National love for Baltimore attractions and personalities

Tagliata, the Italian chophouse in Harbor East, was named one of the country’s best wine restaurants by the magazine Wine Enthusiast.

Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt library was named one of 10 “Nicest Places in America” by Reader’s Digest.

Woodberry Kitchen (pictured) and Gertrude’s are among the nation’s 100 best al fresco restaurants, according to OpenTable.

The Food Market in Hampden, Gertrude’s in Charles Village, Rusty Scupper in the Inner Harbor and Woodberry Kitchen in Clipper Mill all made OpenTable’s Top 100 brunch restaurants list from the Baltimore area.

Baltimore was named one of the New York Times’ 52 places to visit in 2018. The list highlighted Frederick Douglass bicentennial events, the third Light City festival and the new Hotel Revival coming to Mount Vernon.

New York-based travel magazine Travel + Leisure has taken note of Baltimore, crediting the city for discreetly becoming a city that New York and Philadelphia should reckon with.

Zagat named Baltimore the 29th most exciting food city in the U.S. for 2017.

Baltimore’s Mayor’s Christmas Parade was voted the No. 3 holiday parade in the U.S. by USA Today readers. (The Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade in Annapolis came in one spot behind.)

Camden Yards was voted the No. 5 nicest place in America in a Reader’s Digest poll.

Chef Brian Lavin of Gnocco was named to Zagat’s first national “30 under 30” list.

Lavin, 29, is the only Baltimore chef on the list. Lavin, who also owns the restaurant, was previously at Salt and Fork & Wrench.

Condé Nast Traveler ranked The Ivy Hotel as No. 8 in the “Top Hotels in New York and Mid-Atlantic” list on their annual Readers’ Choice Awards, which was released in October 2017.

Food & Wine magazine recently named Royal Farms’ fried chicken at the top of a list of “10 Gas Station Foods Across the Country That Are Worth the Detour.”

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s “Much Ado About Nothing” was named a “Helen Hayes Recommended” production in October 2017.

The Helen Hayes Awards are comparable to the annual Tony Awards’ recognition of excellence in live Broadway theater.

“Esquire” named Mount Royal Tavern one of the Top 18 bars in the country for 2016.

Patterson Park was named in May 2016 as one of the 15 best city parks in the U.S.

Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood was named No. 8 on real estate site Redfin’s list of “Hottest Neighborhoods of 2016.”

Travel website Atlas Obscura called Baltimore America’s most eccentric city in 2016, citing such factors as Edgar Allan Poe’s gravesite and the naming site of the Ouija board.

Zagat named Baltimore No. 2 on its list of 2015’s best food cities, which focused on cities that “had the biggest growth spurt.” Unfortunately for Ravens fans, Pittsburgh took the top spot.

In a feature titled Travel’s Best Summer Foods for 2015, TravelChannel.Com said Cantler’s Riverside Inn in Annapolis had America’s best seafood. “The family-friendly atmosphere with community-style tables is perfect when you’re elbow-deep in crabmeat, hot butter and Old Bay seasoning,” TravelChannel.com said. Other summer’s best food categories included barbecue, ice cream and food trucks.

Andy Nelson’s Barbecue was named one of America’s Best BBQ Restaurants in America by the travel website Trip Advisor. The Cockeysville restaurant placed fifth in the annual ranking, which is based on customer reviews published on the site.

In an April 2015 post, The Daily Meal website put The Brewer’s Art (1106 N. Charles St., 410-547-6925, thebrewersart.com) at number 100 on its list of 150 Best Bars in America.

The post said, “The upstairs bar is light and classic, with high-top tables, an ornate bar area, and a lounge area with a working fireplace; the downstairs bar is dark, loud, and popular with college students and locals; and the casual dining room serves chef Ray Kumm’s seasonally changing European continental cuisine.”

The vinegary pride of Ocean City, Thrasher’s french fries came it at no. 27 in an April 2015 ranking of America’s 50 Best French Fries on the The Daily Meal website.

The Harford Road tavern got Maryland’s spot in The Best Burger in Every State in America, a March 2015 Thrillist online feature.

  (Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun)

The web-based lifestyle guide Thrillist named Hampden one of the 12 coolest neighborhoods in America in a February 2015 feature.   (Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun)

GQ critic Alan Richman put Ananda, a luxe Indian restaurant in Fulton, on its 2015 list of the 25 best new restaurants. Richman said that Ananda’s fare was “Indian food elevated to royalty.”  (Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun)

DuClaw Brewing Co. at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport was named one of America’s nine best airport beer bars in an online feature by GQ contributor William Bostwick.

“A Bud-for-breakfast town, if we’re to believe ‘The Wire’ (and who doesn’t?), yet even here -- and even in an airport -- you can find bolder brews like EuForiacoffee-infused brown ale or Sweet Baby Jesus peanut-butter porter from local chain DuClaw,” GQ said.  (Karl Merton Ferron/ Baltimore Sun photo)

In their 50 States, 50 Pizzas roundup, the Zagat staff said that Joe Squared’s bacon and clam pizza (shown at right) has Maryland’s best pizza. Here’s what Zagat said: “This popular Baltimore pizzeria makes use of its primo local seafood by plopping it onto pizzas. Joe Squared’s thin-crust pizzas are coal-fired and made with sourdough starter.”   (Karl Ferron / Baltimore Sun photo)