A surprising pagoda in Patterson Park

Southeast Baltimore, fittingly, covers the areas in the southeast of Baltimore, ranging from industrial wastelands to charming neighborhoods both quiet and hip.

Get in

Southeast Baltimore is not served by either the metro or light rail lines of the MTA. You'll have to walk, use the MTA buses, or drive.

By foot

Assuming you're walking through Southeast Baltimore from the Inner Harbor, Canton is about a 30- to 40-minute walk, and Greektown will take at least an hour.

By bus

The MTA serves the Southeast Baltimore region from Inner Harbor and Downtown via routes #7, #10, #11 and #20.

If you are arriving to Baltimore by bus services such as Greyhound or the so-called Chinatown buses from Philadelphia and Washington D.C., they may drop off or pick up passengers at the Baltimore Travel Plaza, near where O'Donnell St crosses the I-95. From there, MTA bus #20 will take visitors Downtown.

By car

A car may be the most convenient way of getting to Southeast Baltimore if you have access to one. If you're traveling to Baltimore from elsewhere on the Atlantic coast by way of Interstate 95 (I-95), you will pass through Southeast Baltimore. The highway passes through Greektown and just outside the eastern edge of the Canton neighborhood.

By water taxi

For a unique and scenic way of getting there from the Inner Harbor, the water taxi can drop you off at several locations along the Fell Point or Canton waterfronts.

See

• 1 Patterson Park, 27 S Patterson Park Ave, ☏ +1 410-276-3676. (updated May 2020)

Do

• Duburns Arena, 1301 S Ellwood Ave, ☏ +1 443 573-2450. Home to the Charm City Roller Girls. 

Festivals

• LatinoFest, Patterson Park (southeast corner of park, near S Linwood Ave and Eastern Ave). A two-day festival celebrating Latino culture for one weekend in June of each year since 1980, with food, dancing and live music. It draws a multicultural crowd, so if you're not Latino you won't feel out of place, although a basic knowledge of Spanish would help with some of the vendors. $5 admission for adults, children under 12 free. 
• Meet in the Street, O'Donnell Square, Canton (between S Potomac Ave and S Linwood Ave). During the St. Patrick's Day weekend a local Irish pub sponsors a street festival in the aptly named O'Donnell Square in Canton. 

Performances

• Toby's Dinner Theatre, 5625 O'Donnell Street (Just east of I-95, in the Best Western hotel), ☏ +1 410 649-1660. A great musical theatre which has presented musicals from Joesph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to Les Miserables and Nunsense. 
• Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave, ☏ +1 410-276-1651. The Creative Alliance is a vibrant arts center with over 200 events a year ranging from costume dance parties, to folk music performances, rap, world music, and indie film screenings. The space holds two art galleries, a theater, classroom, media lab, live/work studios for 8 artists, and a bar/restaurant. 
  • The Charm City Kitty Club. An LGBT-oriented performing arts group at the Creative Alliance. 

Eat

• Greektown hosts a wealth of authentic Greek restaurants and coffeehouses.

Canton

While O'Donnell (Canton) square has the highest concentration of eateries in the area, the culinary selection is by no means limited to it. Around dinner time one can easily wander aimlessly anywhere between Patterson Park Boulevard to the west and Highland Avenue to the east and find a nice place to get some food. Below is a short listing the more popular restaurants.

Outside the Square

• Yellow Dog Tavern, 700 S. Potomac Street, ☏ +1 410 324-0280. Laid back corner pub turned local watering hole, with excellent food to boot! You will be hard pressed to find any tourists here, and it does not cater to the more upbeat nightlife of Canton Square. However, if you are looking to have a nice dinner and drinks with the locals, this is an excellent choice. There are regular art showings upstairs for those who are interested in the local scene $10-20 mains. 
• Blue Hill Tavern, 938 S. Conkling Street, ☏ +1 443 388-9363. Upscale restaurant on the edge of the Canton neighborhood, bordering with Highlandtown. The food is pricey and the portions small, but extremely delicious. Reservations recommended, but not required, on the weekends. Well worth it for happy hour (4-7PM) on weekdays. $20-30 Entree. 
• Jacks Bistro, 3120 Elliot Street, ☏ +1 410 878-6542. An excellent local American bistro located on a corner row home south of Canton Square. Known for their eclectic Sous Vide style of cooking, you can always find Jack's packed with locals on most nights. Try their signature chocolate macaroni and cheese, or stay for their late night happy hour menu (10-1PM) and have a Peanut Butter and Jelly Shot. Reservations strongly recommended throughout the week, practically required on the weekend. $20-30 mains. 
• Anabel Lee Tavern, 601 S. Clinton Street, ☏ +1 410 522-2929. Though well off the beaten path, Anabel Lee Tavern is one of the hidden gems of Baltimore's foodie scene. The restaurant is decorated in the style of Edgar Allen Poe, and serves up American style dishes that has earned itself a well entrenched reputation from the locals. The dining area is extremely small, so reservations are required. $20-30 mains. 

Far-Southeast

• Pizza John's, 113 Back River Neck Road, ☏ +1 410-687-773. Excellent pizza from this family owned business. Authentic Italian food. Share a table with the Coruzzi family from Teramo and Collevecchio Italy. 

Drink

Canton

By far the best place to go out for some drinking and dancing in the area, Canton is a treasure trove for those who like to bar crawl. While the hottest nightlife and subsequently younger crowd is centered around O'Donnell (Canton) Square, those looking for something a bit more local and low key can find numerous other drinking establishments in the surrounding area.

O'Donnell Square

• Looney's Pub, 2900 O'Donnell Street. A mainstay of the square for decades, Looney's is a quintessential sports bar by day, turned party hot spot by night. Looney's seems to be a magnet for anyone from the surrounding suburbs who want to do a night out on the town, though the locals still frequent the place as well. On the weekends there will be a DJ and it will get very loud and crowded. Serves pub food during the day.  
• Claddaugh Pub, 2918 O'Donnell Street. Another long-time institution in Canton, Claddaugh's is the resident Irish pub during the day, with outdoor seating and decent fare. Once the sun sets though, it turns into another local hot spot, complete with dance floor and two additional bars on the second level. While it still tends to cater to a younger crowd, the general atmosphere is less like a college bar than its neighbors. 

Patterson Perk, 2501 Eastern Ave. Coffee shop across from Patterson Park. 

Sleep

• Best Western Hotel & Conference Center, 5625 O'Donnell Street, ☏ +1 410 633-9500. Southeast Baltimore's big convention hotel, roughly in the middle of nowhere as far as Baltimore goes, but right by I-95/I-895. 
• The Inn at 2920, 2920 Elliott St (about 1/2 hour walk, or 7-10 minute drive from the Harbor). Although the price might be a bit steep for a bed and breakfast, it is definitely worth it. The place makes you feel pampered, the food is cooked by an excellent chef and the B&B is located in a cool, hip neighborhood (if somewhat yuppie-like), named Canton.