Mimi Cooper and her friend Steve Stegner had never eaten at Birroteca, the popular pizza and pasta restaurant in Hampden, so they decided to drop in on a cold night in January. Although their stomachs were growling after seeing Macbeth at The Charles Theatre, they didn’t feel like fussing with the formality of being seated then served at a table in the dining room, which was sparsely occupied. So, to glean the true flavor of the place, they grabbed two stools and bellied up to the bar.

“When we go out, we like to sit at the bar,” Cooper, 79, says. “It’s fun to be close to each other. I think bartenders are sort of fun. They give you quite a bit of attention. It’s cozy.”

After the bartender offers Cooper a taste of a lager she was considering, a courtesy that comes from sitting at the bar, Sam Frank, 31, joins the conversation. He and his fiancée, Grace Jacoby, are sitting catty-corner at the bar sharing a mushroom pizza—the same variety Cooper and Stegner are splitting. The four begin an impromptu chat.

 

“ALL THE GREAT CULTURES OF HISTORY HAVE HAD A VERY STRONG BAR CULTURE.”

 

“That is a testament to eating at the bar,” Frank says. “Isn’t it wonderful?” replies Cooper, who dives headfirst into a conversation with her fellow patron. “I love it. I just talked with the couple that preceded you. They were going to Seattle, and we were talking about their trip out West. I love talking to people.”

“You’re not going to have this experience if you’re sitting at a table,” Frank says. “This is why we eat at the bar.”

Ask a person chowing down at a bar why they prefer their perch to a seat in a dining room and you’ll hear a surprising array of answers. My first drink arrives faster. So does my second one, for that matter. The food is served a tad bit quicker. I’m closer to the action. Bartenders make fascinating conversation. It’s a more relaxed setting. As for Cooper and Stegner, they say that when they sit side by side rather than across from one another, they hear each other more clearly.

But after these practical advantages are rattled off, almost always another, more primal idea is expressed: Eating at a bar is a communal activity.

“It’s at the very core of what we do as humans, which is be together,” says Enrique Pallares, owner of The Wine Collective in Hampden. “This has political, social, and cultural implications. All the great cultures of history have had a very strong bar culture. They create community.”

Although eating at a bar has been a practice for decades, its popularity has exploded in the last generation, says Gino Cardinale, co-owner of Tark’s Grill & Bar in Lutherville-Timonium and former owner of the late great City Café in Mt. Vernon.

“I think it goes to how dining has evolved…it’s very social now,” he says. “A couple comes in for dinner, they’re not necessarily looking to be by themselves. They like to strike up conversations with other people and interact with the bar staff. I think it has a lot to do with that conviviality of being among other people. I saw this at City Café over the years. The bar was once a place just for drinking, maybe after-work happy hours. It started to segue into [being] more about actual dining. We sell a lot of bottles of our finer wines at the bar. You never used to see that. It’s really taken off.”

Brad Barnes is director of consulting and industry programs at the Culinary Institute of America. The Baltimore native has worked in the business for decades and is bullish on the future of eating at the bar as the pandemic (hopefully) wanes.

“As we come out of COVID, the blending of social and food opportunities will be more and more powerful,” he says. “So I think it’s worthwhile for people to have [the option to] eat in less formal settings.”

From the fanciest of white-tablecloth bistros to a hyper-casual neighborhood joint, walk into almost any restaurant in town around dinnertime and you’re likely to see people with plates, not just glasses, in front of them at the bar. It’s the perfect way to try a dish or two at a new restaurant without committing to multiple courses. The sense of pressure to order, eat, pay, and promptly leave is decidedly lighter at the bar than in the dining room.

They’re different ecosystems coexisting in the same world.

“If you’re going to go to a decent restaurant, when you have a table, you’re kind of buying that table,” says Jackie Pestka, a chef instructor at Stratford University’s Baltimore campus. “If you’re sitting there and you’ve got three people, and two people order something and one doesn’t, that’s not really a good thing for the restaurant. You can feel self-conscious. You’re almost pushed to get more than you normally would. If you’re sitting at the bar, you can just have an appetizer. I can go to three or four different restaurants in an evening and just grab an app or a small entree and not feel guilty about it.”

Eating at the bar, which has always been a popular option for solo diners, provides a radically different spatial orientation for parties of two or more than sitting around a table. It can create a more casual context for conversation or make periods of silence less awkward. A bartender mixing a colorful cocktail makes for intoxicating theater. A stranger can be invited into a discussion (just don’t talk politics) or you can veg out and watch a game.

T. Cole Newton is vice president of the United States Bartenders’ Guild. The Washington, D.C., native now lives in New Orleans, where he owns two bars. He’s spent countless hours on both sides of bars.

“When you’re at a table, especially if it’s just one or two people, you’re very much alone for the duration of your meal,” he says. “To dine at the bar, not only are you sharing the bartender’s space, but you’re also sharing that space with everyone else at the bar. It’s essentially like being at one really long table. So there’s a lot more opportunity to have a shared experience. If you’re sitting at a table and you talk to somebody at the table next to you, that’s a very strange thing to do culturally. That’s not the expectation, to lean over to the person at the next table and be like, ‘Hey, what are you eating?’ But if you do that to somebody at the bar, that’s part of what the expectation is.”

That’s exactly what happened at Birroteca. A spontaneous interaction between a young couple and strangers at least a generation older left all with a warm, however brief, memory. It never would have happened in a dining room.

“The bar provides an opportunity to connect with people,” Newton says. “Bars are one of the very few places where those types of random human connections are encouraged.”

Baltimore has no shortage of fantastic restaurants where dining at the bar is welcomed, and provides an entirely different experience than eating in the dining room. Here are eight of our many favorites.

→ Birroteca

Hampden

When it opened in 2012, Birroteca became an instant draw for people in Hampden and beyond. Diners flocked there for its terrific pizzas, pastas, and cocktails, but also because of its inviting atmosphere. Full meals are often enjoyed at its large, four-sided bar.

“We have a pretty regular crowd that comes in and doesn’t even entertain the option of sitting at a table,” owner-operator Mike Moran says. “The bartender often forms a connection with the person they are serving.”

Frank and Jacoby always sit at the bar when they eat at Birroteca. “We don’t like sitting across from each other, it feels like an interrogation,” Jacoby says. “I like touching knees and cuddling up, and the conversations you can have with your neighbors and your bartenders are special.”

Birroteca serves pastas, risottos, and inventive appetizers like beet bruschetta, but it is best known for its pizzas. The Duck Duck Goose, with duck confit, fig-onion jam, fontina, Asiago, balsamic, and duck egg is particularly delicious. Eating one at the bar is a breeze.

Pizzas arrive on elevated metal trays with a spatula that makes helping yourself to a slice easy. There are two TVs, one of which usually is tuned to a (muted) movie. Moran is not a sports fan, and when he eats elsewhere at a bar, he appreciates some non-ball-related programming.

On that recent Wednesday night, Frank and Jacoby were sitting with their backs to the screens, engaged in conversation with each other and occasionally their bartender and their neighbors.

“We had our first date at a bar,” Frank said, “and I’m hoping that even when we get old, we will never get away from sitting at the bar.”

→ Charleston

Harbor East

Eating at the bar is not an option that most people consider when they think of a renowned fancy restaurant. This Harbor East legend is certainly that, but dining at its smallish but attractive bar is a popular pick for regulars, says co-owner Tony Foreman.

“It’s a different social engagement for sure,” he says. “You have dedicated staff that’s not out of your eyesight, and that’s comforting to some people. People have strict rules about whether they want to sit in the dining room or not. There are some that never do. There are some that only do with their spouse. Some guys, when they come in with their spouse, they eat at the bar, but when they come in with friends, they sit at a table.”

Regardless of where you sit, Charleston is not cheap. But whereas in the dining room there is a three-course minimum, at the bar dishes are available a la carte. In theory.

 

IN THE DINING ROOM AT CHARLESTON, THERE IS A
THREE- COURSE MINIMUM. AT THE BAR, DISHES ARE AVAILABLE
A LA CARTE.

 

“Most people have the full menu at the bar,” Foreman says. “The reality is once you have one dish, it makes you want another.”

Service is just as polished at the bar as in the dining room. After ordering, folded napkins and tableware are placed on the bar and a complimentary snack—pastry puffs with artichoke and Gruyère soup on a recent night—is served.

Foreman often encourages people who haven’t been to the restaurant to sit at the bar and enjoy a glass of Champagne and a plate of cornmeal-fried oysters during their first visit to acclimate themselves to the kitchen’s style. Although we’ve eaten there often, we took his suggestion on a recent Thursday evening.

His advice—like everything at Charleston—was spot on.

→ Costas Inn

Dundalk

The term “crab feast” usually conjures images of people seated at picnic tables, booths, or long communal tables cracking Maryland’s favorite crustacean. But at this Dundalk restaurant, many people prefer to take mallet to shell while sitting at the bar.

“It’s very common here,” says general manager Peter Triantafilos, whose father, Costas, has owned the place for more than 50 years. “We’ve got a lot of regulars that prefer to eat crabs at the bar. It’s like second nature. Eating crabs is always a social thing. We lay the paper down, give them a couple mallets and they’re good to go.”

Costas Triantafilos estimates that about 10 percent of his customers eat crabs at the bar. That may not sound like a lot, but when you consider that 40 to 50 people can comfortably sit around the massive 12-foot-wide, 42-foot- long wooden bar, that adds up to a lot of blue crabs. The restaurant serves crabs from Louisiana and Texas virtually year-round (just to be safe, in the winter call to check availability before you go), and in the summer can steam 11,000 crabs in a week.

“You might have somebody eating a filet mignon and the person next to them is cracking crabs,” Peter says. “Everybody is going with the flow.”

→ Maggie’s Farm

Hamilton

Want proof of the popularity of the small bar in the back of this Hamilton favorite? When it’s full, regulars often choose a table within eyeshot of the eight stools.

“[They] have a couple drinks and maybe an appetizer, and they wait until it’s empty and then they move,” says chef Abdul Saeed, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Dana.

Tristan Gilbert and his girlfriend, Erin, took friends from out of town to Maggie’s Farm on a Friday night in January. They sat at the bar, where they all devoured Saeed’s delectable Korean pig wings. The appeal is multifaceted, he says.

“It’s quicker to get seated. We can see the taps. We’re beer lovers, so going into a place and being able to shop with your eyes before you even see the menu, that’s always appealing. If I have a question about something, the bartender is usually much more readily available than a server would be.”

And Gilbert just likes the vibe. “It’s definitely a cozy bar,” he says. “It feels like you’re hanging in somebody’s living room.”

THE PRIME RIB HAS A MENU WITH ITEMS, INCLUDING A PRIME RIB SANDWICH, ONLY AVAILABLE TO THOSE SITTING ON STOOLS.

 

→ The Prime Rib

Mt. Vernon 

Don Ervin and his wife, Lachele, arrived at their favorite downtown steakhouse at precisely 5:01, a minute after it opened. As regulars, they know the popularity of eating at its elegant bar, and they were determined to secure their favorite two stools in the corner.

“You meet some interesting people sitting here,” Lachele says. “People that like to eat at the bar are interested in people. Not that you’re looking to meet them, but you’re a little more open to engaging.”

The Prime Rib serves its full menu at the bar, but also has a special menu with items, including a prime rib sandwich and burgers, that are available only to those sitting on stools. Mark “Chavez” Linzey has been bartending there for 15 years.

“We have some people who come in five nights a week and eat at the bar,” he says. “It’s nice having people eat at the bar. They talk to me or watch a game. They talk to the couple next to them. There’s a camaraderie at the bar.”

On one weekday night in January, roughly half the restaurant’s food orders stemmed from the bar, assistant manager Dan Buceti says. The Ervins enjoyed cocktails while they waited for their butterfly shrimp and oysters casino.

“This is our spot,” Lachele says of the restaurant and their regular perches. “It’s a fine dining experience at the bar.”

→ Rec Pier Chop House 

Fells Point 

Anyone who’s traveled for business knows that the road can be a lonely place. Perhaps that’s one reason why many solo diners choose to eat at hotel bars.

“Because it’s a hotel we do get more individuals that come in and eat at the bar,” says Rec Pier Chop House manager Gabriella Taylor.

The upscale steakhouse is located inside the Sagamore Pendry Baltimore hotel in Fells Point. Some get the tasty, pricey steaks that emerge from new executive chef Colin King’s kitchen, but others order lighter.

“We do get a lot of people that won’t eat a full three-course meal,” Taylor says. “They’ll order a couple [antipasti], or a side and an entree.”

There are two TV screens behind the gorgeous Patrick Sutton-designed bar, but often solo diners are in the mood to chat, says bartender Daniel Summers.

“A lot of times they might be interested in something they can do [in the area], or they’re just blowing off steam because they’re finally getting away,” he says. “It doesn’t bother me at all. Personally, when I go out to drink, I want to be able to eat something. I think they go hand in hand. It’s a better experience overall for the guests.”

→ Tark’s Grill & Bar 

Green Spring Station

As it is almost every night, the bar at this wildly popular restaurant in Green Spring Station is bustling. Every seat at the bar is taken, and almost everyone has both a plate of food and a glass of wine in front of them. Conversations, among other things, are flowing. The crowd skews older, and couples who look like they’re dating sit intertwined with those who seem as if they’ve been married for decades.

“Tark’s is a very approachable restaurant still with an upscale nature, so a lot of people do come there for first dates. We hear that a lot,” co-owner Gino Cardinale says. “It’s a little more relaxed. Bar dining is good for that. You can have a nice dinner and a drink and interact, and you still have other people around you, and it doesn’t seem like you’re too formal.

“Bar dining also works for people who have been together for a very long time. They want to come out and have a good time. They’ve been together for 30 years and they’ve already done all the romantic stuff.”

The restaurant is a favorite of WJZ anchor Marty Bass and his wife, Sharon, who live about 10 minutes away and eat at the bar once every week and a half or so.

“It’s a very relaxed way to dine,” he says. “Generally speaking, you meet like-minded people, people who like the casual ambiance of a bar. Bartenders are fascinating people. You always get into great conversations, whether it be about craft cocktails or whatever’s happening that day.”

Although the bar is first come, first served, the restaurant will accept reservations for the high-top tables in the bar area. They’re quite popular, Cardinale says, because they combine elements of both the bar and the dining room.

The restaurant features a large and diverse menu. Among Bass’s favorites are the French dip sandwich and the seafood Cobb salad, which he calls a Cobb salad “on steroids.”

“Back that up with a cold beer and you’re living large,” he says. “Tark’s is beautiful because it’s organic. We don’t really plan [our visits] there. It just happens. And that’s another joy of eating at the bar.”

→ The Wine Collective 

Hampden 

Does any food pair better with wine than a charcuterie board? At The Wine Collective inside Union Collective in Hampden, plates of sliced meats, cheeses, and smoked fish are the top-seller, and many people enjoy eating them at the bar.

“One of our ideas behind the menu is we are inspired by Spanish [restaurants],” says owner Enrique Pallares. “All the food we serve is trying to bring the octopus and the Iberico ham from the white tablecloth to the bar top, to make it a casual activity that doesn’t sacrifice quality.”

The restaurant serves some of the best tinned fish in the city. Many of its foods are imported, while others are hyper-local. The torched bread on the charcuterie plate is made at Cunningham’s Bakery a few miles away.

The actual bar in the cavernous, warehouse-like space is a beauty; it’s copper-topped, and its face is decorated with green tiles imported from Portugal.

“The paradox of the outdoor being a very industrial, somewhat grungy feel, then you come inside and see all this stainless steel and wood and copper, it’s sort of a metaphor for the heart of gold of Baltimore,” Pallares says.

Rules for Eating at the Bar

• Don’t be a space invader: If you’re seated at the bar, the stool next to you isn’t for your purse or jacket. Keep your personal belongings in your dedicated space or look for a handbag hook under the bar.
• Mute your phone: Even if you’re dining by yourself, your phone should always be muted. If you need to make or take a call, step outside.
• Be cordial: You’re in closer quarters with fellow patrons than you are in the dining room, so this is not the time to spout off your political opinions.
• Hands off: Not everything on the bar is yours to touch. If there’s a garnish or fruit bowl, don’t reach into it and help yourself to an olive. If you want something, ask your bartender.
• Gauge your gab: Don’t assume that the person next to you wants to talk. Gauge their desire to gab and go from there.
• Don’t loom: Whenever possible, if someone is eating at the bar, don’t stand behind them and try to order a drink. Respect a diner’s personal space.
• Make room: If you’re in the middle of a row and two people are looking for stools together, slide down one if you can.
• Tip big: Tip your bar staff as generously as you would a server in the dining room.

Before moving to Baltimore, Brian Plante was living the New York chef’s life and dining out in The Big Apple. While in culinary school in New York, he recalls, “we’d eat out every night, truly authentic cuisines or food from the best chefs in the world and they were right in my backyard,” says Plante who did stints at Babbo and Esca. “Every chef should experience that for a little while.”

Plante is now happily living in Baltimore as the chef/partner at Rye Street Tavern in South Baltimore. “I enjoy living in Locust Point,” he says. “It doesn’t feel like I’m living in a city. After three years of living in Baltimore and when I walk into Rye Street, I feel like I know everyone eating here.”

When did you know you wanted to be a chef?

I was very young, maybe 6 or 7, when I thought about becoming a chef. But as I grew older, I was afraid of the hours. I came to it late—I’m 34 now, I became a chef at 24.

Chef Brian Plante. —Noah Fecks

What other jobs did you work prior to becoming a chef?

I worked in a warehouse. . . . When I told my father that I wasn’t going to finish college, he said he’d get me a warehouse job. I worked the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift and was the only one who spoke English. He told me that my high-school education was no better than anyone else’s. I hated the job more than anything, but I stuck it out because I was stubborn. I made three-ring binders. I’d take the three rings and put them on the machine. I did that for eight hours straight. It was mind-numbing.

Wow, that sounds awful. Any other jobs?
I worked at Costco selling electronics. My boss was two years older and he was at the ceiling of how far he could go. I realized that I wanted a job that never had a ceiling. That’s what being a chef is all about. However hard you work is how high you can go.

So when did you start working in restaurants?

I worked in a restaurant called Food 101 in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where I’m from. I loved it. I loved the pace of the kitchen. It was stressful, but exciting. When you’re a chef, every day is completely different than the last and it gives you instant gratification.

Did you get formal training after that?
In 2010, I moved to New York to attend the French Culinary Institute. I’d never even been to New York City before. My first day there, I got a pizza and a beer and ran back to my apartment. I was so overwhelmed.

What did you learn in culinary school that you still use today?
I was blessed to have Jacques Pépin and André Soltner as my professors. André Soltner told me, “Relax, its just food.” We were making bouillabaisse at the time.

What has it been like for you to cook with the ingredients from the Chesapeake Bay watershed?
It has been incredible. The proximity to everything from the city is second to none. Within 20 minutes, I can have easy access to one of the best pig farms in the country and within an hour I can be slurping oysters with the Choptank guys. The quality of the ingredients is amazing and is very similar to New England.

What’s on the menu right now that you’re excited about?
I’m super excited about our pork dishes. We don’t waste one part of the pig. On a 300-pound pig, there’s probably two pounds we don’t use. We do our play on an old-fashioned barbecue sauce with ribs. We’re doing a house-made bacon jam for sweet and sour collards, and we have pulled pork specials, beautiful pork chops, and house-made sausages. We’re also doing more to explore the dishes of Appalachia like rabbit stew with the rabbit legs braised in mustard and crème fraiche and the loin rubbed with an herb garlic spice and grilled.

What would you like to do in the future?
We’re starting to make our own vinegars in the old whiskey barrels from Sagamore. We’d also like to get into pickling and fermenting. Dishes that you tried a year ago are going to taste different when you come back.

Where do you like to go in Baltimore when you eat out?

I like Thames Street Oyster House—it’s a little taste of home for me.

Before moving here three years ago, did you know anything about Maryland Blue crabs?
A soft-shell clam sandwich and steamers are my favorite things to eat. When I went to L.P. Steamers for the first time, I thought that I was going to get clams, then I realized that steamers in Baltimore means crabs. They were delicious and awesome, but they weren’t clams.

So have you mastered eating them?
At L.P. Steamers, I was with a bunch of chefs from New York at the time. We were picking out the meat and making piles of the meat and cracking the entire crab before we ate the meat, and then we were dunking the meat in butter. The people at the next table told us, ‘That’s not how you do it.’

With the rise of delivery apps and fast-paced food halls, our modern world prioritizes convenience and efficiency. Yet the finery of tableside preparation—the swiveling carts, the knife-wielding waiters, the pyrotechnics on wheels—is making a comeback.

Though the practice dates back to the Edwardian era when dishes were served a la francaise or a la russe in elegant banquet halls, it crossed the Atlantic Ocean and redefined dining in post-WWII America with its decadent flair. Now, diners pine for this old-school showmanship once more as restaurants keep them on the edge of their seats with flaming displays and theatrical flourishes.

Here are some restaurants that will leave you “ooh-ing” and “aah-ing” with their tableside fare.

Rec Pier Chop House
Salad artists put on a show as they cut, toss, and dress romaine into classic Caesars, complete with freshly cracked pepper, egg, and anchovies. 1715 Thames St., 443-552-1300

Minnow
Hot toddies take an experimental turn with a 10-minute vacuum infusion to enhance herbal and citrus flavors. 2 E. Wells St., 443-759-6537

Chopstix Gourmet
On weekends, a parade of carts rolls out of the kitchen and makes its way through roundtables with lazy Susans, transporting bite-sized dishes called dim sum (translates to “touch the heart”). 1201 67th St., Rosedale, 410-866-2903

The Black Olive
Select fresh fish from a seafood display and watch as it’s meticulously filleted and deboned right in front of you. 814 S. Bond St., 410-276-7141

The Bygone
Roasted Peking duck, stuffed with herbs and glazed with lavender honey, arrives at the table on a silver platter, then is set ablaze with brandy and overproof rum. 400 International Dr., 443-343-8200

Wit & Wisdom
Lobster pot pie gets deconstructed as servers remove the pastry lid and place its contents—Maine lobster, truffle-brandied cream, and vegetables——atop the thick crust. 200 International Dr., 410-576-5800

Baltimore has always had character to spare. We’re charming, with our cobblestoned streets, genteel 19th-century architecture, and decades-old crabhouses. We’re hip, in the form of cool coffeehouses and cocktail bars. And, of course, we’re quintessentially quirky. (Hello, John Waters and toilet races.) 

But the one thing we’ve never had much of until now? Sex appeal. 

Enter Rec Pier Chop House. Set inside Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank’s gleaming Sagamore Pendry Hotel in Fells Point—a place which has fast become a private playground for locals—it positively oozes glamour. On a typical Saturday night, Maseratis and Mercedes pull up to the dramatic glass-wall façade, as well-toned—and well-dressed—bodies spill onto the street and through the doors, past a velvet rope, across limestone floors, and then finally into the swanky dining room appointed with luxe leather booths and cypress-green velvet banquettes. You can practically feel the pheromones here.

It goes without saying that we’re not on the former set of Homicide: Life on the Street anymore. Instead, we’ve been transported to an Italian rosticceria chop house, as imagined by ever-talented designer Patrick Sutton and James Beard Award-winning, Michelin-starred chef Andrew Carmellini of New York City’s Bar Primi and The Dutch, among others.

With massive hunks of meat for two, house-made pastas made for twirling, aphrodisiacal artichokes puréed into creamy soup, and a robust wine list, the menu for this modern steakhouse is full of temptation—and see-and-be-seen Baltimoreans have taken note. Among them, former Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who was dining there on one of our several Saturday night visits.

On each of our visits, we kept coming back to the classic Caesar salad made tableside—it’s a highlight not only because it’s a proper Caesar loaded with garlic and house-made croutons, but because watching salad specialist Miles tend to each lettuce leaf with some tongs and a set of kitchen shears is pure dinner theater. (Other servers toss, too, but Miles is masterful—ask for him.) Other star starters include a creamy puddle of burrata pleasingly partnered with pepperonata and pine nuts and ringed by a drizzle of spicy arugula pesto that adds depth of flavor and texture to the mild cheese. A dramatically composed yellowfin tuna crudo drizzled with a bracing black-olive aioli also provides a lovely beginning to the meal. The crab cake appetizer, swimming in marinara sauce and blanketed by Hollandaise, was more of a miss and something that likely only out-of-towners will order.

Our state crustacean is used to greater effect in a simple, soulful dish of house-made linguini tossed with slivers of jalapeño, flecks of Calabrian chili, and a sauce offering intense tomato flavor that plays well with the sweetness of the crab. Similarly successful was an order of spaghetti and meatballs, Carmellini’s nod to the thousands of Italian immigrants who landed in the New World at Rec Pier. What an homage it is: The toothsome noodles are a wonderful foundation for the house-made marinara sauce, and the meatballs, a classic combination of ground veal, pork, and beef, feature a surprise center—a chunk of fontina.

Steaks and chops are also prominently featured. On one visit, we enjoyed an 8-ounce petit filet sitting almost monk-like on a plate adorned with a stem of roasted cherry tomatoes. If you’re looking for something lighter, the rockfish cacciatore—a white filet of pan-roasted fish singed just so and served with olives, chunks of tomatoes and peppers, fried herbs, and roasted garlic—is simple but special.

Despite an overall excellent experience, I do have a few minor quibbles. Service was adequate across our visits, but the waitstaff had only shallow knowledge of particular preparations and ingredients. But I suspect that will improve in time. And maybe it’s just a personal peeve, but the paper placemats were immediately stained with dabs of extra-virgin olive oil when it arrived in a saucer for dipping the tasty foccacia. (Woven vinyl placemats would have been preferable.)

We’ll leave you with one more tip: Go on your birthday. Chances are, when your tiramisu arrives, you’ll end up with some sparklers set inside a replica of the Ferdinand Botero bronze horse that presides in the hotel’s courtyard. Doesn’t get racier than that.

---

REC PIER CHOP HOUSE 1715 Thames St., 443-552-1300. HOURS Breakfast: Mon.-Sun. 7 a.m.-11 a.m.; Brunch: Sat.-Sun. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; Dinner: Mon.-Sun. 5-11 p.m. PRICES Appetizers: $6-58; entrees: $17-125; desserts: $7-12. CUISINE Modern Italian. AMBIANCE Industrial chic.

The sharing economy isn’t going away anytime soon—in fact, it’s making its way to our plates. Though the ritual of sharing a meal is ancient, restaurants are now bringing it to the forefront, offering specially curated, large-format meals for two or more on their menus. 

Experiencing a shared meal “is the way you should eat,” says Birroteca owner Robbin Haas. “You should eat where you can engage with everyone at the table. And food is a great denominator for breaking down barriers and making it easy to open a conversation.”

According to a new study in Appetite, a behavioral science research journal, sharing food makes you a better person. Those who share meals more often may be more likely to exhibit altruistic behaviors, like volunteering and giving up your seat on public transportation. So go ahead and grab dinner with friends—it’s your civic duty.

Samos Restaurant
This Greektown taverna gives diners a feel for its namesake island with a Tour of Samos so massive that it will have you saying “opa!” at your table. Think: Greek salad, tzatziki and pita, fried calamari, spinach pie, chicken souvlaki, dolmades, lamb chops, garlic shrimp, gyro, and roasted potatoes. 600 Oldham St., 410-675-5292

Birroteca
At this Hampden hangout, the menu of small plates, bruschettas, and pizzas gives even more ways to share with family-style platters like Crispy Duck Agro Dolce, whole fishes, and classic Spaghetti con Polpette (meatballs). 1520 Clipper Road, 443-708-1934

Gertrude’s at the BMA
For a sweeter way to share, check out Gertrude’s afternoon tea, complete with crab beignets, apricot scones with Devonshire cream, lemon curd, and strawberry jam, as well as chocolate mousse with salted caramel. 10 Art Museum Dr., 410-889-3399

Rec Pier Chop House
The Rec Pier Chop House inside Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Pendry Baltimore hotel is getting in on the act with a whopping 44-ounce porterhouse and a 38-ounce Tomahawk Chop for two. 1715 Thames St., 443-552-1300

Thames Street Oyster House
Both the 5-pound stuffed Maine lobster (stuffed with scallops, shrimp, and crab) and the New England clam and lobster boil bring diners together for an experience reminiscent of a sandy clambake on the coast of Rhode Island, where executive chef Eric Houseknecht spent his summers while still in culinary school. Don’t miss Meat Monday, when Houseknecht prepares family-style dishes for those who prefer land over sea, including 3 pounds of braised meat, and even a whole pig leg. 1728 Thames St., 443-449-7726

Tio Pepe
Fans of this old-school Spanish eatery won’t be disappointed with either of its Para Dos selections, including a roasted rack of baby lamb served with mint jelly, or the Paella a la Valenciana, brimming with fruits of the land and sea. 10 E. Franklin St., 410-539-4675

Wicked Sisters
The Meals for Two dishes at this Hampden newcomer take a nod from a traditional, family-style American Sunday dinner, such as a half-roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions. “The plate is put between the two of you and then you can fight over it to get the part of it you want,” explains co-owner Charlie Gjerde. What’s a good family supper without at least one argument? 3845 Falls Road, 410-878-0884