{"id":1916,"date":"2017-08-22T06:30:11","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T06:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/?p=1916"},"modified":"2018-06-05T03:25:35","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T03:25:35","slug":"federal-hill-south-baltimore-part","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/federal-hill-south-baltimore-part\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Hill and South Baltimore, part I"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">Now that we\u2019re done exploring the Inner Harbor area, we can venture slightly further south to an adjacent neighborhood: Federal Hill. Largely residential, Federal Hill is also home to many fine restaurants and drinking establishments, as well as the giant grassy promontory that is the neighborhood\u2019s namesake.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5121948059520287\" data-ad-slot=\"7255540004\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Federal Hill is currently used as a community park, but it has a rich history. It is said that Captain John Smith, when sailing up the Patapsco River on a tour of the Chesapeake Bay, declared the site a \u201cgreat bank of red clay flanking a natural harbor basin.\u201d Not sure how he knew it was clay, as it was likely covered with grass at the time he floated past, but considering that much of the ground here in the Baltimore area is indeed red clay, he wasn\u2019t wrong. Early settlers called the area \u201cJohn Smith\u2019s Hill\u201d in his honor. The current name is said to date back to 1788. Legend goes that a 15-foot model of a sailing ship with 7 sails to commemorate Maryland\u2019s position as the 7th state to ratify the US Constitution was paraded through town on its way to a perch upon John Smith\u2019s Hill. Though this Constitution thing might not seem like a big deal to people today, this was the occasion for a real shindig of a party and townsfolk got pretty shitfaced on free grog. Things got out of control when a few sailors decided to take the Federalist out onto the harbor and sail it down the Potomac. Dude! The name of the hill was changed to Federal Hill in tribute to the madness. This may also have been the start of the weekends of drunken revelry that routinely occur in the neighborhood. As mentioned above, Federal Hill is largely residential. Please, if you\u2019re going to imbibe in one or more of the neighborhood\u2019s watering holes, please be responsible about it. It\u2019s not nice to wake up to find vomit in your potted plant or even worse on your front steps.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Later, during the War of 1812, the British land attack on Baltimore was thwarted by 10,000 Americans who blocked their path near Federal Hill. Still later, during the Civil War, the mound was dubbed Fort Federal Hill and sported a series of cannons aimed at downtown Baltimore&#8211;just in case the city wasn\u2019t as loyal to the Union as it claimed to be. There are still replica cannons atop the hill, though the \u201cfort\u201d part of the name was dropped a long time ago. See, and you just thought it was a great bank of red clay!<\/p>\n<p>Enough history. We\u2019ll start our eating tour on Light Street a few blocks south of Key Highway. Berries by Quicha isn\u2019t a restaurant, but if you\u2019re a fan of chocolate covered strawberries, you\u2019ll want to stop in and pick up a couple of fat red berries coated in toppings like milk chocolate and bacon or dark chocolate and marshmallow. And if you\u2019re in the mood for a bagel, stroll across the street to Sam\u2019s Bagels to grab one or a half dozen.<\/p>\n<p>The next two blocks offer two Thai, one Mexican, one Lebanese, one Indian\/Nepalese, and one Italian restaurant, also pizza and grilled cheese. And Regi\u2019s. This landmark bistro has been around since 1978, but the menu is as hip as if it opened today. One can find avocado toast, a breakfast bowl, and tacos with scrambled eggs and carnitas at <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_310548215\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Saturday<\/span><\/span>\/<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_310548216\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Sunday<\/span><\/span> brunch, and Korean tacos and poke on the dinner menu. There are also crisp, panko-coated, Buffalo oysters with a sprightly hot sauce and blue cheese slaw, and \u201cTHE\u201d AJ\u2019s tater tots. AJ is Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones, who apparently has a thing for crispy cylinders of potato. At Regi\u2019s, they\u2019re served with brie, applewood smoked bacon, and Parmesan. Regi\u2019s also has a ton of sandwich offerings, like crab cakes and jumbo shrimp salad and Carolina pulled pork bbq, and a handful of larger meals like the Eastern Shore Pasta and a \u201cbig ass\u201d pork chop. WIth such a varied menu, and a dog-friendly patio, it\u2019s kinda hard to go wrong at Regi\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Unless of course you\u2019re craving green papaya salad. In that case, go to Thai Arroy, where the som tum is delicious and not too incendiary. Thai Arroy has a pretty large menu of Thai favorites, all the various yummy curries from red to green to Mussaman-style, and various stir fry-type dishes. There\u2019s another Thai restaurant across the street&#8211;Thai Yum&#8211;that also serves many favorite dishes, but also fancier stuff like a medium-rare duck breast with peanut sauce and pineapple rice, and a melange of seafood baked in a clay pot. I can\u2019t recommend one over the other, as I\u2019ve only been to Thai Arroy, but there are plenty of comments about both to be found on teh Innernets.<\/p>\n<p>Also on the same side of the street as Thai Yum is Maria D\u2019s, if you\u2019re in the mood for subs, pizza, or it happens to be <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_310548217\"><span class=\"aQJ\">1:30 AM<\/span><\/span>and you\u2019re sloshed and starving. If you\u2019re sober and in the \u00a0mood for lasagna, head 2 doors down to Brendali. Brendali offers traditional Italian pastas, chicken, and veal dishes, plus subs and pizza in a casual setting.<\/p>\n<p>In the next block, Himalayan Bistro serves familiar Indian dishes like Tandoori chicken, curries, and vegetarian items, plus the plump Nepalese dumplings called momo. And, oddly, chow mein, waffle fries, chicken wings, and coconut shrimp. Best of all, they have a buffet of deliciousness at various times during the week.<\/p>\n<p>Craving hummus, felafel, grape leaves, and tabbouleh?\u00a0 Look no further than across the street to Byblos Lebanese Cuisine, 2013 winner of Baltimore\u2019s Best Middle Eastern Food from Baltimore Magazine (the same year Minxeats won best food blog). You can get all of the above, plus more, including the addictive Mouhamara, a spicy dip made from walnuts, red peppers, and bulghur wheat. The combination plates are the way to go, as they include pita, hummus, and salad along with your choice of shawarma, kibbeh, kababs, even salmon, for $15 or less. There are several vegan options available, and don\u2019t miss the desserts.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s Blue Agave, a Mexican restaurant that serves more than just the usual street food tacos and burritos, fajitas and enchiladas, though they offer all of those as well. There\u2019s a weekend brunch with tres leches pancakes, and a dish called huevos puebla that\u2019s like an entire breakfast buffet on toast: refried beans, skirt steak, ham, eggs, and a cheese sauce, with potatoes on the side. Add bottomless blackberry sangria and <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_310548218\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Sunday<\/span><\/span> afternoon is probably best spent in a lounge chair somewhere taking a nap.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll never guess the specialty of the restaurant called Grilled Cheese &amp; Co. That\u2019s absolutely right &#8211; cream of tomato basil soup. It\u2019s a perfect accompaniment to the selection of grilled cheese sandwiches they also sell. I like the Fresco, with fresh mozz and provolone, a hint of pesto and roasted red peppers, and a wee bit of balsamic glaze, to cut the richness. There are also versions with bbq chicken and pepper jack, blue cheese and roast beef with horseradish sauce, and even a smashed meatball with provolone and marinara. You can also get a salad, but only if you promise to order a big fattening sandwich, too.<\/p>\n<p>Next time: there\u2019s plenty of restaurants in Federal Hill, so this might take a few weeks to get through. Feel free to skip ahead if you want. You honestly can\u2019t walk more than a few dozen feet without finding someplace else to eat.<\/p>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">Check out more places from this series<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/federal-hill-south-baltimore-part\/\">Federal Hill and South Baltimore, Part I<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/federal-hill-south-baltimore-part-ii\/\">Federal Hill and South Baltimore, Part II<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/federal-hill-south-baltimore-part-iii\/\">Federal Hill and South Baltimore, Part III<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/federal-hill-south-baltimore-part-iv\/\">Federal Hill and South Baltimore, Part IV<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/federal-hill-south-baltimore-part-v\/\">Federal Hill and South Baltimore, Part V<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Minxeats Baltimore food blogger and Co-author of the new book,\u00a0<a class=\" NFClass\" 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=\"nofollow noopener\">Maryland\u2019s Chesapeake: How the Bay and its Bounty Shaped a Cuisine<\/a>, plus\u00a0<a class=\" NFClass\" 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=\"nofollow noopener\">Food Lovers\u2019 Guide to Baltimore<\/a>, and\u00a0<a class=\" NFClass\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/1lpymtl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">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 class=\" NFClass\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/VbVcjZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">iOS<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\" NFClass\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/7X79LQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">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>Now that we\u2019re done exploring the Inner Harbor area, we can venture slightly further south to an adjacent neighborhood: Federal Hill. Largely residential, Federal Hill is also home to many fine restaurants and drinking establishments, as well as the giant grassy promontory that is the neighborhood\u2019s namesake. Federal Hill is currently used as a community [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2360,"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_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":[166,642,243,245],"tags":[741,201,643],"class_list":["post-1916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baltimore","category-federal-hill","category-local-pov","category-minxeats","tag-federal-hill-and-south-baltimore-series","tag-mexican","tag-middle-eastern"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/FederalHill.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9buia-uU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916","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=1916"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3271,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916\/revisions\/3271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citywalkerapp.com\/cw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}