I know there is a ton of data on Baltimore in this thread, but I thought guys might be interested in reading one from the perspective of a minority. As i'm black, I think I qualify for that. I've lived in Baltimore city for the past year, and in the Baltimore area for the past 6 or so, so I feel I have a good vibe for the city. And since it seems to be compared to DC so much, i'll be juxtaposing the two cities a lot.
I read through this thread and most of it is accurate, but i'll try to provide as much new info as I can. Most of this will apply to everyone, but obviously as a minority it may be more relevant to minority problems and agendas. And just to get it out of the way, I am mostly into white and asian chicks, so that may color the report as well.
As mentioned many times, Baltimore is a blue-collar city that is divided into 4 main "party" areas for players to stalk their prey. They are Federal Hill, Power Plant, Fells Point, and Canton. Downtown/Midtown Baltimore also has a few select clubs and bars, but the area is not ideal....more on that later.
Baltimore in General
Baltimore is a city where everyone has a chance. There are jobs here, but not the same kind of jobs as elsewhere that attract women who are career-oriented, especially at the cost of a social life. Girls here care about two things: Baltimore Sports and drinking tons of beer on the weekends. Dress is casual in pretty much all places, which means that you can be comfortable wearing anything you want, but suiting up will indeed get you more attention. It intrigues them, I would say. Which leads to another point.
Baltimore girls are somewhat homely and easy to impress. Most of my friends live in DC and Northern Virginia, and when they come up to visit and go out all they have to do is mention they are from DC and the conversation is a go. Girls in Baltimore think everyone who lives in DC/Northern VA has a ton of money....which is somewhat true, at least relative to them and their jobs as inner-city teachers and/or social workers.
Girls
Despite being a blue-collar city, you will find the average girl in Baltimore is just as good-looking as the average DC girl. And with less makeup on to boot. As someone else mentioned, the great thing about Bmore is that wherever you go you are liable to run into the city's top notch talent just hanging around the bar, unlike places like DC where the best girls are either at tables or at parties you don't have access to. Any girl in Baltimore can be opened at any time, with any line. I've never been disrespected by a chick here no matter what I said. Can't say the same about DC and VA.
As well, race is much less of a limiting factor here than other places (DC, Arlington). I've never gone out here and felt my race was an inhibiting factor - for the most part, if a girl isn't into me and/or disses me, I take it at face value. I can't say that for other places.
As said, there are 4 main going out spots in Bmore. From south to north, they are:
Federal Hill
If you are coming to visit Baltimore....stay here. The highest concentration of 22-26 year olds you will find in the city. We call Fed the "post-college dorms". As said before, the main area to go is Cross St, where almost literally all the bars are concentrated. You will see SMOKING HOT chicks walking the streets here constantly. Open them up - they don't care. Whether you get dissed or not, the thing about girls here is that there is a distinct lack of egoism separating average girls from hot girls.
Magerks
Possibly the most central bar. Everyone comes here, and its a great place to mingle and just run into people on accident. The bottom floor is a good hangout place, but I don't think i've seen anyone ITT mention the upstairs. When you go up the steps, there is a dance floor there and girls do not wallflower, they actually get up and move. Its well-lit so you can see everyone properly, the music is always good (hip hop so you can grind), and the drinks are cheap but strong. This is normally my first stop when I hit Fed Hill. Highly recommended.
Nobles
Across the street from Magerks is Nobles, another two-story bar with a GREAT dance floor upstairs.
Now, as a disclaimer, I know not all guys love to dance, but I love to. My talk game is fine, but I dance like a goddamn demon (excuse my french) and I like to mix the two for max effect. Most of the places I frequent have at least a small dance floor, but all of them also have places to just go and troll for random girls.
Nobles is chock full of girls who love to dance and will do it with near anyone. And its easy to take someone downstairs to the main bar area if you make a connection. Just a good place all around
Mothers
Maybe the most popular spot in Fed Hill, has a great dance floor and a huge bar area where its easy to hit on girls without being seen by the masses. Not much else to say - its a must-see.
Mad River
For the true dance-aholics. This place is pretty much two levels of dance floor, so if you like to bogey this is the place for you. Very loud and dark however, so if you aren't confidence in your dance game and need to converse, this is probably not your best bet.
The Stalking Horse
Similar to Mad River in that its basically a huge dance floor upstairs with loud ass music and dark lighting. The downstairs is a bar area but i've found that most people there are coupled up. Hasn't been worth my personal time.
Fed Hill is chock full of young, prime pussy. The only issue with it is that its away from the rest of the city, kind of on its own island with the rest of the party spots all within close proximity of each other. Saying that, we're talking only about a 10 minute drive or so to the other spots, so not that huge of a deal. There are a bunch of other bars here, but as these are the only ones I frequent I thought i'd stick to what I knew.
Power Plant
Across from the Inner Harbor of Baltimore's shopping center and docks, Power Plant is an enclosed open-area spot that has gotten much better in the past few years. What used to be a somewhat ghetto, ratchet, young crowd has matured into a hotter, "more suburban" and more mature crowd with girls from 24-40 making their way into the many bars there. It costs about $5 to get into the enclosed area but once in you can go wherever you want for the most part. Mosaic has been mentioned here, but I find that place a bit high-brow and Baltimore-pretentious - lots of girls dressed to the T and hanging around the tables. Mosaic is very DC like, which is good in some ways and bad in others.
Iguana Cantina was mentioned earlier, but has been shut down for a while.
My favorite place to go here is PBR, a western-themed multi-level club that hosts some of the hottest girls the city has to offer. The main dance floor is huge, and there are numerous other areas of the bar to talk and mingle. There's a cool mechanical bull in the center that girls obviously like to try their hands at, and if nothing else you will have fun laughing at them being flung off the thing like a rocket.
Right below PBR is another bar the name of which escapes me, but is more of a "date" place than a hookup queue. However, across from this is Joe Squared, a place where not only they have a great dance floor, but also an elevated stage with stripper poles. As you can guess, girls love to get up on stage and show their moves, or lack thereof.
Power Plant is a nice place to go out, but more as a break from one of the other neighborhoods. I would rather start my night out there and then go somewhere else, if for nothing else than girls in other neighborhoods will actually live in those neighborhoods, and thus be easier to take home (to their place).
Fells Point
Ahhh....good old Fells Point. This is, IMO, the place to be in Baltimore if you want to party and are a little older (past early 20's). The girls are NOT as hot as the ones in Federal Hill, but the area itself is much bigger and livelier in general. The mixture here is more racially diverse. The vibe you get walking around here is that literally anything can happen - there are street musicians playing in the center lot at any time of night, bums wandering around, drunk girls stumbling. To a player or a player-in-training, this place will feel like home.
Bond St. Social
The mecca. If you love being on the prowl, and you love hot chicks, this is where you need to go. Its hard to find any ugly girls in this place, and in fact you'll find a lot of the city's "models" there. The music is TOP NOTCH. The venue is one floor but divided very clearly into the dance area, and the main mingling area. My fav place by far, the bouncers here dont even card me anymore, they just dap me up and move aside.
Now, what makes this place unique is that the main dance floor doubles as a mingle area - music is playing, but not too loud, and about half the people are dancing at any one time. You can easily open a chick, talk to her for a while, and then just start grinding on her as you please in the exact same spot.
The main area has a huge pillar in the middle, basically cutting the floor off into two sections. I like to make my way around the pillar, counter-clockwise, hitting on girls until something takes with none the wiser.
The dress code here is implied but not really enforced - you can wear what you want, but as someone else mentioned, most people are dressed a little nicer than anywhere else in the area. Most guys are in button ups and nice shirts as opposed to t-shirts. I personally tend to go all or nothing - a buddy of mine came up from DC wearing his suit and was opened by a (local) model who wanted to know why he was suited up. They ended the night together.
Personally, after going in there a couple months ago in a plain white v-neck T and k-closing 2 hot younger girls then smashing a cougar, i've come to the conclusion it doesn't matter what the fuck you wear. Its all about you and your confidence/swag, and I was feeling baller as shit that night. If wearing something in particular makes you feel more confident, go for it - but if you're on point what you wear isn't going to make a difference, even here, where people dress up more than usual.
The Get Down
This club is the "Mad River" of Fells Point. All dance floor downstairs, with a sectioned off couch area and upstairs couch area for those who brought girls. The Get Down is dark, and the music is loud - I come here when I specifically want to Get Jiggy With It immediately. Dance floor is not that big however - if you aren't having much luck, you can easily cover the full area in a matter of minutes and be out of girls to talk to. $10 cover charge so you'd better want to dance if you come in.
Max's Taphouse
Everyone in Baltimore knows and loves Max's. Best beer selection in the city, and although it has no dance floor its always stacked full of chicks on the weekends. Well lit too. Great place to drink during the day and pregame if you want to go somewhere else. Not ideal for meeting single girls in my experience, but worth checking out all the same.
The Horse You Came in On
Right across the street from Bond St. Social, this bar is a nice little gem I stumbled on after running into two of my exes at Bond St and jettisoning immediately. Dark and somewhat cramped, with a single level that is mostly for meeting and talking, little dancing, but not hard to strike up a conversation with any random chick who - if she is in here - is probably a little trashier.
Now. to the immediate left of Max's Taphouse are a few bars that cater to more minority crowds, and its not unusual to see most of the black and latina guys and girls congregated around here, hanging outside.
If you're a minority looking for other minorities, this is the place to be - the north end of Fells Point on the corner of Broadway and Fleet Street. Great food places as well, huge slices of pizza, cheesesteaks, crab cake sandwiches at a GREAT island deli in the middle of the street separating the two sidewalks of bars.
There are a TON more bars in Fells Point, but unfortunately i've only just started exploring them. Funny enough, it took me running into my exes to branch out from my watering hole Bond St Social and discovering other places, and i'm excited to see some more of them in the coming weekends. But I would say in sheer volume and variety of bars and clubs, Fells Point has all of the other neighborhoods beat. And you'll find all ages here too - Fed is a little younger (22-25), Canton a little older (25-32), but Fells is a great mix of the two and you get everything. You'll find girls from 23 to 42 here.
Fells is where I take all of my dates, on the same date - Max's for a drink, then a walk along the waterfront as the huge moon shines on the water. Works 60% of the time, every time. Great date spot. Fells is the best all-around neighborhood in the city IMO.
Canton
I've seen some of the guys in the thread mention Canton as one of the prime go-out spots in Baltimore. I have to respectfully disagree. I live in Canton, on the main square, and although there are a number of bars to go to, the area has nothing on Fells Point or Federal Hill in terms of quantity or ease of pull.
Canton is where the girls in Fed and Fells Point move to once they've found their white knight and settled down. The main square and bar area itself is much more compact than Fed or Fells Point, and although the girls are very attractive, they are all in relationships.
Now, let me get to the good things about Canton first.
Its very safe. In fact, i've seen some concerns about Baltimore safety-wise and let me assure everyone - if you are south of Patterson Park/Baltimore St. (every area i've mentioned), NOTHING WILL EVER HAPPEN TO YOU. There is a very distinct and fine line between the part of Bmore that you can get fucked up in, and the parts you can't. And you will know IMMEDIATELY when you cross it. Coincidentally, on the other side of Patterson Park/Baltimore Street is where most of the strip clubs and more inner-city, "urban" clubs are. If the crowd is to your liking (black, latina girls), its for you, but enter at your own risk.
Canton is along the waterfront of Baltimore's harbor, next to Fells Point, and before I moved here I would be walking around looking for my car at 2am and see people walking their dogs. White, yuppie people who looked like they should be at a country club. Fells Point and Fed Hill aren't quite as happy-go-lucky, but neither of them will give you any trouble you don't ask for.
Anyway, as I mentioned Canton is an older, more mature crowd with lots of bars whose best feature is their gourmet food. Thats not to say I haven't hooked up with girls here - but its been far fewer and between then the others. Simply put, you can have fun here but most of the chicks you run into will be engaged, married, or in committed relationships. I like living here because of the aforementioned reasons (nice area, waterfront), but its easily the last place I would spend a weekend night.
Is it possible to pull here? Yes. Are there good bars? Yes. Is it worth your time to skip the other neighborhoods? No. If you happen to come to Bmore, go to Canton to try out the top-notch seafood at Mama's on a Half Shell or the bbq sandwiches at JD's Smokehouse, then head back east to Fells or Fed Hill.
I also saw someone mention the Bay Cafe in an above post - this place has been shut down since December after going out of business. A real shame too, what he said about it was right, it was a great place to go to drink and mack on chicks. Even before I moved to Canton, I would come here on weekends to hit the Bay Cafe for the reasons he mentioned. Lots of ambiance and atmosphere from lit tiki torches and the beach-sand floor.
Anyway, if you do decide to come to Canton to hang out, there are only a few places worth your time IMO:
Looney's Pub
No dance floor and lots of non-single chicks. My strategy here has always been to hit the pool table on the second floor and get in playing with whoever was up there, which usually included a bunch of guys and hot girls. Meeting someone in the bar area will be difficult because they won't be single and it can be impossible to open - but play pool with the bitches and you can begin a rapport in an organic way.
Claddagh's
2nd best bar in Canton, because of the upstairs dance floor. Very small, but here you have to make do with what you can get.
Coburns
Across the street from Claddagh's Pub is Coburns, a similarly designed place with a main bar area downstairs and a small (but bigger than Claddagh's) dance floor upstairs. People here are generally the most laid-back in the area, i've found, and even when I haven't hooked anything i've had fun just messing around on the dance floor with different girls and guys. This is my favorite go-out spot in Canton.
Again though....only if you really need to would I come to Canton to party. And no one really needs to.
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*Race
Touching on some of the other subjects I mentioned, especially as pertaining to minorities, I would say that if you are a black/brown guy, Baltimore is as good a city as you will find in the mid-Atlantic area. Philly i've found is lacking in talent, and DC is a little too high-brow and pretentious at times. As a black guy, who likes white girls, i've never felt my race was a real inhibiting factor when I went out - it may well have been, and i'm not saying it hasn't, but every black guy can "feel" when things aren't exactly square.
I went to the University of Maryland for college, which is right near DC, so during school and right after, DC was my main stomping grounds for chasing ass. You can pull, but status and prestige - not even necessarily money - was the factor most girls there are attracted to. What can do you for them? Where can you take them? The lawyers, capitol hill lobbyists, pharmaceutical saleswomen, etc. flood the city and their main goal is to further their career, not deal with men. Especially minority men. Not complaining, just observing.
DC, and Arlington, have a different "feel" to them than Baltimore does. Before you even talk to anyone...its just something in your bones. Most black guys should know what i'm talking about. I'm not saying avoid DC by any means - my friends who live there get their share of girls, and i've scored both my fastest makeout and fastest smash ever in DC.
What i'd suggest for any minorities (who date outside their race) reading is that if you have a choice, and want to maximize your pussy efficiency, Baltimore is a much better bet - not only are the girls just as hot, they are more accessible and more open to dating (read: FUCKING) outside their race. Since i've moved into the city and my friends have visited more consistently, they are all talking about selling their places and moving here.
My advice for anyone wanting to experience charm city is to do the following:
- Stay at a hotel in the Inner Harbor/Power Plant area, or rent a place in Federal Hill
- Go out to party in Fells Point or Federal Hill
- Eat in Canton or in the Inner Harbor
Best of all, all of these places are relatively close so its no big deal to cab around the city from neighborhood to neighborhood. You could go to 2-3 in one night if you want - but if you're in the right spot, hopefully you won't need to.
I read through this thread and most of it is accurate, but i'll try to provide as much new info as I can. Most of this will apply to everyone, but obviously as a minority it may be more relevant to minority problems and agendas. And just to get it out of the way, I am mostly into white and asian chicks, so that may color the report as well.
As mentioned many times, Baltimore is a blue-collar city that is divided into 4 main "party" areas for players to stalk their prey. They are Federal Hill, Power Plant, Fells Point, and Canton. Downtown/Midtown Baltimore also has a few select clubs and bars, but the area is not ideal....more on that later.
Baltimore in General
Baltimore is a city where everyone has a chance. There are jobs here, but not the same kind of jobs as elsewhere that attract women who are career-oriented, especially at the cost of a social life. Girls here care about two things: Baltimore Sports and drinking tons of beer on the weekends. Dress is casual in pretty much all places, which means that you can be comfortable wearing anything you want, but suiting up will indeed get you more attention. It intrigues them, I would say. Which leads to another point.
Baltimore girls are somewhat homely and easy to impress. Most of my friends live in DC and Northern Virginia, and when they come up to visit and go out all they have to do is mention they are from DC and the conversation is a go. Girls in Baltimore think everyone who lives in DC/Northern VA has a ton of money....which is somewhat true, at least relative to them and their jobs as inner-city teachers and/or social workers.
Girls
Despite being a blue-collar city, you will find the average girl in Baltimore is just as good-looking as the average DC girl. And with less makeup on to boot. As someone else mentioned, the great thing about Bmore is that wherever you go you are liable to run into the city's top notch talent just hanging around the bar, unlike places like DC where the best girls are either at tables or at parties you don't have access to. Any girl in Baltimore can be opened at any time, with any line. I've never been disrespected by a chick here no matter what I said. Can't say the same about DC and VA.
As well, race is much less of a limiting factor here than other places (DC, Arlington). I've never gone out here and felt my race was an inhibiting factor - for the most part, if a girl isn't into me and/or disses me, I take it at face value. I can't say that for other places.
As said, there are 4 main going out spots in Bmore. From south to north, they are:
Federal Hill
If you are coming to visit Baltimore....stay here. The highest concentration of 22-26 year olds you will find in the city. We call Fed the "post-college dorms". As said before, the main area to go is Cross St, where almost literally all the bars are concentrated. You will see SMOKING HOT chicks walking the streets here constantly. Open them up - they don't care. Whether you get dissed or not, the thing about girls here is that there is a distinct lack of egoism separating average girls from hot girls.
Magerks
Possibly the most central bar. Everyone comes here, and its a great place to mingle and just run into people on accident. The bottom floor is a good hangout place, but I don't think i've seen anyone ITT mention the upstairs. When you go up the steps, there is a dance floor there and girls do not wallflower, they actually get up and move. Its well-lit so you can see everyone properly, the music is always good (hip hop so you can grind), and the drinks are cheap but strong. This is normally my first stop when I hit Fed Hill. Highly recommended.
Nobles
Across the street from Magerks is Nobles, another two-story bar with a GREAT dance floor upstairs.
Now, as a disclaimer, I know not all guys love to dance, but I love to. My talk game is fine, but I dance like a goddamn demon (excuse my french) and I like to mix the two for max effect. Most of the places I frequent have at least a small dance floor, but all of them also have places to just go and troll for random girls.
Nobles is chock full of girls who love to dance and will do it with near anyone. And its easy to take someone downstairs to the main bar area if you make a connection. Just a good place all around
Mothers
Maybe the most popular spot in Fed Hill, has a great dance floor and a huge bar area where its easy to hit on girls without being seen by the masses. Not much else to say - its a must-see.
Mad River
For the true dance-aholics. This place is pretty much two levels of dance floor, so if you like to bogey this is the place for you. Very loud and dark however, so if you aren't confidence in your dance game and need to converse, this is probably not your best bet.
The Stalking Horse
Similar to Mad River in that its basically a huge dance floor upstairs with loud ass music and dark lighting. The downstairs is a bar area but i've found that most people there are coupled up. Hasn't been worth my personal time.
Fed Hill is chock full of young, prime pussy. The only issue with it is that its away from the rest of the city, kind of on its own island with the rest of the party spots all within close proximity of each other. Saying that, we're talking only about a 10 minute drive or so to the other spots, so not that huge of a deal. There are a bunch of other bars here, but as these are the only ones I frequent I thought i'd stick to what I knew.
Power Plant
Across from the Inner Harbor of Baltimore's shopping center and docks, Power Plant is an enclosed open-area spot that has gotten much better in the past few years. What used to be a somewhat ghetto, ratchet, young crowd has matured into a hotter, "more suburban" and more mature crowd with girls from 24-40 making their way into the many bars there. It costs about $5 to get into the enclosed area but once in you can go wherever you want for the most part. Mosaic has been mentioned here, but I find that place a bit high-brow and Baltimore-pretentious - lots of girls dressed to the T and hanging around the tables. Mosaic is very DC like, which is good in some ways and bad in others.
Iguana Cantina was mentioned earlier, but has been shut down for a while.
My favorite place to go here is PBR, a western-themed multi-level club that hosts some of the hottest girls the city has to offer. The main dance floor is huge, and there are numerous other areas of the bar to talk and mingle. There's a cool mechanical bull in the center that girls obviously like to try their hands at, and if nothing else you will have fun laughing at them being flung off the thing like a rocket.
Right below PBR is another bar the name of which escapes me, but is more of a "date" place than a hookup queue. However, across from this is Joe Squared, a place where not only they have a great dance floor, but also an elevated stage with stripper poles. As you can guess, girls love to get up on stage and show their moves, or lack thereof.
Power Plant is a nice place to go out, but more as a break from one of the other neighborhoods. I would rather start my night out there and then go somewhere else, if for nothing else than girls in other neighborhoods will actually live in those neighborhoods, and thus be easier to take home (to their place).
Fells Point
Ahhh....good old Fells Point. This is, IMO, the place to be in Baltimore if you want to party and are a little older (past early 20's). The girls are NOT as hot as the ones in Federal Hill, but the area itself is much bigger and livelier in general. The mixture here is more racially diverse. The vibe you get walking around here is that literally anything can happen - there are street musicians playing in the center lot at any time of night, bums wandering around, drunk girls stumbling. To a player or a player-in-training, this place will feel like home.
Bond St. Social
The mecca. If you love being on the prowl, and you love hot chicks, this is where you need to go. Its hard to find any ugly girls in this place, and in fact you'll find a lot of the city's "models" there. The music is TOP NOTCH. The venue is one floor but divided very clearly into the dance area, and the main mingling area. My fav place by far, the bouncers here dont even card me anymore, they just dap me up and move aside.
Now, what makes this place unique is that the main dance floor doubles as a mingle area - music is playing, but not too loud, and about half the people are dancing at any one time. You can easily open a chick, talk to her for a while, and then just start grinding on her as you please in the exact same spot.
The main area has a huge pillar in the middle, basically cutting the floor off into two sections. I like to make my way around the pillar, counter-clockwise, hitting on girls until something takes with none the wiser.
The dress code here is implied but not really enforced - you can wear what you want, but as someone else mentioned, most people are dressed a little nicer than anywhere else in the area. Most guys are in button ups and nice shirts as opposed to t-shirts. I personally tend to go all or nothing - a buddy of mine came up from DC wearing his suit and was opened by a (local) model who wanted to know why he was suited up. They ended the night together.
Personally, after going in there a couple months ago in a plain white v-neck T and k-closing 2 hot younger girls then smashing a cougar, i've come to the conclusion it doesn't matter what the fuck you wear. Its all about you and your confidence/swag, and I was feeling baller as shit that night. If wearing something in particular makes you feel more confident, go for it - but if you're on point what you wear isn't going to make a difference, even here, where people dress up more than usual.
The Get Down
This club is the "Mad River" of Fells Point. All dance floor downstairs, with a sectioned off couch area and upstairs couch area for those who brought girls. The Get Down is dark, and the music is loud - I come here when I specifically want to Get Jiggy With It immediately. Dance floor is not that big however - if you aren't having much luck, you can easily cover the full area in a matter of minutes and be out of girls to talk to. $10 cover charge so you'd better want to dance if you come in.
Max's Taphouse
Everyone in Baltimore knows and loves Max's. Best beer selection in the city, and although it has no dance floor its always stacked full of chicks on the weekends. Well lit too. Great place to drink during the day and pregame if you want to go somewhere else. Not ideal for meeting single girls in my experience, but worth checking out all the same.
The Horse You Came in On
Right across the street from Bond St. Social, this bar is a nice little gem I stumbled on after running into two of my exes at Bond St and jettisoning immediately. Dark and somewhat cramped, with a single level that is mostly for meeting and talking, little dancing, but not hard to strike up a conversation with any random chick who - if she is in here - is probably a little trashier.
Now. to the immediate left of Max's Taphouse are a few bars that cater to more minority crowds, and its not unusual to see most of the black and latina guys and girls congregated around here, hanging outside.
If you're a minority looking for other minorities, this is the place to be - the north end of Fells Point on the corner of Broadway and Fleet Street. Great food places as well, huge slices of pizza, cheesesteaks, crab cake sandwiches at a GREAT island deli in the middle of the street separating the two sidewalks of bars.
There are a TON more bars in Fells Point, but unfortunately i've only just started exploring them. Funny enough, it took me running into my exes to branch out from my watering hole Bond St Social and discovering other places, and i'm excited to see some more of them in the coming weekends. But I would say in sheer volume and variety of bars and clubs, Fells Point has all of the other neighborhoods beat. And you'll find all ages here too - Fed is a little younger (22-25), Canton a little older (25-32), but Fells is a great mix of the two and you get everything. You'll find girls from 23 to 42 here.
Fells is where I take all of my dates, on the same date - Max's for a drink, then a walk along the waterfront as the huge moon shines on the water. Works 60% of the time, every time. Great date spot. Fells is the best all-around neighborhood in the city IMO.
Canton
I've seen some of the guys in the thread mention Canton as one of the prime go-out spots in Baltimore. I have to respectfully disagree. I live in Canton, on the main square, and although there are a number of bars to go to, the area has nothing on Fells Point or Federal Hill in terms of quantity or ease of pull.
Canton is where the girls in Fed and Fells Point move to once they've found their white knight and settled down. The main square and bar area itself is much more compact than Fed or Fells Point, and although the girls are very attractive, they are all in relationships.
Now, let me get to the good things about Canton first.
Its very safe. In fact, i've seen some concerns about Baltimore safety-wise and let me assure everyone - if you are south of Patterson Park/Baltimore St. (every area i've mentioned), NOTHING WILL EVER HAPPEN TO YOU. There is a very distinct and fine line between the part of Bmore that you can get fucked up in, and the parts you can't. And you will know IMMEDIATELY when you cross it. Coincidentally, on the other side of Patterson Park/Baltimore Street is where most of the strip clubs and more inner-city, "urban" clubs are. If the crowd is to your liking (black, latina girls), its for you, but enter at your own risk.
Canton is along the waterfront of Baltimore's harbor, next to Fells Point, and before I moved here I would be walking around looking for my car at 2am and see people walking their dogs. White, yuppie people who looked like they should be at a country club. Fells Point and Fed Hill aren't quite as happy-go-lucky, but neither of them will give you any trouble you don't ask for.
Anyway, as I mentioned Canton is an older, more mature crowd with lots of bars whose best feature is their gourmet food. Thats not to say I haven't hooked up with girls here - but its been far fewer and between then the others. Simply put, you can have fun here but most of the chicks you run into will be engaged, married, or in committed relationships. I like living here because of the aforementioned reasons (nice area, waterfront), but its easily the last place I would spend a weekend night.
Is it possible to pull here? Yes. Are there good bars? Yes. Is it worth your time to skip the other neighborhoods? No. If you happen to come to Bmore, go to Canton to try out the top-notch seafood at Mama's on a Half Shell or the bbq sandwiches at JD's Smokehouse, then head back east to Fells or Fed Hill.
I also saw someone mention the Bay Cafe in an above post - this place has been shut down since December after going out of business. A real shame too, what he said about it was right, it was a great place to go to drink and mack on chicks. Even before I moved to Canton, I would come here on weekends to hit the Bay Cafe for the reasons he mentioned. Lots of ambiance and atmosphere from lit tiki torches and the beach-sand floor.
Anyway, if you do decide to come to Canton to hang out, there are only a few places worth your time IMO:
Looney's Pub
No dance floor and lots of non-single chicks. My strategy here has always been to hit the pool table on the second floor and get in playing with whoever was up there, which usually included a bunch of guys and hot girls. Meeting someone in the bar area will be difficult because they won't be single and it can be impossible to open - but play pool with the bitches and you can begin a rapport in an organic way.
Claddagh's
2nd best bar in Canton, because of the upstairs dance floor. Very small, but here you have to make do with what you can get.
Coburns
Across the street from Claddagh's Pub is Coburns, a similarly designed place with a main bar area downstairs and a small (but bigger than Claddagh's) dance floor upstairs. People here are generally the most laid-back in the area, i've found, and even when I haven't hooked anything i've had fun just messing around on the dance floor with different girls and guys. This is my favorite go-out spot in Canton.
Again though....only if you really need to would I come to Canton to party. And no one really needs to.
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*Race
Touching on some of the other subjects I mentioned, especially as pertaining to minorities, I would say that if you are a black/brown guy, Baltimore is as good a city as you will find in the mid-Atlantic area. Philly i've found is lacking in talent, and DC is a little too high-brow and pretentious at times. As a black guy, who likes white girls, i've never felt my race was a real inhibiting factor when I went out - it may well have been, and i'm not saying it hasn't, but every black guy can "feel" when things aren't exactly square.
I went to the University of Maryland for college, which is right near DC, so during school and right after, DC was my main stomping grounds for chasing ass. You can pull, but status and prestige - not even necessarily money - was the factor most girls there are attracted to. What can do you for them? Where can you take them? The lawyers, capitol hill lobbyists, pharmaceutical saleswomen, etc. flood the city and their main goal is to further their career, not deal with men. Especially minority men. Not complaining, just observing.
DC, and Arlington, have a different "feel" to them than Baltimore does. Before you even talk to anyone...its just something in your bones. Most black guys should know what i'm talking about. I'm not saying avoid DC by any means - my friends who live there get their share of girls, and i've scored both my fastest makeout and fastest smash ever in DC.
What i'd suggest for any minorities (who date outside their race) reading is that if you have a choice, and want to maximize your pussy efficiency, Baltimore is a much better bet - not only are the girls just as hot, they are more accessible and more open to dating (read: FUCKING) outside their race. Since i've moved into the city and my friends have visited more consistently, they are all talking about selling their places and moving here.
My advice for anyone wanting to experience charm city is to do the following:
- Stay at a hotel in the Inner Harbor/Power Plant area, or rent a place in Federal Hill
- Go out to party in Fells Point or Federal Hill
- Eat in Canton or in the Inner Harbor
Best of all, all of these places are relatively close so its no big deal to cab around the city from neighborhood to neighborhood. You could go to 2-3 in one night if you want - but if you're in the right spot, hopefully you won't need to.