By Tommy Pelle
When stepping foot into City Limits Sports Bar & Grill in Locust Point, Maryland, patrons will immediately notice Baltimore dive bar knickknacks. A giant Orioles logo made from bottle caps is hard to miss. Same with Balitmore sports legends bobbleheads perched on a floor just above the bar. There is warped, dark wood flooring and chipped, stained old paint on the walls. After walking around a large bar in the front and center of the restaurant, you can find your way to a worn-down wooden table for two, four or six. As you sit down, the smell of food cooking in the kitchen wafts through the room. The aroma of juicy burgers and fresh wings are enticing to empty stomachs. At first glance, it seems like a stereotypical dive bar.
However, it is far from that.
An incredibly friendly waiter greets you with menus with a decently sized selection of food, cocktails and seasonal specials. How many sports bars do you know that serve mahi-mahi sandwiches or Hawaiian barbeque chicken tacos? Add in the short wait for food, the server giving you space but also not letting your cup get empty and the tastiness at a low price and you have one of the best gameday destinations in Baltimore City.
Sports bars generally fall into one of two categories: tourist attractions and local favorites. With tourist sports bars, customers pile into the bar but few are paying any attention to the game. There is a limited menu of food, and you end up not finishing what you ordered, resulting in you placing a Door Dash order while on your way home. Oh, and that draft beer you just ordered, yeah that will be $12 please. These are for people that see the game as an opportunity to hang out rather than root for your team.
Then there are places like City Limits, which fall into the second category. Far enough from the stadium to deter any fairweather fans looking to meet the love of their life. The kind of bar that erupts for a great play and goes dead silent during a loss. The place where you just keep ordering food because it is exactly what you want from a sports bar. Best of all, you do not have to break the bank to visit. With its gameday specials, including $5 wings and half price burgers, City Limits invites you to come back week after week to cheer on the O’s and Ravens.
When conducting research on restaurants to review, I set out to find good chicken wings. With all the seafood places around town, it is important to cleanse your palate from time to time. While on TikTok I noticed that City Limits appeared multiple times as having some of the best wings in the city. Located at 1700 E. Fort St., City Limits is aptly named for its location on the edge of the city, right down the street from Fort McHenry.
On a Monday night, my friend and I decided to check out the establishment. While the exterior of the building lacked any signage, the numerous tables on the sidewalk led us straight to the front door. When we arrived, we made our way to a table in the back of the restaurant. Shortly after sitting down, we were greeted with water and menus. After a couple of minutes of deliberation, our orders were set. Cheese sticks to start, the Fatty Addie, a bacon cheeseburger with two grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns, five buffalo garlic and five Old Bay wings and fried cookie dough.
Within 20 minutes of ordering our food was on the table. The first plate to arrive was the cheese sticks. Simply put, they hit the spot. The cheese had a nice pull. The breading was seasoned well. The marinara was hot. Cheese sticks can easily be off the mark, but these cheese sticks lived up to our expectations.
Then it came time for our entrees. The Fatty Addie had a steak knife sticking out from the top. Steam billowed from the wings as they were fresh out of the fryers. First, we tried the Fatty Addie. Usually, gimmick burgers like the Fatty Addie are more show than savory. It looks enticing on social media, but once you order the burger it does not live up to expectations. Fatty Addie was the opposite.
The grilled cheese sandwiches were not too thick, making it still possible to eat the burger. The cheese melted perfectly between the two pieces of white bread. The bacon was crispy and bountiful. The burger was slightly overcooked but was still juicy. The lettuce and tomatoes were fresh and crisp. In terms of gimmick burgers, this attraction delivers flavor and looks equally.
Now for the main attraction: the wings. Old Bay wings are a staple of wings in Baltimore. However, the amount of Old Bay on the wings at other places is not always consistent. Some have too little Old Bay, leading to a lack of flavor. Some have too much and it feels like your mouth is on fire. These wings had the perfect amount of garnishing. Enough to remind you of the town you are in but not too much that your order of wings becomes ranch with a side of chicken wings.
In the spirit of trying something new, I also ordered five buffalo garlic wings. I am not a huge fan of buffalo sauce, so my expectations were not high. However, I was a big fan of their buffalo sauce. It had a perfect level of heat, and you could still taste the garlic through the powerful sauce. If you are looking for a new flavor to try, I would highly recommend the buffalo garlic.
We also got an order of fried cookie dough. For readers with a sweet tooth, this dessert will scratch your itch. The sweetness and richness were too strong for my liking. This is definitely an item that some people will love and some will dislike. After we received our dessert and were handed the check, my friend and I were shocked to learn that our order totaled $40. An appetizer, two entrees, which were filling, and a dessert for $40 is a steal. I was already considering coming back to City Limits before I saw the check. At that price, I know I have to make it back.
The location for this joint makes perfect sense. The energetic music and lively crowd create a fun environment that makes me want to bring more friends and family back for. Combine that with good food and great prices, and we have found an establishment that deserves to be protected by the same fort that gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.