3 Maryland Restaurants Make Daily Meal’s 101 Best In U.S. List

MARYLAND — If you’re looking to dine out more as the weather gets warmer, we’ve got some tasty news for you. The Daily Meal recently unveiled its list for the “101 Best Restaurants In America,” and the online food and dining site included three restaurants from Maryland.

Here are the best restaurants in our state, according to The Daily Meal’s rankings.

Charleston (Baltimore, Maryland)

• Ranking: 54
• 1000 Lancaster St., Baltimore, MD 21202

"Drawing on both French and South Carolina Lowcountry influences, the elegant restaurant offers a constantly changing prix fixe menu of three to six courses," according to The Daily Meal, which highlighted dishes like "artichoke beignets, shrimp and grits with andouille and tasso, fresh black winter truffle risotto, and pan-roasted foie gras with brioche toast and quail egg."

Charleston Chef Cindy Wolf is a co-owner of the restaurant. She is a semifinalist in the 2020 James Beard Awards in the category "best chef in the Mid-Atlantic," for which she has been a finalist multiple times.

Volt (Frederick, Maryland)

• Ranking: 95
• 228 N. Market St., Frederick, MD 21701

"Chef Bryan Voltaggio’s Volt is a Frederick, Maryland, must-visit," according to The Daily Meal, "serving eclectic seasonal fare in a Victorian-era brownstone. Voltaggio is a meticulous and exacting fine-dining chef, and that certainly comes through in elegantly plated dishes including salmon with kale-nori lasagna, and yellow corn chowder with shrimp, coconut and aerated potato."

Le Comptoir du Vin (Baltimore, Maryland)

• Ranking: 101
• 1729 Maryland Ave., Baltimore, MD, 21201

"This charming, 35-seat bistro and wine bar in the Maryland metropolis wouldn’t be out of place in the French countryside, and neither would the menu, which is scrawled on a blackboard," says The Daily Meal. "Sample the house-made sourdough with Normandy butter and grated radish, French lentils with curry and grilled flatbread, and blood sausage with celeriac puree. Then, wash it down with a bottle from the small yet intriguing wine list."

Le Comptoir du Vin was also ranked No. 18 on Esquire's list of the 22 best new restaurants in America for 2019. It called the Baltimore eatery the "sexiest third-date spot in America." Bon Appétit rated it among the top 10 best new eateries in the United States for 2019 too.

See Also:

• Baltimore Has One Of Best New Restaurants In U.S.: Esquire
• 2 Baltimore Restaurants Are James Beard Semifinalists
• Baltimore Restaurant Among Top 10 New Eateries In US: Bon Appétit

To compile the rankings, The Daily Meal contacted hundreds of dining experts around the country to ask which restaurants they considered the absolute best in their respective cities. Those restaurants were then added to other establishments that have “garnered near-universal acclaim” and eateries that have been featured on previous Daily Meal lists. The restaurants were ranked according to metrics such as food, service, beverage options and environment.

“These 101 restuarants serve food that’s thoughtful and thought-provoking, and they also have a dining room and a level of service that suit the quality of what’s on the plate, a good beverage list and a true sense of personality, imagination and consistency,” authors of The Daily Meal rankings wrote in an introductory statement to the list. “Visiting one of these restaurants feels like a truly memorable culinary experience.”

Alinea, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago, was ranked as the No. 1 eatery in the United States, according to The Daily Meal. The top five restaurants were rounded out by Eleven Madison Park in New York City, Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, Le Bernardin in New York City and Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia.

The full list of the 101 best restaurants is available on The Daily Meal.

— By Gus Saltonstall and Elizabeth Janney