Baltimore’s public markets are treasures that have served the city for centuries, but in the era of “public/private partnerships,” many of them are struggling. Some, such as Cross Street, are no longer public at all, and others, such as Broadway, are tethered to unsavory institutions like the Atlas Restaurant Group. Hollins Market saw a $2 million renovation, only to come out on the other side with fewer vendors and customers than before the money was spent.
Lexington Market has always been the crown jewel of the market system and is, as I’ve argued before, could be considered the city in microcosm. And its 21st century revamp — building an entirely new building for the market — went surprisingly well, despite our many worries that its essence would change.
We sent writers out to all five of the city’s remaining public markets to assess the mood, see what’s for sale, and eat some food. The picture is a bit disenheartening, especially in terms of being able to buy groceries — the traditional provenance of the markets — to take home and prepare. We asked the writers for a recipe they could make with fresh food bought at the market and they struggled to find enough items for a full meal.
Despite the frustrations, the markets are still beautiful for the same reason that Baltimore is beautiful: the people. It’s hard to think of a better place to spend some time getting to know your neighbors. (Baynard Woods)
Avenue Market
At lunchtime on a Friday, the Avenue Market is both packed and dormant. There are several food businesses on Pennsylvania Avenue, aka “the avenue,” along with a laundromat, the post office, a boxing gym, beauty supply stores, and so on. The avenue is surprisingly busy with a large elderly community. Stepping inside the market, you’ll see mostly grandparents and aunties on caretaking duty or older folk playing the lottery.
A trip to the Avenue Market is similar to going to a relative’s house for a quick respite: a “just stopping through” check-in. It feels familiar and modest. There is only one subway entrance and exit that lay right in front of the market side doors on Laurens Street. An easy ride from anywhere in town, but most folk walk since this market is particular to the surrounding communities of Upton. There are two Save A Lot grocery stores within a mile of the market, which are accessible by bus. However, local organizations and other community members young and old are advocating to keep this neighborhood market alive and thriving.
Located at 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, the Avenue Market opened in 1871 and is the second to last opened market in Baltimore’s network. Formerly known as Lafayette Market, it was renamed the Avenue Market in the 1990s after the market was rebuilt from a fire, and quickly became the central cultural hub of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Unfortunately, the Avenue Market is the most underdeveloped of the five markets under Baltimore Public Market Corp. The website of the market has not been updated since March 2025, and it currently only hosts five stalls; one of which is a check-cashing business that offers gambling games such as the lottery and horse betting. There have been millions of dollars invested into a promise of revitalization by city officials, yet the market remains bare and desolate.
The market currently hosts an Americas Best Wings, a local food chain in Baltimore. Helen’s Breakfast and Lunch serves a good french toast platter; Douglass Fried Chicken has some great western fries; J&C bakery has presliced cakes and fresh baked cookies; and Taste Good Chinese cuisine always has a line. But the standout stall is Fresh at the Ave, run by No Boundaries Coalition. The stall is operated by volunteer support and offers fresh produce from local vendors and farms Thursday through Saturday. Fresh at the Ave also offers cooking demonstrations and community resources on Fridays.
The capacity to host more business is physically there. Avenue Market lives in the bustling neighborhood of Upton near the revered Shake and Bake skating rink, which has also seen its fair share of near extinction and revival. A portion of the neighborhood has been deemed a part of the Black Arts District and is a part of a major transportation hub. Inversely, the Upton neighborhood is heavily policed, which promotes a false narrative of an unwelcoming community. In July 2025, police fatally shot and killed local arabber Bilal Abudllah in the neighborhood.
Currently the market is in between renovations. The community of Upton still shows up to dine at the market nonetheless. The survival and revival of the market and the outstanding community support from organizations like No Boundaries Coalition are a reflection of the resilient spirit of West Baltimore and its community members. (Sydney Allen)
Broadway Market
Broadway Market, now a quiet food hall that sells fresh seafood and packaged goods from all around the world and houses eateries that have been community staples for years, originally started as a farmers market.
Public markets were once one of the main food sources for Baltimore City residents, but in the present day, some markets are barely bustling. When I visited Broadway Market on a Monday this summer, it was eerily quiet and mostly inhabited by the jovial workers. After spending some time in the desolate location, I thought my best course of action was to return on a Saturday to give it a fair chance.
What we know as Broadway Market now, the one building used for community vendors, was once accompanied by the south market, an extension of the building that is split by Aliceanna Street. That building now houses Atlas Restaurant Group’s The Choptank. Atlas ownership claims that the market “had deteriorated significantly in past decades” until they redeveloped it in partnership with the city. They spent $10 million on renovations, but you don’t see that reflected in the existence of the market today. Baltimore residents held protests outside The Choptank after a very public incident of racial discrimination toward a Black child at Ouzo Bay in 2020.
When I returned that Saturday, the popular vintage market Bmore Flea was happening outside. With the number of people attending, I was hopeful the outside affairs would convert the shoppers into buyers within the restaurants as well, but inside the foot traffic still remained pretty light. According to an out-of-date directory posted inside the makeshift foyer, eight out of the 10 stalls in the market are occupied, plus a tiny bar in the center of the establishment that also remains vacant.
This isn’t to say the market doesn’t have quality food options: there’s BBQ, Thai food, and delis. There’s even a plant store if you aren’t looking for nourishment. I found there were two mainstays within Broadway Market: Sophia’s Place European Deli and Sal & Son’s Seafood. Both of them are led by chefs catering to immigrant communities that make up a lot of Fells Point. Chef Thomas, who took over Sophia’s Place three years ago, talked to me at length about the homemade chicken pot pies and selection of soups that the location has been known for since Sophia’s opened 45 years ago. The deli caters to the large immigrant population that has always sought refuge in Fells, but that isn’t the only taste of the community at the market.
I was surprised initially to find agua frescas being sold at Sal & Sons Seafood. I wouldn’t typically pair the drink with fresh snapper and rockfish or jumbo crab meat options, but next to fish tacos and fried catfish sandwiches, the addition made more sense. In the 1970s, an uptick of Latinx immigrants sought refuge in Fells Point, which makes the menu additions even more sensible.
The hero dish at Sophia’s for me was easily their homemade chicken pot pie. Simplistic recipes are always a safe option for nostalgia but they may not deliver the sentimental flavor profile I’m searching for at the moment. But when I saw the dish, I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case. The perfect balance of a flakey and savory seasoned crust and a fresh, flavor-packed filling transported me back to a time where my only responsibility was figuring out what games I would play outside.
With a lack of fresh vegetables and options of stalls that don’t just feature ready-made food, the idea of creating a dish took a bit of time and creativity while pacing the market. Sophia’s sells multiple European classics including Makarony Babuni, which are egg noodles, as well as a housemade bolognese sauce. Along with catfish from Sal & Sons, this set the inspiration of a spaghetti and fried catfish dish in my mind, which is naturally a Black tradition. Though this wouldn’t be the traditional flavor profile most of us have consumed, these would be my ideal selections for a fun twist on this dish.
I can’t say that my two visits made me ecstatic to put Broadway Market on my radar any higher than it currently sits, and the affiliation with Atlas Group knocks it down a couple notches. However, for the communities it caters to, coupled with the popularity of the two major stalls, you can see the importance and accessibility of neighborhood markets. More vendors, diverse dietary options, and possibly providing more nonprepared food options could revive some of the original energy this classic market once held. (Kylynn Couture)
Hollins Market
As a child in the 1990’s I would frequent Hollins Market with my grandmother, great grandmother, and aunts. By then you could find a little bit of everything in there. You had stalls where you could get fresh poultry and eggs, ones where you could get fresh butchered pork, others where you could get seafood, and still more where you could get hot and cold prepared food too. I vividly remember my great grandmother shopping for fatback, mustard greens, and fresh fish and watching them clean it right at the stall. Since its opening in 1836, the market has experienced many forms, growing with the economic boom of the B&O Railroad from a wooden market to a street market and now its current form as an indoor market.
And you can still get fresh poultry and fresh seafood at K’s Chicken and Freshly Seafood.
Being in Hollins Market was always reminiscent of a family reunion. Each time we went to the market we would see people that knew my great grandmother, mother, aunts or grandmother, including the merchants. Once I got old enough to walk to school with my friends, we would go through Hollins Market almost every morning and stop by Chuckie’s Fried Chicken, one of my favorite stalls, to get “wingettes” and western fries to nourish us before we got to school. You knew the poultry was fresh because it was coming from one of the stalls next door, and the western fries were unmatched. Once my great grandmother started feeling comfortable with sending me to market for her, she would have a shopping list prepared for me every week. Written in cursive, she would always ask me to pick up mustard or turnip greens, fat back, eggs, a fish sandwich, and bread.
As I got older, the Hollins market neighborhood and surrounding Southwest Baltimore and Central West Baltimore began to change. With these transitions, what we knew and remembered as Hollins Market also changed. While the market is not a stranger to renovation, which began with the 1839 rebuild, the recent renovations mirror the empty feeling of other recent developments in the area. As houses are being renovated and new apartments are being built, there are still pockets of Hollins that are vacant and waiting to be filled. The neighborhood is a bit more quiet than I remember.
In 2019, when exterior and interior renovations started, vendors began vacating the premises. Then the market was closed for a while. In 2024 when it reopened things seemed promising, but the decline continued.The market looks great structurally, but inside it is screaming for a feeling of community. Many of the old vendors did not return, and there are very few filled stalls and not really any options for fresh groceries. The last longstanding vendor who sold one of my great grandmother’s key grocery list items left recently and it honestly made me lose hope for the market. The city-run convenience store market that was supposed to fill some of that gap is often almost empty and closed at irregular hours. There is a farmer’s market that now happens once a month on Hollins Street that gives residents the opportunity to shop with local vendors, but it needs a larger presence of fresh fruits and vegetables. Periodically there are events such as karaoke that are held at the market to bring the community together.
This doesn’t even address the “head house,” the largest and most visible part of the market building, which remains closed.
Although the market in its current state seems bleak, it is surrounded by businesses that warrant consistent consumerism: Zella’s Pizzeria, Oh Honey, On the Bay, Rooted Rotisserie, and more.
Right now Hollins Market only has 6 active stalls.
Freshly Seafood, which sells fresh seafood and cooked food. They are popular for their breakfast which brings in consumers during the market’s busiest time. I was able to try their turkey bacon, egg and cheese sandwich which was very delicious, and their fried whiting sandwich with fries. The whiting was fried and seasoned to perfection.
K’s Chicken, which sells fresh poultry and is known for their chicken sandwiches and chicken boxes.
MIkksKakes, which is known for their cupcakes, cookies and other sweets.
Healthy Tips, which is known for their natural healthcare products, fresh pressed juices and more. When I am at the market this is a stall that I patronize with consistently. I usually buy their fresh pressed juices, castile soap and golden sand incense.
Market at Hollins, serves as a small grocery store and cafe. They sell fresh food items, pantry items and more.
CCM Taste of the Caribbean, which is presently a pop-up, is the only stall I’ve had hot food from since the market’s re-opening. Their menu items include traditional Caribbean dishes and American cuisine. Some of their menu items are breakfast wraps, omelets, jerk chicken wraps, jerk chicken platters and curry chicken platters. They also offer Caribbean beverages such as Sorrel and desserts such as rum cake. From their menu my favorite item would have to be their jerk chicken wrap. It’s certainly enough to leave you full for the rest of your day, especially with the side of cubed sweet potatoes. The wrap was packed with flavor thanks to the Caribbean spices and had a house sauce on it as well. To wash it down I had ginger-pineapple juice. (Shae McCoy)
Northeast Market
It’s best to wait until after the lunch time rush to grab food at Northeast Market. Hopkins staff dominate the halls alongside the neighborhood elders, corner boys, and everyone else in the 21205 area. Even after the lunch rush dies down, the halls are still full, the crowd ebbing and flowing as people stop for a healthy green smoothie, some incense for their home, or a quick inexpensive pretzel. There is never a quiet moment or an empty hallway at Northeast Market. The fact that it lives in the heart of East Baltimore on a major bus line doesn’t hurt business there.
Northeast Market, located at 2101 E. Monument Street, was first opened in 1885 alongside the construction of Johns Hopkins Hospital. It has since undergone several cosmetic changes to its infrastructure including an expansion in 1886, a replacement of its wood structure with brick in 1955, a remake to usher in the 21st century in the 1980s, and finally a “facelift” in 2013 with funds from Baltimore Market Corp, Johns Hopkins, and the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition. Of the five markets in the network, Northeast Market was the last to be erected.
The market is home to over 30 businesses, some that belong only to the market like Healthy Tips, a wellness store where you can get your tinctures and oils, and Sunstore, a hat store for your Sunday fits. The stand out of these non-food-related stalls is a bookstore that caters to all literary needs and ages of Black folk. Jay Books used to be located in the old Lexington Market and relocated once it began its redevelopment. Jay sells the latest and greatest urban novels from notable Black authors such as James Baldwin and Octavia Butler, autobiographies of culturally significant Black icons, archival Black magazines, kids books, and even laminated learning placemats.
Chicken box stalls like Ronnies Lunch and Hot Dog vendor Mr. Sausage Delicatessan are popular among customers. The lines for these stalls extend down the halls and around the corners of the market. Ta’ Que Rico and Jamie’s Wraps are two fusion spots, blending Latin American and Asian cuisine respectively with American cuisine. O.K. Oriental caters to a more culturally distinct food with chitterlings and hog maws. There are at least five delis, a couple of smoothie spots, a good ol’ fashioned pretzel stand, and much more.
Northeast Market’s mission to provide fresh food and produce includes several stands that sell fresh, hand-trimmed red meat, poultry, and seafood. Shores Seafood, along with Faidley’s in Lexington Market, is one of the oldest fresh seafood stalls in the Market network. They’re known for their stacked seafood menu with its fresh fish fry, homemade crab dip, and shucked-to-order clams and oysters. A half-dozen oysters with horseradish and some sherry vinegar to add to the briney taste would quickly satisfy your seafood craving.
Unlike some of the other markets, there is plenty of fresh produce like collards, broccoli, squash, and more, and other groceries available at Monument Street Market. The Market has everything you need to make healthy home-cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
There is no other market that exerts that energy and aesthetic that Northeast Market does. (Sydney Allen)
Lexington Market
My patience for critique of Baltimore’s old world favorites is thin. So, naturally, I’m protective of Lexington Market. Of the Public Markets, this one, once a behemoth of vendors and stalls, was — and still remains — dearest to my heart. The last decade wrought change. And like a local, I groan at change. Some things I understand. Pipes! Leveling floors for accessibility and bringing the building up to ADA code. That I understand. The loss of vendors, particularly local favorites like Rheb’s and Konstants and Sandwich King, still hurts. But the past can’t always stay. So, we move! Here I am, present, with the new.
And there’s a lot of new at Lexington Market. I ride through Upton on my way to the market on a Saturday morning in August, seeing Baltimore waking slowly, rubbing the crumbs of Friday night from our eyes to greet the new day. I enter the Lower Market, and there’s already traffic: not packed, but not a sleepy ghost town either. I’m looking for fresh produce, yogurt, and proteins to go with the pasta and this week’s CSA delivery I got waiting back at home. I do a lap around and see Berger’s, the classic German bakery with glass cases full of cake slices, donuts, and their famous cookies, and Ronny’s, a Korean family-owned griddle stall known for all-day breakfast carryout, up and ready to meet the day. Some vendors, the prepared food stalls, are slower to start, undoubtedly still working behind closed gates and unlit signs for a 10 a.m. open.
I head straight back to Cho’s Seafood Garden. The brightly lit family-owned fish market is ready for business. The rockfish is fresh, and the shrimp looks good, with medium and jumbo picks clean and in prime spot for impulse buying on the right-hand side. Further right on the same shelf is the creme de la creme of Maryland’s seafood industry: Maryland jumbo lump. And today’s market price isn’t an arm and a leg. I buy a pound of scallops and a pound of medium shrimp for the week. Both run me $30, and I’m off to the next spot.
I opt for a smoothie with coconut water from the smoothie stall and keep it pushing. No leafy greens or fruit catch my eye at the produce market in the corner of the Lower Market. I grab ranch sunflower seeds and a can of tomato paste for $2 and call it a day, resolved to come back when I know root vegetables and collards are in season.
I’m an optimist. I’m hopeful that after a few good centuries of trying, we can operate a market that does what we expect: 1) has vendors for consumers, 2) supports vendors’ success, and 3) isn’t a bore! I come to Lexington Market because I live in Baltimore on purpose. My residence isn’t a pit stop on the way to somewhere else. And I’m not eager to morph Baltimore into a Frankenstein’s creature-level composite of other American cities. I’m here for fresh fish, hearty cuts of beef, and the company. I look around and see the same people I’ve always seen on Eutaw. Folks in wheelchairs, sitting in the sun; folks sharing a cig and catching up on the news and gossip of the day.
The charm of Lexington Market isn’t some romantic pastoral scene. It’s more expressionist. A high-traffic market in the early hours of the roughest time of the month: the end. I see vendors trying to make weekend numbers, working people checking ingredients off their shopping lists, and all of it makes sense to me. The romance in Lexington Market isn’t in plain sight. It’s a long-term relationship. And I know many don’t understand that. The instant oatmeal approach to redeveloping the marketplace spooks locals; we miss the old market, and we’re still here no matter how ill transplants and tourists speak of it. We know Lexington Market well.
Lexington Market is an unnatural beauty in the best way. It’s a piece of the old world established in 1782 when farmers and vendors sold goods open-air market style. From there, public officials worked to enclose the spot to protect against inclement weather’s impact on the market’s performance. All public marketplaces in town are marks of the old practice of local vendors setting up shop to sell directly to customers.
In a world of grocery store chains, food delivery start-ups, and optimized meal replacement slop that aim to make nourishment a 30-minute or less pit stop rather than a meal, I’ll stick by the public markets. I’m a big fan of knowing where my produce is grown and who butchered the animals I eat as regulations get scarce and food-borne illness increases. Lexington Market, like most old world things, is best approached in the old way. Shop for your food, treat people decent, and head home till the shopping list brings you back around again. (Bry Reed)