James L.
Yelp
Places like the SoBo Cafe remind me of why I prefer to dine in Baltimore as opposed to Washington, DC. In 2016, I began my rant against what I termed DC's decent into "Gentrification Cuisine" and the downward spiral only continues in 2017 with DC now being considered a "serious foodie town". It seems that every dining establishment in DC is angling to be the next Michelin star rated, Food & Wine darling, or boast of their James Beard nominated chef leading the kitchen.
As one of the oldest cities in America, Baltimore has always had more of a Blue-Collar feel with lots of diverse authentic neighborhoods. SoBo Cafe is located in the Federal Hill district a few blocks from the Inner Harbor. This place is essentially a converted row house and when you step into the restaurant, there is a tiny waiting area that immediately abuts the bar and hostess stand.
It is easy to imagine the main dining area as once being someone's living room. Tables are crammed side-by-side, and on my visit, every one of them were filled with hungry brunch diners. We had to sit at the bar, which is fine since the friendly bartender answered all of our questions and even made a few suggestions.
The "Back to Bed" sandwich immediately caught my eye. The sandwich consists of applewood smoked bacon, ham, house made sausage, eggs, cheddar cheese, bacon mayo, and served with a side of home fries. The only modification I made was to change the bread from plain white to the house biscuit bread. Can I tell you, that this was the "best decision ever?"
Note, there is a substitution charge for the biscuit bread, but it's well worth the price.
The sandwich is mammoth and definitely large enough to share. In fact, we were going to each get our own entrees, but the bartender suggested just splitting the sandwich. I really appreciated this honesty, since not many places will do this anymore. And extra bonus points in that the kitchen was nice enough to serve the sandwich on two plates and evenly split the meal.
The "back to bed" was delicious. All of the meats were cooked perfectly and house made sausage had just the right snap when you bit into it, as good sausage should. The potatoes also had a nice brown char with subtle spice. Do yourself a favor and ask for the scratch made hot sauce. I'm not sure what's in it...I just know it's good.
The bottle arrives with no label in order to showcase the vibrant orange and red colors. The heat level is not outrageous, but just hot enough to cause a few beads of sweat on the brow. Another insider TIP is to head over to their retail outlet SoBo market (https://www.yelp.com/biz/sobo-market-baltimore) and buy some of that goodness for home use.
Our meal with coffee was less than $20! This same meal in DC would have easily been in the $30 range, and the food quality perhaps not as high.
Trust me on this Yelpers, the next time you are in Baltimore, head on over to SoBo cafe...you won't regret it.