Maryland has way more to offer than fancy Inner Harbor restaurants and tourist traps. Tucked into neighborhoods, strip malls, and corners you’d never notice are the spots where locals actually eat, the kind of places with lines out the door on weekends and recipes passed down for generations. These hidden gems serve everything from pit beef piled high to crab cakes that’ll ruin all other crab cakes for you, and most tourists never find them.
1. Chap’s Pit Beef (Baltimore—Pulaski Hwy)
Baltimore’s pit-beef tradition started at roadside stands like this one, where smoke rises from charcoal pits and meat gets sliced to order. Chap’s has been doing it right since the ’80s, drawing crowds who know the drill: order your beef medium-rare for maximum tenderness and flavor.
Tiger sauce, a tangy horseradish kick, is the local’s choice, turning a simple sandwich into something unforgettable. The no-frills setup means you’re here for one reason: meat so good it needs nothing fancy.
Lines form fast during lunch and dinner rushes, but they move quickly. Grab extra napkins and find a spot at the picnic tables to enjoy your sandwich the way Baltimoreans have for decades…