This MD Restaurant Is Among 50 Best In U.S., New York Times Says In Ranking

BALTIMORE, MD — One of America’s best restaurants happens to be located in Maryland, according to a new list from The New York Times. And two spots in nearby Washington, D.C., also made the list.

To develop The Restaurant List, 14 New York Times and editors took 76 flights to 33 states, where they ate more than 200 meals, the publication said. The sleuths showed up unannounced and made reservations through a smartphone app.

“We pay for all of our food, and we don’t accept freebies. We eat like you do, with the same hope for a meal to remember, to be welcomed and delighted,” The Times wrote.

More than half of the restaurants have opened since the 2024 list was published, The Times said.

In Maryland, one restaurant stood out as remarkable, according to the report.

The Wren, located at 1712 Aliceanna St. in Baltimore, describes itself as taking inspiration from continental Europe, Ireland and the United Kingdom for its menu, which focuses on seasonal, country cooking traditions. The menu changes daily. It opened earlier this year in February.

According to its website, there's room for 18 to dine at the bar and 18 to 20 in the lounge. The bar is open from 5 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and from 3 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The kitchen is open from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

This is what The New York Times had to say about the Maryland eatery:

"A perfect pub requires excellent draft beers, exquisite cocktails, great whiskeys, a few well-chosen wines and food prepared with superb ingredients and meticulous care. The Wren must have been taking notes. With just 20 bar stools and a cozy lounge for drinks, the room looks like any other dim, welcoming Fells Point tavern. But Will Mester, the chef and an owner, working with a couple of induction burners and a small convection oven, produces lovely, seasonal pub fare. The chalkboard menu changes daily, but on a cool April evening it offered rich, tender duck rillettes served with a pile of gherkins and thick-cut bread, smoky grilled leeks blanketed in tangy anchovy butter, a soft spring onion omelet oozing with Lancashire cheese, and a full-throttle beef-and-ale pie with a rich lard crust and buttery mashed potatoes. For dessert, a flowery, light apple cake and perhaps a wee dram."

Here's what The Wren says: "We take inspiration from much of continental Europe, Ireland and the UK, focusing on seasonal, country cooking traditions. Our menu changes daily, often at last moment (you can view a sample menu here). The fun of it all is that the ingredients are the finest we can source and the people cooking for you are very experienced, serious cooks. All of this happening in a casual, good value pub. Being a pub, food comes as ready. Ignore formalities—please eat your food when it arrives and before it’s cold! Unfortunately we cannot cater to many dietary restrictions due to the size and habits of our kitchen."

The two DC venues are: Dōgon and La’ Shukran.

Dogon is located at 1330 Maryland Avenue SW. Dinner hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Here's what the Times says about Dogon: "Kwame Onwuachi’s follow-up to Tatiana in New York City is bigger and splashier, announcing an empire on the rise. Mr. Onwuachi gives the district its due with dishes that celebrate crab (hello, Chesapeake Bay) and the legacy of Ben’s Chili Bowl (founded in 1958 on U Street, once known as “Black Broadway”). But he also roams freely through histories both personal and political, tracing the threads of the Black diaspora — from Ethiopian shiro and West African jollof rice to Louisiana-style shrimp, rich with roasted lobster oil and enough butter to bring you closer to heaven — and making a case for America in all its convolutions and complexities."

The restaurant website says: "Chef Kwame Onwuachi is no stranger to pushing boundaries, but at his Washington, D.C. restaurant, he honors them and the West African lineage that helped draw the borders of the District of Columbia. Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi sits along the revitalized Southwest waterfront in Salamander Washington DC, and the acclaimed chef returns to the nation’s capital with a concept inspired by DC Surveyor Benjamin Banneker and his heritage to the West African Dogon tribe. Pronounced “Doh-gon,” the restaurant serves vibrant cuisine through an Afro-Caribbean lens and draws from Onwuachi’s unique Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian and Creole background."

La’ Shukran is located at 417 Morse St NE in the alley. Hours are 5:30 p.m. to midnight Thursday and Monday; 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The kitchen is open until 11 p.m. on school nights, and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here's what the Times says about La' Shukran: "For Michael Rafidi, Arabic cuisine is a bottomless well. He has made that clear at Albi, the renowned restaurant that began the chef’s public exploration of his Palestinian American roots, and Yellow, his Levantine bakery-cafes, one of which doubles as a visionary Middle Eastern flatbread pizzeria. La’ Shukran risks trying to add too many concepts to the portfolio. Yet it succeeds, spectacularly. La’ Shukran is an atmospheric speakeasy with great cocktails, a witty, thoughtful wine bar and a mezze bistro. … His food is the star, and a luminous expression of love."

The restaurant website says: "La’ Shukran is a bar, bistro, and rooftop terrace in the Union Market District of Washington, DC. Featuring the cuisine of 2024 James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Chef, Michael Rafidi, a high energy cocktail program by Radovan Jankovic, and a progressive, natural-leaning wine program from William Simons. … A modern reimagining of a Left-Bank watering hole, a retro-modern late-night restaurant transported from the liveliest corner of Al-Bireh to Washington, DC. … La' Shukran is a gathering place, a decidedly modern and mildly nostalgic space where beverage, talk of art, philosophy, and culture fight for space amidst the jangling guitars and low end theory bass of Arabic rock and hip hop. A place where the sights, sounds, and - importantly - the flavors of Beirut, Jaffa, Barbès, Canal Saint Martin, Wadi Nisnas, and Al-Manara Square share an equal footing."