A good introduction to Fells point and its numerous food and drink establishments by a super enthusiastic guide, Jules.
We have been to a number of food walking tours in different states and countries. We look for a variety of food types that epitomize a city or neighborhood. This tour mostly fulfilled that wish.
Fells point is a charming and trendy part of Baltimore, tending strongly to local businesses and not the fine but somewhat sterile chains in the Inner Harbor area (Shirley’s excepted - we love that place!).
Jules, an “all in” Baltimorian” or “Smalltimore” as she was fond of saying due to Baltimore’s 200 separate neighborhoods and its closer sense of being, knew her history well. Fells point is not large, but it has more watering holes than cities many times its size, plus the charm of older buildings dating back to 1769. I think she knew every drinking establishment and not necessarily by word-of-mouth.
Our food stops consisted of four restaurants and what may be best described as a blue collar bar/tavern that happened to serve desserts. We ended our tour there, pairing a White Russian with a slice of fried PB&J. The food stops were overly generous in their portions, platters of mac n’ cheese being left over for the taking at one stop. In fact too generous is perhaps the correct term. Most of the dishes were good, all the portions were giant, but generally not super special or great. We would have preferred smaller and perhaps less generic. What was also missing, which our intrepid tour guide could not provide, was a brief discussion by the Proprietor (or chef) about the dishes being served or how they related to Baltimore or the Fells point neighborhood. To sum up - a lot of food - you will not be hungry afterwards - a great tour guide, but a dining experience that was a 4/5. Good, solid but room for improvement. No reason it can’t make a few adjustments and be 5/5 next time.