{"id":1894,"date":"2017-08-10T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/?p=1894"},"modified":"2017-09-12T12:41:36","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T12:41:36","slug":"inner-harbor-restaurants-near-oriole-park-camden-yards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/inner-harbor-restaurants-near-oriole-park-camden-yards\/","title":{"rendered":"Inner Harbor Restaurants Near Oriole Park at Camden Yards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">While many people think of <a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/category\/baltimore\/inner-harbor\/\">Baltimore\u2019s Inner Harbor<\/a> as being the area immediately surrounding the water, the neighborhood actually stretches a bit further to the west and includes Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Thus, it seems fitting to conclude our multi-week tour of restaurants from <a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/category\/baltimore\/fells-point-baltimore\/\">Fells Point<\/a> to the Inner Harbor with suggestions on where to eat before, during, and after an Orioles game.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1896 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_7333-810x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"810\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Oriole Park at Camden Yards (OPACY) is 25 years old this year. I remember being somewhat skeptical about the idea of putting a baseball stadium downtown. The main reason was that the old ballpark, Memorial Stadium, was walking distance from my family\u2019s home in north Baltimore and I liked the convenience of being able to attend a game at pretty much a moment\u2019s notice. A new park 5 miles away would involve arranging transportation, and even worse&#8211;parking. A generation later, I\u2019m quite used to the new ballpark. It\u2019s a beautiful place, and on a warm (and hopefully not too humid) summer evening, it\u2019s perfect for getting together with friends to take in a game&#8211;even if the Orioles have been rather disappointing this season. But hey, that makes it better for visiting baseball fans, right? Like all those Chicagoans who came to town a few weeks back to watch the Cubbies score 27 runs in three games against the Os. (Sigh.)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><div class=\"woocommerce columns-3 \"><ul class=\"products columns-3\">\n<li class=\"product type-product post-1713 status-publish first instock product_cat-adult-shirts product_cat-baltimore product_cat-crew-neck product_cat-hometown product_cat-unisex product_tag-baltimore has-post-thumbnail taxable shipping-taxable purchasable product-type-variable has-default-attributes\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/product\/baltimore-local-t-shirt-2\/\" class=\"woocommerce-LoopProduct-link woocommerce-loop-product__link\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"262\" height=\"328\" src=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mockup-d4263514-262x328.png\" class=\"attachment-shop_catalog size-shop_catalog wp-post-image\" alt=\"Black Baltimore Local T-Shirt\" title=\"Black Baltimore Local T-Shirt\" srcset=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mockup-d4263514-262x328.png 262w, https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mockup-d4263514-58x72.png 58w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 262px) 100vw, 262px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"262\" height=\"328\" src=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mockup-a9022400-262x328.png\" class=\"attachment-shop_catalog size-shop_catalog\" alt=\"midnight navy Baltimore Local T-Shirt\" srcset=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mockup-a9022400-262x328.png 262w, https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mockup-a9022400-58x72.png 58w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 262px) 100vw, 262px\" \/><h2 class=\"woocommerce-loop-product__title\">Baltimore Local T-Shirt<\/h2>\n\t<span class=\"price\"><span class=\"woocommerce-Price-amount amount\"><bdi><span class=\"woocommerce-Price-currencySymbol\">&#36;<\/span>24.00<\/bdi><\/span><\/span>\n<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/product\/baltimore-local-t-shirt-2\/\" aria-describedby=\"woocommerce_loop_add_to_cart_link_describedby_1713\" data-quantity=\"1\" class=\"button product_type_variable add_to_cart_button\" data-product_id=\"1713\" data-product_sku=\"\" aria-label=\"Select options for &ldquo;Baltimore Local T-Shirt&rdquo;\" rel=\"nofollow\">Select options<\/a>\t<span id=\"woocommerce_loop_add_to_cart_link_describedby_1713\" class=\"screen-reader-text\">\n\t\tThis product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page\t<\/span>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There are several hotels at the Inner Harbor to accommodate all of the out-of-town visitors to OPACY, many of which are right in the thick of a cluster of restaurants. That would be on the east side of the Harbor. But if you\u2019re staying at the Hilton Baltimore or the Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards, however, local pickings are much slimmer, food-wise. The Hilton, directly across from the ballpark, houses the Diamond Tavern, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Fueling up with a breakfast of pineapple upside-down pancakes with Malibu rum maple syrup or Nutella stuffed French toast with candied bacon before an afternoon game should get you through until evening, perhaps with the exception of a soft pretzel or hot dog snack at the ballpark. And beer, of course (although I prefer lemonade).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1898\" src=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_5508-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For dinner, head over to the newly remodeled Holiday Inn Baltimore-Inner Harbor. Pappas Sports Bar is an offshoot of the popular Pappas restaurants in Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties. Their claim to fame is a fat 8-ounce crab cake, bursting with huge lumps of crab, with very little breading and a light dose of seasoning so you can really taste the shellfish. (Shakers of the house crab seasoning are available to add more spice, if you like.) Pappas\u2019 crab cakes are so good, they are one of Oprah\u2019s Favorite Things. In fact, when she was in town last year filming \u201cThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,\u201d she ordered their crab cakes for the entire cast and crew. Now that\u2019s love. If you don\u2019t want crab cakes (and I can\u2019t imagine why you would not, shellfish allergies aside), there are burgers and salads and a handful of other items on the short-but-sweet menu which is shared by Eden West, the hotel restaurant adjacent to Pappas Sports Bar. But trust me&#8211;like former Baltimore resident Oprah, you want a crab cake. Or two.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There are a couple of other restaurants close to the ballpark. On Pratt Street, there\u2019s Luna del Sea, a real seafood-a-palooza. Nearly 80% of their regular menu involves shellfish, so if that\u2019s what you\u2019re after, that\u2019s what you\u2019ll get. Over in the next block is the Pratt Street Ale House, a brewpub serving 15 or so of their own Oliver Ales, plus a handful of other local and non-local \u201cguest drafts.\u201d My place of employment\u2019s annual holiday party is held at Pratt Street Ale House; the first round is on our boss, so I\u2019ve become pretty familiar with the beers there. &lt;hic!&gt; The food is classic American pub grub&#8211;wings, cheese fries, nachos, burgers&#8211;with several nods to Maryland cuisine such as the crab pretzel, crab cakes, and chicken Chesapeake. Chicken Chesapeake is one of those things that\u2019s been on local menus since the 50s, but it doesn\u2019t seem to have a standard recipe. As long as it involves chicken and crab in some way, it gets labeled \u201cChesapeake.\u201d Pratt Street\u2019s version involves a chicken breast topped with crab imperial (crab mixed with an eggy mayonnaise and broiled until bubbly), which seems to be the most popular rendition.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1899\" src=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_4642-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"980\" height=\"980\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Over on the other side of the Hilton, where Paca Street curves around the ballpark and branches off into Washington Boulevard, there are a handful of popular pre-game spots. You won\u2019t find gourmet food at any of them, just a lot of beer, pub grub, and good times. And on game days, big crowds. There\u2019s Pickles Pub, which is pretty much a Baltimore institution. They have all the predictable nachos\/wings\/burgers, but also a bunch of other stuff like the sandwich called \u201cPilgrim.\u201d It\u2019s not the turkey and cranberry sauce combo one might think, but a spicy vegetarian-friendly melange of hummus, guac, pepperjack cheese and veg served hot on flatbread. There\u2019s also the unusual \u201cCrabby Pig\u201d featuring pulled pork topped with crab dip and cheddar. Pickles also serves clam strips, fried pickles (naturally), and beer-battered pepperjack cheese balls with marinara, which go great with a cold one or three. Next to Pickles is The Bullpen. They serve food, but people mostly seem to go there for their \u201ccheap ass beers,\u201d (that\u2019s how they advertise them). Then there\u2019s Sliders, a restaurant that claims to be 771 feet from home plate. I\u2019ve never measured, so I\u2019ll take them at their word. Sliders\u2019 game day menu includes hot dogs at a far more reasonable rate than you\u2019ll find inside Oriole Park, their namesake slider sandwiches, and various wraps largely featuring chicken, including a chicken Chesapeake (this one with crab dip). Their non-game-day menu is slightly longer, with cheap daily specials like $1 tacos and $5 margaritas on Mexican Monday, and 50-cent wings on Wing Ding Wednesday. (No idea what the price of a ding might be.)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Behind the cheap beer joints, on Pratt Street, there\u2019s a Potbelly Sandwich Shop, and a sports bar called Frank &amp; Nic\u2019s West End Grille, which is a bit classier (and pricey) than the places mentioned in the previous paragraph. Vegetarians are also slightly more likely to be able to put together a more substantial meal there. They have a chipotle black bean veggie burger and a wrap with roasted veg, goat cheese, and pesto. Grilled asparagus is also offered as a starter, as is mac and cheese.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards itself one can find Dempsey\u2019s, named after former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey. Their hours are a bit confusing, as they serve lunch and dinner to the general public only on non-game days, and lunch on days when a game is scheduled to start at <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_1949252385\"><span class=\"aQJ\">7:05pm<\/span><\/span>. During games, however, only game attendees may dine at Dempsey\u2019s. Like most of the other restaurants in the immediate vicinity, Dempsey\u2019s is a pub and the menu includes pretty much everything you\u2019d expect. Burgers are of the \u201cbuild-your-own\u201d variety and proteins include tuna, bison, and black bean in addition to the usual beef and turkey. The most unusual thing on the menu is the Bacon on a Stick. Not just any bacon, but thick-cut bacon coated in an Old Bay maple glaze. Mmm. The sticks are served stuck into a six pack of beer bottles, which sadly do not contain beer. Still&#8211;candied bacon on a stick!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In the stadium proper there\u2019s everything from classic hot dogs to Korean tacos and dumplings. (The Baltimore metro area has a pretty substantial Korean population, so that\u2019s not as strange as you might think.) Orioles great Boog Powell runs a pit beef stand on the promenade of Eutaw Street, serving up sandwiches that are Baltimore\u2019s answer to bbq. Generally, pit beef involves top round that has been charcoal-grilled, sliced, and piled onto a bun, ideally sauced with mayonnaise and lots of horseradish, and maybe some thinly sliced raw white onion. Other stadium favorites include various things topped with crab dip: potato chips; waffle fries; hot dogs. Personally, I haven\u2019t been impressed with any of the crabby offerings at Camden Yards. Give me a jumbo Esskay hot dog with mustard or a Roma Italian sausage with peppers and onions and I\u2019m a happy camper. Especially if the Orioles can eke out a win.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Minxeats Baltimore food blogger and Co-author of the new book,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1493017918\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1493017918&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=minxmonthlycriti&amp;linkId=2311db3202129434917aac2e112c5175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maryland\u2019s Chesapeake: How the Bay and its Bounty Shaped a Cuisine<\/a>, plus\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0762781092\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0762781092&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=minxmonthlycriti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Food Lovers\u2019 Guide to Baltimore<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/1lpymtl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baltimore Chef\u2019s Table<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Editors Note:\u00a0One thing we like to do when launching in a\u00a0city is to partner with local writers. This is a key part to the City Walker experience, we don\u2019t only want our app (<a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/VbVcjZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">iOS<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/7X79LQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Android<\/a>) to have a local prospective, we want our blog to have it too! This gives the authentic personal prospective that no one other than a local can offer. We are honored to have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/category\/minxeats\/\">MINXEATS\u00a0be a guest writer<\/a> for City Walker in Baltimore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While many people think of Baltimore\u2019s Inner Harbor as being the area immediately surrounding the water, the neighborhood actually stretches a bit further to the west and includes Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Thus, it seems fitting to conclude our multi-week tour of restaurants from Fells Point to the Inner Harbor with suggestions on where [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[166,158,250,243,245],"tags":[740],"class_list":["post-1894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baltimore","category-food","category-inner-harbor","category-local-pov","category-minxeats","tag-crab"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/oriolePark.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9buia-uy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1894"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1903,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894\/revisions\/1903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}