The Lex is the absolute best! Yeah, I wish they would keep it a little cleaner, maybe spiff it a bit like they did at the Reading Terminal Mkt in Philly, but you know what? It's totally authentically Bmore. So go and enjoy a slice of life.
My husband has lived here for 23yrs and only went for the 1st time last month. That's a sin! We were accompanied by my 18yo daughter, a BFF of mine, and her 2 teenage daughters. Random guys kept staring at my husband until one finally walked up and said, "Are all these women with you?! You are one lucky dude."
Faidley's is like dying and going to heaven. The best crabcakes known to man.

ya.. lexington market is decent. but you better bring your gat. better yet- you can actually buy a gat at the UTZ potato chip stand.

Lexington Market can be a little overwhelming when you go for the first time, but you can find some amazing food there and it's the perfect place to take out-of-towners. Faidley's is always a good bet for sea food but don't limit yourself. There's great ethnic food and amazing fried chicken to be found and you're guaranteed to have a good time.

Classic Baltimore. Lexington Market is the oldest indoor market in America. I remember when my mother used to take me to Lexington Market in the 1960s. Inside, the market hasn't changed much. The slanted floors, the stalls selling a variety of fresh and prepared foods, the old and the young, those who have been shopping here for generations and those new to the neighborhood, all people and all classes mixing together is all part of the experience. When I worked here at the Muhley's Bakery at 16 years old in 1977, I still remember trying my first kiwi.

You can buy rabbit and buffalo and frog legs and tripe. You can also order a 4 inch thick cut sirloin or 100 fried chicken wings. Better yet, try the fried chicken livers (there are two stalls specializing in fried chicken stuff, yum). Fresh fruit, fruit salad, and fruit-flavored popcorn grace different stalls. You can lean on the elbow bars at Faidley's and slide back raw oysters followed by a sip of cold Natty Boh. You can buy chocolates, sushi by the piece, and ten different types of cheese steak subs.

One of my favorite things to do is to climb the stairs to the restrooms where you can look down on the open floor of the market from above and see the life moving through in tides and eddies, the lights adding an almost carnival feel.

Unfortunately, though the market inside is much the same, the market outside is not. Some of the more unsavory people of Baltimore surround the building. I would park in the lot just south of the market and not go too late in the winter time. If you are not used to city life, especially some of its rougher elements, I would stick to Cross Street Market, which is but a shadow compared to Lexington, but a little more "suburbanized". But if you are a real city person, it is the only place to experience real Baltimore in the oldest indoor market in America.