Crab cakes are the dish Baltimore is judged by. These are the places locals most often send visitors, from a market counter to white-tablecloth.
Seafood counter · Downtown and Lexington Market · $$
Jumbo lump crab cakes, raw bar. A family seafood business in Lexington Market since 1886, and one of the names that comes up first when Baltimoreans talk about crab cakes.
Neighborhood pub · Lauraville and Hamilton · $$
Very large crab cakes. A neighborhood pub on Harford Road that has built a citywide reputation on one dish: a crab cake big enough to share.
Steakhouse · Mount Vernon · $$$$
Prime rib, steaks, crab cakes, leopard-print carpet. A dressy steakhouse open since 1965, with black walls, leopard carpet, live piano and a crab cake that many locals rate as highly as the beef.
Crab house and restaurant · Canton · $$
Steamed crabs, crab cakes, waterfront seating. A Canton landmark easy to spot from Boston Street: part of it is built to look like a ship.
Seafood restaurant · Baltimore County and nearby · $$
Crab cakes, steamed crabs, crab pretzels. A family-run Dundalk seafood house that has become one of the region’s best-known names for crab cakes and steamed crabs, with a carryout seafood market.
Seafood restaurant · Baltimore County and nearby · $$
Jumbo lump crab cakes. A Parkville restaurant and sports bar with a long reputation for its jumbo lump crab cakes.
Seafood restaurant · Baltimore County and nearby · $$
Very large crab cakes. A Linthicum restaurant near BWI Airport, famous for crab cakes so big many people take half home.
Chesapeake restaurant · Charles Village and Homewood · $$$
Crab cakes, cornmeal-fried oysters, Creole catfish. Chef John Shields’s Chesapeake restaurant inside the Baltimore Museum of Art, with a sculpture garden next door.
Chesapeake seafood · Hampden · $$$
Their own farmed oysters, roasted oysters, crab cakes. The restaurant of a Maryland oyster farm, serving its own oysters raw and roasted alongside Chesapeake fish and crab.
Seafood restaurant · Inner Harbor · $$$
Crab cakes, crab soup, harbor views. The Baltimore restaurant of the Maryland seafood company also known for its Ocean City crab houses.
Seafood restaurant · Fells Point · $$$
Steamed crabs, crab cakes, raw bar, a big patio. A large seafood restaurant in Fells Point’s historic Broadway Market building, run by the Atlas Restaurant Group.
Know your crab cake first: read what makes a Maryland crab cake.
Every place here was checked as operating in October 2026. Hours change, so check before you go. Ratings come only from readers.
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