SoBo Market

We love this spot — truly a neighborhood gem! The staff is always welcoming and charming, making suggestions & conversation. Foodage is on point. I have tried several of the items on the menu — we adore the grilled cheese & tomato soup, as well as the sliders. The cheese & crackers is always a great choice! Thrilled that they have added ice cream sandwiches to the menu — perfect for a quick treat! They recently started doing brunch on the weekends, which is fantastic! Great bloody Mary’s! We had both the breakfast sandwich & the breakfast tacos — both delicious!
In addition to all the menu items, they also have a mini-​market, with all the essentials — milk, eggs, bread, toilet paper, as well as gourmet foodie snacks, wines, beers to-​go, and takeout prepared dinners.
Small spot, with about 15 or so bar stools, 2 or 3 tiny 2-​top tables, and 2 picnic tables for community eating. Love that they just opened up the one wall with Windows, and the fact that they have rotating art from local artists adorning the walls. All-​in-​all, a wonderful spot, thrilled to have it so close by!

If I rated this place on food and drinks alone, I would give it 4 stars. The cocktails and lite fair were what you’d expect, with a couple of unique exceptions like the Futureball… sort of like a drink and a half that is transformed from an Old Fashioned to a Manhattan (try it!).
The space is relatively small (also expected), and one of the employees who seemed to be running the show – Owner? Manager? – took umbrage with how far back from the bar I positioned my chair. I recently had leg surgery and am in an unfortunately unwieldy brace that does not allow me to bend my leg at all, necessitating a fair bit of room to put my leg out in front of me. I had my leg as far to the side as possible and estimate that my chair wasn’t any further away from the bar than if a larger weighted or particularly tall person would have been sitting there. Before he noticed me, at least one large party headed to the O’s game made it easily past me on their way out and a couple coming in breezed by behind me with no problem, so I wasn’t impeding the flow of foot traffic in the least. But when this gentleman came out from the back, he told me I would have to figure something else out since I was «too far in the only footpath for patrons.» I decided to stand at that point, but then had to leave prematurely since my leg hurts pretty badly when forced to stand too long. The bar wasn’t crowded and not a single customer had any issue with how I was seated… in fact, one couple to my right piped up and asked if I wanted them to speak up on my behalf after witnessing what the man said, which I declined.
All in all, it was a nice place… nothing spectacular or memorable, but a solid addition to the neighborhood that I wouldn’t mind returning to.

This place may look small, but packs a punch! We went for brunch: greek yogurt with honey, granola and fruit, the BALT sandwich (bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato) on fresh made bread, and the bacon/​egg/​potato fritatta. Awesome coffee and the staff was friendly too. Also, very reasonably priced (just like Sobo Café). HUGE neighborhood upgrade over Razors.

SoBo Café is one of my favorite spots in Federal Hill, when I heard the owners were opening SoBo Market even closer to my apartment, I was ecstatic. The menu consists of mostly small plates and sandwiches — it’s perfect for sharing. The space is also small and intimate making it a perfect date night spot if you’re in the mood for something low key. One of my friends loves SoBo Café just as much as I do so we made plans to head over to SoBo Market together.
We walked in around 6:30 and grabbed a seat at the bar. The bartender was very friendly and offered to walk us through the menu and answer any questions we had.
My friend and I opted on sharing a few different plates. It’s worth noting that SoBo Market also has an impressive grab-​n-​go section that they’re going to be expanding into breakfast in the coming weeks.
The first item that we ordered was the Merguez Sliders, these spicy lamb burgers were tipped with chermoula mayonnaise, pickled carrots, and cilantro on a sesame roll. The lamb patty was thin and the spice wasn’t overpowering. Additionally, the chermoula mayonnaise provided a little bit of heat, I loved these and would order them again in an instant.
I love a good cheese board, and the friend I was with does too — thank goodness! So we also split the Cheese & Crackers. The board was the perfect size for two and came with Charlottetown Farm aged chevre which is a creamy soft cheese made from goat’s milk. The cheese was mild and tasted wonderful on the homemade crackers with the SoBo jam, when we visited it was strawberry flavored. The other cheese on the board was manchengo which is made from sheep’s milk. This cheese was also mild with a buttery texture and I loved it as well.
One of my favorite dishes at SoBo Café, the Mac-​n-​Cheese is also on the menu at SoBo Market so of course we ordered that. And it was just as delicious as it is at the sister restaurant. If you haven’t had it, you’re missing out.
The last dish my friend and I shared were the Roasted Fingerling Potatoes — for her, this was the highlight of the meal. The potatoes were soft and well roasted and served with a delicious jalapeño dill sauce. They were a great alternative to French fries which you normally see on a menu.
My friend has a bit of a sweet tooth, so we opted to share a Marshmallow Pop for dessert. This was the best choice we made that night. Picture a home made marshmallow, on a stick, dipped in milk chocolate, and then rolled in an almond crunch. Talk about delicious!
If you’re in Federal Hill and looking for a low-​key date night with delicious food, head over to SoBo Market!

We LOVE this place. Service is awesome. Friendly, inviting atmosphere, conversational, accommodating and more good adjectives that I cannot think of right now. The booze selection is pretty cool. We have discovered a few of our new favorite things here. Try the griddled peppers!!!

The smaller but equally delicious cousin/​brother/​friend/​sister/​relative of SoBo Café. The menu is unique as expected but the food is still great. The location is quiet so if you blink you might miss it. Still worth seeking out for a date night, dinner with friends, or solo dinner.

I admit I am a local and want to see this establishment succeed. But I also rarely publicly rate things online so I think you can trust me when I say — go here. The food is the high quality deliciousness you get from the same owners of the Sobo café, the service is excellent (friendly, warm — think of the show Cheers… where everybody knows your name), and the drinks– one word: yummy! If you’re looking for an intimate setting and a place to escape for a couple of hours this is your place. See you there!

Dimly lit, warm, cozy, casual & friendly (both the staff and the patrons). Great selection of whiskey and bourbons and craft beers. I tried the quinoa burger w/​a side of pasta salad (w/​arugula pesto) and both were terrific. The entire menu looks great. I’ll be back.

Came in to grab a quick bite to eat and left realizing I just ate the best chicken ever! The roasted chicken was just out of this world! Yes this is possible! The tomato soup was great too… creamy and just perfect! The staff are friendly and helpful and will be back soon! Definitely try this neighborhood gem!