SoBo Cafe

Baltimore, United States

4.5

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 410-752-1518
Website:
www.sobocafe.net
Address:
6 W Cross St, Baltimore, MD, 21230
Federal Hill
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
470 ftWest Street
700 ftCross Street Market
770 ftHenrietta Street
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Brunch
Parking
Garage, Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
No
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Baltimore) 14:28 Friday, 30 May 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tuesday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Thursday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Saturday 10:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Sunday 10:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

We pride ourselves on preparing our from-​scratch menu with fresh ingredients and a whole lot of flavor. Our cozy, intimate dining room is the perfect setting to enjoy a seasonal dish and a glass of carefully chosen wine or beer. A favorite among neighbors and visitors, we go out of our way to make everyone feel at home.

We offer many vegetarian and gluten free options.

SoBo Café follows sustainable practices by composting food waste & recycling glass, metal, plastic & paper products.

Parking Shofer’s Furniture — Hamburg St Entrance — One Block from SoBo

–15 Favorite First-​Date Restaurants — The Baltimore Sun, October 2014 & 2013

— Ranked #2 in USA Today’s — 10Best: Restaurants near NFL stadiums — USA Today Magazine, September 2014

— 2014 Best of Baltimore Readers’ Poll — «Best Lunch» — Baltimore Magazine, August 2014

— Top 10 Restaurant Week Menus — The Baltimore Sun, July 2013, February & August 2014

— 2014 Best Restaurants Readers’ Poll — «Fab Find» — Baltimore Magazine, February 2014

— Baltimore’s 100 Best Restaurants — The Baltimore Sun, November 2012

— 2012 Best of Baltimore — Baltimore Magazine, August 2012

— Care taken in the kitchen makes the new SoBo Café, a standout. — City Paper, March 2012

— SoBo Café goes back to basics. Simple, but thoughtfully made comfort food is front and center with new owner. — The Baltimore Sun, February 2012

History

Established in 2000.

SoBo Café, a local favorite for over a decade, has been revitalized and refined by it’s new owner (November 2011), Anna Leventis. With careful attention to detail and home made ingredients, the menu continues the tradition of comfort food and expands it with global cuisine, vegetarian and vegan items.

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20 reviews of SoBo Cafe

No registration required
Place rating: 3
Quincy, MA
Went on a early Sunday evening. Dinner crowd hadn’t picked up yet. Just went for dessert and drinks. Tried their basil and lemon sangria, though refreshing was more like juice. The bar only serves wine and beer, FYI. Had two desserts: apricot & orange bread pudding and SoBo sundae. They were both decent desserts but nothing special. By the time I was leaving a few people came in for dinner. I will return to try their food and get the full SoBo experience. Love the quaintness of the place though.
Place rating: 4
Baltimore, MD
Very tasty brunch place! Came here in a group of 7 on a Sunday. Place was pretty small but it wasn’t terrible busy. The pitcher of passion fruit mimosa was a nice and refreshing beginning followed by the house made cinnamon roll as an appetizer. That was delicious and a must try! Brunch was standard in that it’s difficult to go wrong. The salmon omelette came with cooked salmon and the eggs Benedict is always a surefire choice.
Service was excellent in general but my one complaint is that our table, a lot of food was taken away before we were finished with out meal.
Overall a pretty good place for brunch in Fells!
Place rating: 4
Amanda, OH
The bellinis were the highlight of the meal, but this shouldn’t detract from the tasty brunch menu including eggs Benedict and big breakfast. The friendly and inviting staff were the highlight of the meal though.
Place rating: 5
Baltimore, MD
We came here for brunch and I had a delicious meal here. The eggs benedict are amazing. Loved the egg and the home fries were also amazing. We had the passion fruit mimosas (the special for the day) that was something different I had never had before.
Place rating: 4
Halethorpe, MD
So cute! This place is like eating in a little art gallery. It’s cozy, feels fancy, and the staff is friendly and wonderful.
Myself and 3 friends split the three spread combo for our appetizer: spicy feta, rosemary hummus, and smoked salmon. Everyone else’s favorite was the salmon, but I would eat that feta dip every day. All the spreads were fresh and delicious, and they were served on a large platter with crispy bread slices, sliced veggies, and pickled red onions and cherry tomatoes.
For my entrée, I got the korean chicken fried steak. DELICIOUS, with mashed potatoes and spicy kimchee collard greens; but this was definately more of a winter dish. My friend Shawn got the pot pie (of which I had a bite of the puff pasty crust… YUM), which he said was magical. His wife got the mac’n’cheese, and it was truly some of the best mac I’ve tasted. My SO got the swordfish with grits and spring veggies. He said it was okay; this was one of the less adventurous items on the menu, so skip this anyway.
Dessert was a peach and apricot bread pudding: light, springy, and delectably fresh for a bread pudding. No liquor at the bar, but the beer and wine cocktails are to die for. Try the white wine mojito!
All in all, I enjoyed this place. I will be back for brunch, since many folks have told me it’s even better than dinner.
Place rating: 4
Crockett, CA
Came in for dinner while in town for business and enjoyed it. Good menu, prices are alright for the area, and they have a great wine selection! The ambiance is quite nice – bright and open. I had the salmon entrée, which was a perfect amount of food and very tasty. It’s not heavy food like many nearby places, which is part of the reason I wanted to give it a try. Would definitely return!
Place rating: 5
Virginia Beach, VA
Man this place does a great breakfast. Had the Big Breakfast and it all hit just right. Must try the bacon and homemade biscuits no matter what else you get. Service was a little slow, but they were sweet and the food so good I don’t want to dock a star.
Place rating: 5
Cambridge, United Kingdom
This is most definitely a place for an awesome dinner (which I missed unfortunately). The lunch menu is great too, though limited to primarily sandwiches. The French Dip sandwich goes down well with Resurrection ale (7% abv). The staff is very friendly. The neighbourhood is cool. Don’t see what’s not to like about it.
Place rating: 5
Indianapolis, IN
Brunch is my happy place, so when visiting Baltimore for a conference, I knew brunch had to be a priority. After perusing Unilocal for recommendations, my cousin and I met for brunch at SoBo Café and were not disappointed. We called ahead to put our name on the list and were told it would be 45 minutes, but happily we received a text only 20 minutes later announcing our table was ready.
Once we were seated, blueberry breakfast bread magically appeared on a delicate square plate so we could munch while we ogled the menu.
We shared a house made cinnamon roll (soft, sweet, perfect), mac-​n-​cheese (rightly recommended by our server), and shakshuka (a fabulous middle eastern dish consisting of poached eggs over tomato sauce with feta, accompanied by sunflower toast, home fries, and fresh fruit). It was fabulous. All of it. My only regret is I couldn’t try everything on the menu.
Place rating: 4
Baltimore, MD
Went here on a Friday night around 6:30. I didn’t realize that it would be packed! Me and my two friends were offered seats at the bar. In the future, I would probably make a reservation if you want a table. It looked like they were booked the entire night.
It was a little hectic but the bartender was very friendly and helpful.
For an appetizer, we ordered the rosemary hummus. It was delicious, but not a whole lot of hummus. I could have easily eaten it and still eat (and enjoy) my dinner entrée.
For dinner, I ordered a house salad, and I have to say it was one of the best salads I have ever had. One of my friends ordered the meatball flatbread. She enjoyed it, and I tried one of the meatballs, and wow was it seasoned to perfection. My other friend ordered the mushroom stuffed chard, which was also well received.
I can’t wait to go back. I really want to try their brunch menu!
Place rating: 5
Denver, CO
Came here for brunch and were able to walk in and be seated, which seemed like a miracle as the wait after us was rather long. The mimosas were good sized for $ 8. The cinnamon rolls are amazing, you must get one to share! The sobo Benedict with salmon was incredible. The salmon is so delicious, I would eat it everyday. Definitely a must try if you are in the area. Everything that passed our table looked incredible!
Place rating: 5
Silver Spring, MD
This place is so good! I’ve been here twice for brunch so can’t really speak to dinner or other meals, but the brunch has always been outstanding. The first time, I got the cinnamon roll and the tomato biscuit sandwich, both of which were delicious. The second time, we got a pitcher of mimosas and I got the biscuit Benedict. The second time, we had a larger group of people and it took a while for our table to get ready, but the waitress and staff were very attentive in making sure we were taken care of while we were waiting (hence the pitcher of mimosas).
The atmosphere of this place is also lovely, it’s on the smaller side but very cozy in fed hill. Also, veep was filmed here!
Place rating: 4
Glen Burnie, MD
I went to SoBo for the first time after debating for weeks whether I should go. Unilocal recommend it and I’m always open for a good breakfast spot.
I decided to go for brunch which started at 10:30, and I considered making a reservation since I heard how small it is inside. I took a chance and got there exactly at 10:30. When I got inside I noticed that the place wasn’t crowded and I asked to be seated. The hostess asked if I have a reservation, I said no, and she said all she had available was at a bar table. This would’ve been okay, but I was with my 2 yr old. I asked if they had a booster seat, and she said no. They had a high chair but it wasn’t high enough for the table. So my daughter and I sat at the high bar table, which she could barely see over the table. Why is any of this important? I highly recommend making a reservation, because getting there the minute they open isn’t enough to guarantee you a suitable seat.
Now let’s get to to the food. I decided to try their signature sandwich, the Back to Bed. The sandwich was like a 4 inch high mega sandwich, topped with bacon, sausage, ham, eggs, and cheese, served in a Texas toast. It was a tasty sandwich but not necessarily great. It was just okay. Did it send me back to bed, yes!!! :)
The staff was very friendly and the service was excellent. The food came out fast and the staff was super attentive.
All in and all it was a good experience. I got lucky and dodged a bullet with finding a place to sit. Next time I’ll try something else on the menu and plan ahead. Is it my favorite brunch spot in the city? No, but it’s definitely worth the experience.
Place rating: 4
Washington, DC
Fun moment when we walked in and were greeted by the host. My date asked, «Do you have pops?» … silence «Pops?» I jumped in with «popsicles.»
Add us to the list of those who stopped in solely based on the Unilocal picture of sangria popsicles. They change the flavor up based on what’s fresh and seasonal, and when we stopped by last summer they featured strawberry mojito. It comes dipped in a small glass with champagne. Great mixture. Soak it up before each bite, and you will have a flavor experience. We also tried the house red sangria. It was good. It is fruity, but it does not taste like generic fruit juice at all.
The place has cute décor, with welcoming bright colors all over the walls. If we had not just gotten lunch somewhere else down the street, I would love to get brunch here.
Place rating: 5
Oklahoma City, OK
We are new to Baltimore and this is our favorite restaurant. The first time was during restaurant week. Their Korean chicken fried steak is amazingly flavorful! My husband’s steak was equally delicious. We came back for brunch and again loved the food. Get the biscuit! Best biscuit I’ve ever had!
Not only is the food great, but the service is unmatched. They are very friendly and attentive. The atmosphere is romantic, but fresh, not stuffy. It’s just a cool place. :)
Place rating: 5
Baltimore, MD
We love this place & I’m so glad it’s part of our neighborhood! We went here for Restaurant Week tonight & as always, everything was DeeeeeLish! I am obsessed with their Chilled Corn Soup — it has feta, kernels of corn, and popcorn in it! SO good. We also shared the mac&cheese as a starter b/​c I couldn’t *not* get it. I got the Hangar Steak, and hubs got the Korean Chicken Fried Steak — both were amazing. They didn’t look huge, but it really was a generous portion & I struggled to clean my plate (but I still did!) For dessert, I got the Strawberry Shortcake (yum!) and hubs got the Deviled Food Cake — really good, but not quite as outstanding as the rest of our selections.
Lovely atmosphere, great service & with the RW deal, it was a terrific value!
Place rating: 4
Baltimore, MD
Wine flights of three for $ 12. Yes, please! I had the honor of dining here last night and while I didn’t partake in the three glasses (a little much for a work meeting), I did appreciate the offering and made a mental note to return later for a date night :)
I got the Ranch Salad sans the Ranch, instead subbing for their house vinaigrette which was great. The bacon atop was phenomenal and the salad itself was beyond fresh and perfectly portioned.
Our server was delightful, attentive, but not too hovering and the man who helped bus the tables was Johnny on the Spot with getting everything cleared, getting more bread, and just being helpful. Enjoyed him as well.
The space is small and quaint. Before a large party came in, it was the perfect place to have a quiet evening and nice meal. However, once the restaurant was full, you couldn’t hear yourself think. It got really, really loud very quickly. That’s no one’s fault, just what happened. I will definitely be back, but perhaps earlier in the evening before the dinner rush would be better for my style of relaxing dining. All in all, a solid first experience and I look forward to giving it another go.
Place rating: 5
Baltimore, MD
Five stars doesn’t do this place justice! SoBo doesn’t look like much from the outside and it’s off the beaten path in Fed Hill, but it was one of the best meals I’ve had in Baltimore. My boyfriend and I came for a date night and it was the perfect spot. It was a bright, intimate space that was beautifully decorated. There’s also a few high-​top tables outside.
We started off with the mussels with shallots in a garlic, white wine sauce. It was a huge portion for just the two of us, so I’d recommend this appetizer if you have a party of 4 or more. We still ate every bite since it was so tasty!
For my entrée I had the scallops with chorizo, kale, white bean ragout in a spicy clam sauce. This dish was amazing! The scallops were perfectly cooked and each bite was delicious. The sweetness of the scallops went well with the salty chorizo and kale.
And for dessert I ordered the strawberry mojito popsicle. The popsicle was served in a glass of champagne. The popsicle was a little too icy for my taste, so while it looked really pretty, it wasn’t really worth ordering. But, it was only $ 5, so oh well. I also had some of my boyfriend’s blueberry bread pudding. And yes, by «some» I mean what he would share with me. This bread pudding was HEAVENLY. Seriously, one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. I am a fiend for bread pudding and SoBo added a unique twist to it by adding blueberries to it. It was a well-​balanced dessert and went perfectly with the ice-​cream. I would come back just for this dessert!
Service was great as well. Our waitress was very attentive to our needs throughout dinner. Can’t wait to come again and try out their live music nights on Tuesdays.
Place rating: 5
Baltimore, MD
Had a wonderful brunch at SoBo this morning. Me and a girlfriend were greeted at the door by a friendly hostess and were seated at a lovely table. This place has a great coziness while still feeling a bit classy and «special» if you will. Service was friendly and fast.
No alcohol today but I will say the sangria popsicle was tempting for a steamy MD morning. The iced coffee was pretty standard but I appreciated that they gave us a nice tall glass and even brought over extra ice cubes in case we wanted it colder.
We split the house cinnamon roll (slightly warm, not too sweet and deliciously tender!) and they brought us a complementary slice of banana bread (a little dry and not enough banana flavor for me, but hey it was free!)
For my main meal I ordered the Shakshuka which I have always wanted to try. It was such a beautiful dish… perfectly balanced and not too heavy which was great for a hot day. I highly recommend. Basically it is poached eggs nestled in a a chunky tomato sauce topped with salty feta cheese. It is served with a side of fruit. roasted potatoes and toast. I ended up asking for a biscuit instead of toast because I wanted to try the famous biscuits, however I would recommend getting the toast because it is the perfect vehicle to sop up extra sauce. But if you are a biscuit lover you must try it! So flaky, buttery, tender… yum. I am already looking forward to eating my leftovers.
Can’t wait to go back to Sobo! I love that their brunch is a little bit different than your standard diner fare but not pretentious and overpriced. Great job!
Place rating: 5
Cupertino, CA
I came here JUST because I saw the front picture being Sangria Popsicle and HAD to try it. Unfortunately when I asked the waiter if they had that Popsicle they replied no :(… but! they had another flavor. Unfortunately it was not as photogenic looking, but was supposed to taste superior to the sangria popsicle.
They use seasonal items to make their popsicles so it changes every so and so. Apparently the next flavor is supposed to be made with blueberries or something.
This seasons flavor was Strawberry Mojito and it tasted godlike. It was dipped in in champagne with a sprig of mint leave. The champagne added a bubblyness and sweetness to a perfect mint strawberry mixture. The presentation and taste was absolutely perfect. I would definitely recommend this! It was only $ 5 as well and hidden in the drinks menu.
(Yes I just wrote an entire review on a popsicle it was THAT good)