubs was on the TVs behind the bar. It was happy hour, and the small main dining room and bar were crowded with families and young professionals.

Many were undoubtedly drawn by Flock’s formidable happy hour menu, which includes $8 signature cocktails, $6 rail drinks and select wines, $5 purple passion shots, and a plethora of food options.

We started with a Bmore Tails, made with tequila and peach, lime, and orange juices. It was refreshing and retained its bite despite the natural sweetness of the juice. Next came a Baltimore Manhattan, a curious combination of bourbon, red wine, and orange juice garnished with a cherry. It’s not for traditionalists, but we happily polished it off.

Caribbean and American Southern influences permeate the food menu. Rasta pasta, blackened salmon, and a catfish sandwich are available, as is more standard sports bar fare like wings and sliders.

Among the most popular items is the Flock burger, a six-ounce patty served with cheddar cheese, onion jam, and a house-made barbecue sauce called 1415. It was cooked exactly as we ordered (medium) and served with hand-cut fries. An excellent meal for before a game, during one, or after. The jerk chicken was adequately spicy and accompanied by roasted Brussels sprouts, which were solid. Only the shrimp po’ boy—too much bread, not enough of everything else—fell short.

Integrating Flock into the community is important to Aaron and Walker, and the second-floor event space has hosted birthday parties, networking get-togethers, and Citizens of Pigtown meetings. Flock, Aaron stresses, is a place for everyone (though we have a hunch that on this night O’s fans were in the majority), and as we walked out into the night after a great experience, we passed yet another group of people heading in.

Change is inevitable—especially in the bar business. When word came that Looney’s Pub, a Canton staple for nearly three decades, was closing, it felt to many longtime neighborhood residents like they were losing a friend. Did it have the tastiest food in town? Mix the best cocktails? Have the cleanest bathrooms? No to all. It was an imperfect friend, but a great friend, nonetheless.

When Dragonfly Hospitality, the group behind El Bufalo Tequila Bar & Kitchen, on the other side of O’Donnell Square, and Fells Point’s Prima Dopo, among others, bought it and announced plans to renovate the space and reopen with a new concept, skepticism abounded. Sure, there was plenty of room for improvement, but a sports bar packed with TVs, juicy wings, and great memories is a hard thing to replace.

Enter The Worthington, which bills itself as an “American tavern and sports bar.” Open since January, it has seamlessly fit into the bar scene in Canton precisely because it’s not trying to replicate Looney’s—it’s just trying to be itself.

Like Dragonfly’s other properties, The Worthington takes its sense of style seriously. While the renovation kept most of the layout the same, there’s a newness and shine to the place. The space now is much brighter and airier. A new second story balcony wraps around the restaurant, creating additional outdoor seating (there are tables on the sidewalk as well), and when all the windows are open, the upstairs bar feels like it’s almost outside. Thankfully the bathrooms are all new, and plenty of TVs remain.

The Worthington’s drink menu is highlighted by an array of cocktails that tend toward the sweeter side. The Dubya Marg, made with Casamigas jalapeño tequila, Ancho Reyes, lime, agave, and pineapple juice, is a well-crafted take on the classic. The Old Smashin’ is a bourbon-based drink that includes chocolate bitters and brown sugar simple syrup. The lemon cheesecake martini—well, the name basically says it all. Crushes, pickle back flights, and bombs claim their own sections of the menu along with mocktails, seltzers, wine, and a host of beers. There’s no shortage of beverages to consume.

The food menu is smaller, allowing the kitchen to concentrate on quality for a smaller number of dishes. The crispy spicy tuna appetizer—tuna tartare topped with a spicy mixture of jalapeño, onion, soy sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, and chile-oil scallion on fried rice cakes—is excellent, and a plate of crispy chicken fried rice comes with an abundance of chicken and two crunchy fried drumsticks on the side. Sports bar traditionalists can relax; wings, burgers, and nachos are here too.

Live music and promotions like pop-up parlays—for example, if Caitlin Clark scored 15 points during the first half of Iowa’s Final Four game versus Connecticut, happy hour specials would stay in place for the rest of the night (sadly, she fell short)—add to the new vibe.

The Worthington is not an improvement on Looney’s, nor is it a downgrade. It’s simply different. A worthy successor.

The first thing to note about Hampden Yards is that the name is fantastic. The moniker for the beer garden, located off Hickory Avenue behind a church, was the brainchild of co-owner Josh Mente. His partner Jesse Vann jokes that the witty name was one of the reasons he decided to get involved in the business.

Now in its second season, Hampden Yards—like that other Yards—is a unique locale. Despite being so close to bustling 36th Street, the courtyard that’s home to the outdoor establishment feels far removed from the rushed rhythms of the city. That’s exactly what Vann and his partners envisioned when they initially encountered the spot, which was overrun by weeds and not being used for much of anything.

“The motivation was to provide some outside space in Hampden, because putting chairs on the street is one thing, but having a quiet backyard that is off The Avenue is a pretty awesome thing,” Vann says.

The core of Hampden Yards is a covered deck under which sits a small bar and several tables. When it opened for the year in late March, the shelter and outdoor TVs were new additions. A separate, uncovered section has picnic tables with umbrellas and plenty of games, including a giant Connect 4, Jenga set, and foosball table. Board games and cards (including Cards Against Humanity, which you should play at your own peril in public), are available, and cornhole is set up for special events.

Ordering at Hampden Yards is done on your phone. It can take a minute or two to get the hang of it, but once you do, the process unfolds seamlessly. Your tab remains open as you order round after round, which is brought to your table by a server. Chances are, you’re going to want to try more than just one beer or cocktail from the extensive list, which was created by bar manager Shaun Stewart.

Among the house cocktails, The One in the Bag stands out for its presentation: It’s served in a plastic IV-bag. The red drink is made using primarily tequila and watermelon liqueur and will indeed have a definite impact on your blood-alcohol content. The White Dove, made with tequila, lime and grapefruit juice, and sparkling water is eminently refreshing, as is the long list of crushes and mules.

Draft beers (served, like most of the cocktails, in a plastic cup) include an impressive array of local offerings from the likes of Nepenthe and Manor Hill. There are also IPAs from national microbrews (including Indiana’s excellent 3 Floyds), wines, seltzers, spritzes, and non-alcoholic cocktails.

The small food menu includes a few snacks, wraps, and sandwiches sourced from The Lunchbox Lady. Weekends bring food pop-ups serving deep-dish pizza or barbecue.

On a beautiful spring or summer day when drinking inside just won’t do, Hampden Yards beckons. Its ambiance—and its name—set it apart.

You could feel the buzz from down the street. On a picture-perfect Tuesday in March—the kind of early spring evening when everyone wants to be sipping summery drinks outside—the patio at Baja Tap was crowded. The taco and tequila bar opened in November, and seemingly everyone had been waiting for weather like this to pack the outdoor space.

“Fells Point was definitely our dream neighborhood to open something in Baltimore,” says co-owner Scott Parker, a veteran of the restaurant industry who has owned establishments in Washington and Northern Virginia. “We loved the corner location and the patio with the view of the water.”

Baja Tap occupies the space that previously housed Bond Street Social. The interior, highlighted by a long bar and communal, beer hall-style tables, is utilitarian with a bit of a Southwestern flair. Parker said the concept was inspired by trips to Mexico and Southern California, and that does shine through.

Margaritas are the star here, unsurprisingly, and they’re done well. The classic version (available for $7 during weekday happy hour) is the top-seller, but for those who like a little more spice, the Caliente, made with jalapeño-infused Jose Cuervo Silver tequila, habanero agave, and house margarita mix, delivers a jolt.

The Cucumber Skinny, which uses Milagro Silver tequila, doesn’t skimp on the cucumber flavor. Our favorite was the Smoke Paloma, a mezcal drink with lime juice, grapefruit soda, and simple syrup. Red and white sangria are also available, along with a selection of Mexican and American beers on tap.

The food that emerges from chef Greg Lloyd’s kitchen is inspired by the cuisine of Baja California. Among the best things we tried was the guacamole, which comes in three varieties, including one with grilled pineapple and puffed corn, and another with crabmeat and Old Bay.

Nachos, quesadillas, and other standards are here, but tacos are the main attraction. Two of the best are the birria and the Buffalo chicken, which had plenty of hot chicken chunks jammed into the flour tortilla. If the large number of options paralyzes you with indecision, go with the Torre de Tacos, a selection of 24 street-style tacos for $95. Bring some friends. Most people do just that.

A party vibe envelops Baja Tap, which offers bottle service and features DJs and live music. While we have only visited during happy hour and dinner, the place turns raucous late-night on weekends. We know this because televisions behind the bar play scenes of twenty- and thirtysomethings dancing and drinking the night away. (Oh, to be young.)

That March night on the patio, the crowd was more mixed. Parents with their kids, people out for a post-work drink, and couples with dogs (which are welcome on the patio) all happily munched on chips and queso, grilled sweet corn, and, of course, tacos while they savored salty sips of margaritas.

It felt like summer, and Baja Tap felt like the place to be.

File this under strange but true: The walls of one of Baltimore’s best neighborhood bars are decorated—some would say desecrated—with photos of football players wearing not purple and black, but burgundy and gold.

It can be jarring to walk into Wiley Gunter’s, a Riverside staple for more than a decade, and be subjected to Washington NFL memorabilia everywhere, but after a few minutes of conversation with a bartender or regular who’s bellied up beside you, a pint or two of a hard-to-find microbrew, and a burger that’s among the best in the city, you’ll feel right at home.

The memorabilia, like the former name of the team, is a relic of the past. The owners of the building’s previous inhabitant, the Sly Fox Pub, were Washington fans. Current owner Wyatt Mackie is not, but when he bought the place in 2012, he adopted an “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” attitude, according to general manager Dan Zaranski. He kept the unofficial affiliation—and improved everything else.

The Wiley Gunter’s (the name of Mackie’s great-great-grandfather) motto is simply, “Beer. Jams. Grub.” It delivers on all three.

Crushes are the most popular offering on the cocktail list, and each one is made with freshly squeezed fruit juice. A tower of grapefruits, oranges, lemons, and limes is restocked several times a day. But at its core, Wiley Gunter’s is a beer bar. While it doesn’t have the biggest beer program in the area, it has one of the most interesting.

Most of its 17 taps are changed out at least once a week. (Maine Beer Company’s Lunch, an IPA beloved by beer nerds, is always available.) All its draft upkeep—including line cleaning—is done in-house. Selection runs from local to national to international.

“You can come in on a Monday and by Wednesday there are four new beers,” Zaranski says.

Despite operating out of a space the size of a closet, the kitchen delivers quality. The burgers—each a half-pound of Angus beef, served with hand-cut fries or Old Bay pasta salad—are fresh and juicy. The southwest tuna nachos are labeled “award winning” on the menu.

“A few years back we were invited to the Heavy Seas Oyster Fest,” Zaranski says. “We didn’t have oysters, so we brought our tuna nachos. We thought we were going to have a fun day, have a few beers. We ended up being buried for like four hours making tuna nachos. We picked up an award, so you’ll hear some of the regulars call the tuna nachos ‘Wiley’s oysters.’”

Both Mackie and Zaranski regularly attend DelFest, an annual Memorial Day Weekend bluegrass festival in Cumberland. A few years back, they started making a playlist for the drive home. That’s grown to be more than 92 hours of music, which provides the soundtrack at the bar.

“You’ll get Phish, you’ll get Billy Strings, you’ll get some old-school Willie and Waylon,” Zaranski says. “Grateful Dead’s always creeping in there, too.”

Beer. Jams. Grub. Wiley Gunter’s has mastered the art of simplicity. Hail to one of Charm City’s best neighborhood bars.

April Fools’ Day marked the one-year anniversary of OctoBar, the Federal Hill bar and restaurant that’s deadly serious in its mission to bring elevated food and drink to the neighborhood. Owner Octavio Vazquez, a veteran of the city’s culinary scene, wanted to add something different to the area’s mix of beer and burger joints, and he’s succeeded.

Housed in a rowhouse formerly occupied by the Rowhouse Grille, OctoBar exudes a more sophisticated, upscale vibe than many of its bar brethren. While the bones of OctoBar’s space are familiar—the front room features a long wooden bar and a few tables, while a smallish dining room is in the back—Vazquez’s choice of darker wooden tones and a lacquered bar top stand out.

“I paid attention to a lot of bars in Europe,” says Vazquez. “One bar in Dublin caught my attention. It has the same colors, the same look. That was an inspiration. I also Googled the name OctoBar and a beautiful establishment in Belgium came up. So OctoBar has a little bit of European flair.”

Vazquez cut his teeth working at the late great Kali’s Court in Fells Point and was part of the team that opened Ouzo Bay and Azumi for the Atlas Restaurant Group. Aside from the places he worked, his favorite restaurant in the city is Fells Point’s Mezze, so he was intent on bringing tapas to Federal Hill.

“I always liked the fact that people can share food family style,” he says. “We have small plates from Spain and Italy. It started evolving and we have Mexican tapas as well.”

Like all continental meals, lunch (available on the weekends) or dinner should start with a cocktail, and there are plenty of great ones here. The Oktini is the bestseller. Made with vodka or gin, it includes cucumber water, Giffard elderflower, lime, and mint syrup. An Octofashion is made with aged dark rum, house-made orange bitters, pineapple juice, and vanilla syrup. It has a more tropical taste than a traditional Old Fashioned. Our favorite drink was the Wicked Pulpo, a combination of blanco tequila, jalapeño-infused syrup, lime juice, and ginger beer. It was tangy and left a spicy impression in our mouth.

Despite the last three letters of its name, OctoBar takes its food as seriously as its drinks. Chef Gerardo Gonzalez’s attention to detail is admirable. His crab eggrolls are lightly fried and feature filling more akin to crab dip than a crab cake. But perhaps the best part of the dish is the pineapple corn salsa—not a kernel was left on our plate.

Moroccan lamb skewers, frittata Espanola, octopus ceviche, and ostrich tartare show the diversity of the offerings. There are a few sandwiches and entrees as well, the star among them being the paella. Packed with mussels, clams, bay scallops, chicken, and sausage, it has a more liquidy base than other varieties we’ve tried, but it’s excellent, nonetheless.

Our evening ended with a slice of tres leches cake and an espresso martini. It was one of the best nights out we’ve had in a while—no joke.

Two large doors on the corner of Preston and Cathedral streets manage to both beckon and deter. They’re mirrored so you can see yourself, but you can’t see in. “The Anonymous. Fine Dining & Lounge. Curve your Curiosity” is written on the awning above. We were indeed curious, so we opened them and stepped inside.

What we found was a stylish and surprisingly large space broken into three distinct areas: the main bar and dining room, a hookah bar, and a lounge in the basement that’s usually open on weekends. On the night we visited, it was hosting a painting event. Each offers its own flair and sense of style. The primary space features large red velvet curtains, eye-catching paintings by Cameroonian artist Awassume Mobune Epie Paul, and a faux grass wall with a large neon “The Anonymous” sign.

Neon is a favorite here. Above a line of flowers behind the bar in the hookah section is another such sign, which proclaims “Worth The Wait.” Downstairs in the lounge is a mural of a bird and yet a third neon sign that reads “The Birdcage.” The building seems familiar, perhaps because it once housed the bookstore Red Emma’s.

It all makes for a showy and stimulating atmosphere, which is what co-owner Raissa Batchankwe was going for when she opened The Anonymous in December 2022.

“Every area has its own aspect—its own vibe, its own colors, its own type of service,” she says.

Top-notch cocktails are available in every part of The Anonymous. The Baecation is Hennessey-based, with blue Curaçao, pineapple juice, and peach schnapps. The Anonymous is made with sweet red wine, orange juice, and pineapple juice. We had an excellent blueberry-basil lemonade and the Legend, a strong drink made with bourbon, melon liqueur, pineapple and cranberry juices, and Sprite. The cocktails are stiff in more ways than one; they don’t lack for liquor but they’re not cheap, ranging in price from $18-22.

The menu includes bar staples like wings and tacos (which are available for discounted prices during happy hour), but also dishes like oxtail eggrolls and sautéed crevette, which is marinated shrimp stir-fried with onion, garlic, peppers, and green onions. It’s served with rice and plantains. There are also steaks, a crab cake, fried catfish, and several sandwiches.

“Most of the food is Western or American food, but we use traditional African spices to make it a little more flavorful,” says Batchankwe, who hails from Cameroon. “We play around with the taste of it. Next year we’re looking to add more African dishes. I really want to present some authentic African cuisine.”

Located across from the Meyerhoff, The Anonymous is a much-needed addition to a neighborhood that lacks pre- and post-show food and drink options. We have a feeling it won’t be a secret for long.

At Das Bierhalle, October is more than a month. It’s a feeling. Co-owner Scott Bauer visited Germany during Oktoberfest a decade ago, and the trip changed the arc of his life. In 2018 he and his wife, Melissa, opened a German beer hall in their hometown of Parkville, with the mission of bringing Deutschland’s famously jovial drinking culture to Baltimore County 12 months a year.

Visit their German-American fusion restaurant and bar on Harford Road (it’s in the old home of The Barn, where you may remember taking your first legal drink—or your last underage one) and you’re struck immediately by the diversity of the clientele. The lunch crowd comes to enjoy sandwiches like the brat and kraut grilled cheese or the Gerbano, essentially a Cuban with bauernwurst. Soon it’s happy hour, when any of the 32 rotating beers on tap are $6 for a half-liter or $9 for a full one.

Dinnertime includes plenty of families. When the kids finish off their last schnitzel finger (or something less continental, like wings or the excellent mac and cheese), grown-ups fill the bar and long tables to drink and jam to live music or a deejay or tunes on the sound system.

In the original location (there’s a second in Bel Air), the décor could be described as a melding of German and Baltimore aesthetics. A Ravens jersey with “Das Bierhalle” written across the back hangs next to shelves of beer steins. Hofbräu banners line the perimeter of the ceiling, on which hangs a Maryland flag with a Natty Boh face on it.

This attempt to blend two cultures is evident on the menu as well. Appetizers include all-beef Bavarian franks ‘n’ beans, sauerkraut balls, and currywurst. The majority of the sausages come from the legendary Binkert’s, but the Old Bay and cheddar jalapeño varieties are made in-house. Pretzels garner their own spot on the menu. They range from bites to king-sized and can be topped with everything from cinnamon sugar to pulled pork.

During one visit, our 12-year-old guest gave the plain old salted variety an enthusiastic thumbs-up, but if your palate is a bit more adventurous, myriad dipping sauces are available. Hot horseradish mustard was the best we tried.

About half of the draft beer lines are dedicated to German brews. They change frequently, but you’ll always be able to find a wide variety, like Schwarzbier, Witbier, and Kölsch, among others. In July, a grapefruit hefeweizen was on tap. In addition to the drafts, 120 bottles and cans are available. For non-beer drinkers, more than a dozen crushes are usually listed on the menu, but there’s also a crush of the month—and it can be wild. Pink Starburst crush and ice lemon cake have been featured in the past.

Weekends often mean themed trivia brunches. One week it may be Mickey and Minnie Mouse in the spotlight (as the Bauers have four kids under four, it explains the kid-themed brunches); the next may be an all-ages pajama party.

Das Bierhalle strives to provide something for everyone, and to that, we raise our glass and say, “Prost!”

A distinct sense of style permeates almost all aspects of The Royal Blue, the popular new bar with an old soul in Station North.

It starts with the space, a former club that had a funky feel of its own. While renovating it, co-owner Randy Coffren and his partners tried to preserve as much of the building’s spirit as possible.

“We liked what was here, we actually left one of the murals,” he says. “It was important to us that people come in and can’t tell whether it was redone or if they are walking in [and it’s] 1980.”

Named for a midcentury train (a nod to the bar’s location near Penn Station), The Royal Blue manages to simultaneously appear retro and completely of the moment. Work from local artists hangs on the walls. Beth-Ann Wilson, whose Night Owl Gallery is on the building’s second floor, curates the displays. The contemporary pieces are joined by kitsch like a pay phone and an old-school slot machine that add to the aesthetic.

A large disco ball looms over the dance floor in the back, which is where a deejay spins tunes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The rest of the week, loudish music permeates the front bar and small lounge area, above which a neon sign helpfully reads “the party.”

It all makes for a good-time vibe that has been attracting big crowds since the bar opened last Halloween. But as it approaches its first anniversary, it’s clear that there’s plenty of substance behind The Royal Blue’s style.

Coffren and his partners also operate Johnny Rad’s in Fells Point and Highlandtown’s Snake Hill, so they had a distinct vision for the cocktail program here. Coffren
describes it as “’70s-esque.”

Among the most popular drinks is the Fuego Fuego, a twisted take on a traditional Tequila Sunrise. The Royal Blue’s version uses habanero-infused tequila, orange juice, blood orange, and Tajín. The Oaxacan Colada is made with mezcal, coconut rum cream, lime, pineapple, and blue Curaçao. It’s a party in a glass. We wanted to dish out a high five to our bartender after downing a Hi-Five, a refreshing mixture of cucumber vodka, melon liqueur, lime, pineapple, and soda.

Cocktails also flow from taps, including a trendy nitro espresso martini, red sangria, and a house negroni. Plenty of local, craft, and macro brews are available, including Miller Lite for $4. We’re fans of that “retro” pricing.

Devotees of the owners’ other establishments might recognize some of the items on the food menu, including mac and cheese and a vegan BBQ sandwich. Smashburgers are ubiquitous these days, and The Royal Blue’s version holds up to others in the city. In addition to the quality of the meat and the gooeyness of the cheese, the bun is an often-overlooked component of a burger. Not here. The sesame seed variety we had was terrific.

After a fulfilling dinner, we opted for classic nightcaps: Old-Fashioneds. One of the well-made drinks contained a large ice cube in the shape of the letter R. The other had a B. You can even sip the style at The Royal Blue.

Before they head to work at Kenwood Tavern, Matthew Steinberg and his wife, Molly, descend into the basement of their home, where they fill a box with handfuls of records from among the thousands they own. The albums provide the soundtrack at the phenomenal new cocktail bar in Canton that Matthew opened with his friend and business partner Vaughn Weitzman in early spring. (The pair also own Secret Sauce Co. and Bar 1801 in Upper Fells Point.)

Spinning vinyl sets a sophisticated mood that matches the space’s stylish-yet-laid-back aesthetic. Astonishingly, all the tunes here (jazz and world music are favorites) emanate from a turntable, not a phone.

“Everything about the project speaks to our tastes, our styles, what we like to drink and listen to,” Weitzman says. “It’s a place that we would want to go to.”

Us, too. In a neighborhood in dire need of a craft cocktail bar, Kenwood Tavern has delivered every time we’ve been. It’s housed in the spot that once was Mr. Nice Guy—and before that, several other pubs—but Matthew and Weitzman are convinced it’s the right location for them. Aside from painting, they didn’t make many major alterations to the building.

“The interior was great to begin to with. It has great bones,” Weitzman says. “It’s one of those classic rowhome-style bars with an incredible tin painted ceiling, hardwood floors, an old wooden bar. It has lots of interesting nooks and crannies.”

The menu, divided into classic cocktails and house specials, is a work of art in and of itself. Rather than using words to describe the drinks, Molly drew pictures of them by hand. The idea is to harken back to an old tiki bar menu from the first half of the 20th century, and it sets a perfect vibe for the experience.

Classics like the Sazerac, mojito, paloma, and whiskey sour live next to heavyweights like the Old-Fashioned, margarita, and Manhattan. All are made with care and remind drinkers why they are classics to begin with.

The house creations we tried were fantastic. We’ve never tasted anything quite like the Umami Martini with vodka, gin, yuzu, chile oil, and dashi, which is a Japanese soup base. It’s a briny drink that almost tastes like you’re slurping alcohol-infused ramen broth.  Another winner is the Watermelon Mezcal, for which fresh-squeezed watermelon juice is the key. It includes lime juice and agave and is served with a big ice cube that is sprinkled with Tajín seasoning. The funky menu also features dark, light, sour, and hazy beers as well as wines, sake, and cider.

In its infancy, Kenwood Tavern has been serving limited food, like hot dogs and a BLT sandwich. Ask what’s available the day that you’re there. As the bar evolves, so will its cuisine. (And its hours. It’s open from 4 p.m. to midnight Thursdays through Sundays for now.)

“We like to think of our space as an extension of our living rooms,” Matthew says. “This is really all about sharing what we love with the world.”

Sometimes, you don’t even know something is missing from your life until it appears. While there are plenty of great bars in Fells Point serving cold pints and the occasional Jack and Coke, relatively few focus on making well-crafted cocktails. The ones that do tend to take themselves quite seriously—not that there’s anything wrong with that. We’re fans of many of them. But until Southpaw opened last July, it didn’t really occur to us that another approach was possible.

A handwritten sign on the front door of the somewhat off-the-beaten-path bar at the corner of Fleet and Bond streets instructs patrons to “Pull, Like You Mean It.” You’ll be glad you did.

A laid-back vibe permeates the simply decorated one-room establishment, which has a few tables and a stylish wooden bar. There’s a jukebox along one wall, but as the front of the menu hints, it doesn’t work. No matter. During our two recent visits, a mixture of soul and rock played through a different sound system, providing the perfect soundtrack to what were outstanding experiences.

Proprietor Doug Atwell, who cut his teeth at high-quality cocktail bars like Dylan’s Oyster Cellar, has created a relaxed environment in which neighbors can talk to each other while enjoying an elevated drink that doesn’t break the bank.

The Amen Break, made with aged rum, sweet vermouth, sloeberry, and lemon, is well balanced, with tart and citrus notes. A Café Varo, Atwell’s non-traditional take on an espresso martini, will open your eyes. The Corpse Reviver No. Blue, with dry gin, Lillet blanc, lemon, and Curaçao, is not too sweet and not as in-your-face as its deep blue color suggests. The pink Surfer Rosa with reposado tequila, hibiscus, and blackberry is a sight for sore eyes. Southpaw’s Forever Happy Hour menu of classics—Old-Fashioned, Sazerac, daiquiri, a dry martini, and a Moscow Mule—are always just $9.

“I have a thing about cocktails not being fussy,” Atwell says. “The ingredients are house-made, but there’s nothing too out-of-the-ordinary. They’re either classics or riffs on those classics.”

Beers include locals like Key and Monument, but also old standbys like Coors and Miller High Life. Then there’s the Let’s Get Weird section of the menu. Six bucks gets you a Spagett—a bottle of High Life with Aperol—and for $7 you can enjoy a pony bottle of High Life with amaretto and rum. It tastes eerily like a Dr. Pepper.

If you’re hungry, your best bet, in fact your only bet, is the burgers. The smashburger and accompanying fries are the lone items consistently on the menu—and both hit the spot. They’re only available on weekends when pop-ups and food trucks also occasionally visit. During the week, food from outside is allowed in.

Atwell signed the lease for Southpaw, named for his love of baseball and dogs, a month before the pandemic hit. It’s been a long road since then, and he still has plans to expand the food menu, add outdoor seating, and one day even get that jukebox working. “It’s older than I am,” he jokes.

Based on Southpaw’s rookie year success, he’ll have to fix it.

The most remarkable thing about the new James Joyce is how similar it is to the old one. And for that, we raise a pint.

When the bar opened in 2002, it was among Harbor East’s first tenants. As the area around it developed, many of the retail neighbors who moved in were national chains, yet the Irish pub managed to keep its old-world authenticity. That’s among the reasons it stung when it closed its doors in 2020. When word came last year that the Atlas Restaurant Group planned to reopen it, some were skeptical. The company has a reputation for flash, and nothing at James Joyce is particularly shiny. After all, it’s an authentic pub.

Dark wood is the material of choice here. The long, winding bar was built in a warehouse in Ireland and shipped to Baltimore. As were the original tables and chairs, many of which remain, says general manager Seamus Kelly. He worked at the old iteration from 2005 to 2017 and returned to run the place for its new owners, who kept the original design—and that magnificent wooden bar—intact.

“It captures everything that a true Irish bar would back home,” says Kelly, who should know. He’s from Cavan, about 90 minutes northwest of Dublin. “You have that sense of warmth and calm and comfort. A lot of the times bars nowadays are more modern and chic,
shall we say. An Irish bar is supposed to be the opposite. It’s not supposed to be in your face, it’s supposed to be more subtle and have a more relaxed aesthetic.”

James Joyce always had—and thankfully maintains—that feel. Atlas did make some needed upgrades, like painting, replacing some fixtures, and updating the bathrooms. But almost everything else stayed as it was. The clientele remains a mixture of locals and tourists from the nearby hotels. Live music echoes throughout the pub a few days a week.

An extensive drink list is highlighted by dozens of Irish whiskies, as well as Scotches, bourbons, ryes, and other varieties from around the world. Draught beer includes Irish staples like Guinness, Harp, Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale, Smithwick’s Red, and Magners cider. Locals include Diamondback and Union. The signature cocktail is the Heaventree, made with Jameson, green chartreuse, apple, honey, and ginger. Tangy and refreshing, it’s available on the happy hour menu for $7.

The menu is a mixture of traditional favorites and this-side-of-the-pond bar food. Appetizers range from a Scotch egg to fried cheese curds to steamed shellfish, and sandwiches include burgers, a roast beef dip, and, curiously, a foot-long chili dog. For true Irish classics look to the entrees, which include Irish bacon and cabbage, bangers and mash, fish and chips, along with the requisite crab cakes. The best bet is the shepherd’s pie, made with lamb shoulder and packed with carrots, peas, and topped with potatoes.

“It’s definitely the most traditional thing on the menu,” Kelly says.

When Kelly came to America to work at James Joyce, he only planned to stay a year. But once he got to Baltimore—and the bar—he didn’t want to leave.

We know just how he feels.

Just what is HEX Superette anyway?

Half of this hybrid in Mid-Govans fits the traditional definition of the second half of its name, which means a small supermarket. Customers can buy locally grown produce and made-in-Maryland goods like stationery and soap. Beer, wine, spirits, and sauces line the
shelves, along with plenty of jars of sauerkraut.

Which brings us to the first part of that name. In the back of the building, HEX Ferments makes kraut, kimchi, and kombucha. For years, owners Shane and Meaghan Carpenter had longed for a building of their own where they could both produce and sell their food and drink, as well as offer a place for people to relax and enjoy them on site. (Leading the fermented food craze, they sold their jarred products at Belvedere Square Market for years before closing during the pandemic. Their fermented products are still for sale at the JFX and Waverly farmers’ markets.)

Last year, they opened HEX Superette. A bar anchors the tasting room, which has one of the most unique drink menus in the city. The cleverly named Timm’s Cup is a mixture of spiced floral liqueur, sparking wine, lemon, and HEX’s turmeric tonic kombucha. The more traditionally named Whiskey No. 1 is a rye-based drink with rosemary oxymel and HEX’s ginger kombucha. Both are refreshing takes on classic cocktails—with a twist.

“Kombucha has natural carbonation, which is a by-product of the ferment,” Shane says of the tea drink that is often hailed for its health benefits. “Most of the bubbly drinks you’re drinking in the world have been force-carbonated by a CO2 tank hooked up to some pressurized vessel to create that bubble. It’s a lot bigger, more acidic bubble than what you find in kombucha.”

The cocktail list stems from years of experimentation by the Carpenters and the tasting room staff. In addition to the mixed drinks, there are mocktails, wines, housemade sodas, and a few beers available, including Year of the Peach, HEX’s collaboration with Peabody Heights. (At only 2.5 ABV, it tastes more like a cider—a delicious one—than a beer.)

Snacks, salads, soups, and a few sandwiches emerge from the kitchen. Every dish includes something fermented because, as Shane puts it, “We want to participate in the full spectrum of fermented delights.”

Despite how all of this might sound, there’s nothing pretentious about the Carpenters’ methods. “We’re not using tweezers or foams, it’s very approachable food that’s extremely nutrient-dense,” Meaghan says.

The vibe in the tasting room is casual. Music plays as customers shuffle in past the 10-seat bar, grab a basket, and shop at the attached superette. In fact, one of the best ways to enjoy a drink here is while browsing the store. There you’ll find ground beef from Liberty Delight Farms, duck eggs, produce, a book on wild fermentation, plant-based hair products—you get the idea. And of course,
jars and bottles of HEX Ferments products, all of which are available to taste at the bar for free.

What is HEX Superette? It’s a place we’ll return to soon

On weekend nights, a steady stream of delivery cars with their hazards blinking lines Fleet Street in front of Mayuree Thai Tavern, waiting to whisk containers of pad see yew and braised beef noodle soup to their couch-bound customers.

While those homebodies are in for delicious deliveries—the food at Mayuree is generally terrific—they’re missing out on one of the best aspects of this Canton staple: its cocktail program. Created by Andy Thammasathiti, whose mother, Penny, owns the place and oversees the kitchen, Mayuree’s drinks are tropical twists on classic recipes.

One of the best is a Mai Tai that Thammasathiti makes using three kinds of rum. Amaretto provides an almond flavor, and lime and Angostura bitters round out the ingredients. Thammasathiti uses a mallet to crush the ice, then garnishes the drink with a dehydrated lime and fresh mint. The result is a concoction with a rainbow of colors and a smooth, not-too-sweet taste.

“It’s a little lighter than the traditional Mai Tai, but you still get the same flavor, and it has a nice body,” he says.

Mayuree’s drinks tend to achieve a copacetic balance. Thammasathiti uses 100-proof Old Forester bourbon in his Old-Fashioneds, and the Lychee Collins is made with a pleasing combination of Blue Coat gin, Giffard Lichi, elderflower, citrus, and Singha soda. It’s the most popular cocktail on the menu.

That’s not to say that Thammasathiti’s creativity is restricted by what’s on the menu. When we stopped in earlier this year and asked for something “refreshing,” he whipped up an off-the-menu libation he calls a Sex Machine (the name was a nod to James Brown). Its base was bourbon and Jamaican rum, and combined with peach li- queur, Angostura bitters, and some orange and lemon, it hit the mark.

In February, Thammasathiti won the people’s choice award at a cocktail-making contest held at fellow Canton restaurant NiHao. His creation was his take on a mule, only using baijiu, mezcal, ginger syrup, and lime. He’s clearly a student of cocktails, and his passion for them is apparent when you’re chatting with him at Mayuree’s long wooden bar. (He is there less often now that the family has opened another Thai restaurant in D.C.) But fear not, if Thammasathiti isn’t behind the bar, a well-trained member of the staff will expertly fill in.

Happy hour is a good time to stop by: There are selected $5 appetizers, $5 draft beers, and $4 beer bottles. On Tuesdays, mules are $8 and rums and tequilas are 20-percent off. On Wednesdays, Old-Fashioneds and whiskeys get the discount treatment.

Along with staples like pad Thai and drunken noodles, Mayuree serves sophisticated dishes, including the excellent catfish pad cha. The curry sauce that accompanies it is seriously spicy and will make you yearn for something thirst-quenching to drink.

If you’re sitting at Mayuree Thai Tavern—and not at home—a bartender will whip up just the right cocktail for you.

While Baltimore residents tend to think there’s only one Baltimore, across the Atlantic sits a village on the southwest coast of Ireland with the same name. If one of those County Cork Baltimoreans somehow wandered into Mick O’Shea’s in our fair town, we think they’d love the place for the same reasons we do.

A mainstay in Mt. Vernon for decades, O’Shea’s is a wonderful blend of traditional Irish pub and Charm City neighborhood bar. Harp is on tap along with local favorites like Peabody Heights. On a shelf on the back wall, above where the requisite Guinness advertisements hang, stands a row of Orioles bobbleheads. Fish and chips and shepherd’s pie emerge from the kitchen, but so do burritos and cheesesteaks. There are maps of Ireland on the mirrors behind the bar. A Ravens banner hangs in front of one.

“What we try to do is take the best from what we understood an Irish pub to be, which is a friendly, relaxed atmosphere,” says co-owner David Niehenke. “We’re not pretentious, we’re nuts and bolts. It’s like an old pair of blue jeans. It’s never going to be the coolest thing, but it’s always solid.”

Niehenke and his sister, Stephanie Webber, bought the bar in 2002 from Mike O’Shea and a group of investors who opened it in the mid-1990s. Before that, it was called McGinn’s and was where former Mayor and Governor Martin O’Malley used to perform with his band. In all its incarnations, it’s been a favorite for a mix of downtown workers, residents, tourists, people on their lunch break from jury duty…you get the idea.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been here without doing a Bomb,” one neighbor at the bar declared on a recent Sunday afternoon, referring to the drink in which a shot of Jameson whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream is dropped into a glass of stout.

Another time, at lunch, two lawyerly looking men to our right discussed an ongoing court case, while a woman to our left lamented the state of her relationship.

“We have a big group of regulars, but we also get a lot of travelers and people coming into town for sporting events,” Niehenke says. “You can always find nice company here.”

And good food and drink. The menu, which has standard Irish fare along with burgers, wings, and the like, also features more adventurous entrees like jambalaya. Whiskey and beer are usually the drinks of choice here. Predictably, on St. Patrick’s Day the place is packed and the Guinness flows. The prior Sunday, when the city’s St. Patty’s Day Parade marches down Charles Street right past the front door, business is even brisker.

Those days are fun, for sure, but they can be overwhelming. We prefer to grab a stool at the bar during a slower time, when we can order a Reuben, wash it down with a Smithwick’s, and strike up conversation with a fellow patron.

That’s an experience a Baltimorean from anywhere can appreciate.

Improvisation is the true mark of a bartender’s skill—and that was put to the test at the new Locust Point bar, The Last Penny. We loved our first round of cocktails so much that we couldn’t leave without having another. But what to order? On a mild May day, the Aperol Spritz sounded invigorating. But the bar was out of prosecco. No problem, our bar manager, Dan, said, before proceeding to whip up a similarly flavored, yet-to-be-named concoction of Lillet Blanc, Campari, and soda.

The drink, like each of the ones we tried at The Last Penny, was artfully constructed, and extremely satisfying. As was the atmosphere at this quintessential neighborhood bar opened by cousins Dipal Patel and Pratik Patel earlier this year. The smallish space, recently renovated and dominated by a wooden bar, feels brand new, but the spirit of the place is timeless.

The cousins wanted to keep it a “neighborhood location,” and they’ve succeeded. Juice boxes are available for kids. There’s local art on the walls, trivia on Mondays, and the bar has contracted with Volo City Sports and contributes to its philanthropy program. On the night we visited, the music wasn’t too loud, and the conversations weren’t too hushed. There wasn’t a food menu (the cousins have plans to change that soon, but Dan offered us bags of Lay’s potato chips and Planters peanuts). Muted sports played on two of the three TVs; a Bob Ross painting video ran on the other.

Beer and wine (including $5 glasses on Wednesdays) are available, but cocktails are the star here. We started with a Lazy River, a refreshing and not-too-smoky combination of mezcal, triple sec, orange juice, lime, and grenadine. The Rosemary’s Baby—vodka, house-made blackberry shrub, lemon, simple syrup, soda, and a dark rum floater—is garnished by delicious bourbon-soaked cherries. Best to give it a stir to integrate the rum floater with the rest of the ingredients.

Round two included the bar’s take on an Old-Fashioned (The Pop-Pop) and a Manhattan (The Broadway). Both were solid, if not revolutionary. The Knees of Bees, made with gin, honey simple syrup, and lemon, was light but flavorful. The drink was enhanced by the honey, not dominated by it. Undaunted by its name, we forged ahead and ordered a Corpse Reviver, an intimidating mixture of Lillet, gin, lemon, triple sec, and an absinthe wash. We were worried it would be a bit too alcohol-forward, but it was surprisingly drinkable. (“Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder,” a clever chap in our party quipped after taking a sip.) The next time we return, we’re eager to try Not Your Father’s Folgers (hazelnut rum, vodka, cold brew, and simple syrup). That’s a bedtime buster if we’ve ever seen one.

Even if The Last Penny is out of an ingredient for a cocktail you’re eyeing, ask your bartender to improvise. Whatever they come up with will be worth every cent you pay for it.