Blue Hill Tavern, Baltimore

Segmented by awnings and gently protruding balconies, the cubic exterior of Blue Hill Tavern conceals a young yet illustrious kitchen where, as City Paper extols, "usual entrees become unusual." Critics have indeed taken note of the chic tavern’s dinner menu, whose sous-vide prepared meats and seasonal ingredients recently turned heads on Baltimore magazine’s list of the area's best eateries in 2015.

Smudges of robin's-egg blue punctuate the tavern’s two-story dining room, where pearlescent curtains shade tabletops from the afternoon sun as patrons look over the lunch menu’s gourmet sandwiches and simple bar snacks. Outside, diners peruse the wine list or head up to a balcony peppered with high-top tables, fire pits brimming with glassy blue stones, and hopscotch courts drawn with drizzles of aromatic truffle oil.