CITY GUIDES | MARYLAND

The Best Restaurants in Frederick, Where History Eats Well

A former chapel serves steaks, a car dealership makes fried chicken, and an old barbershop now turns out steamed buns in this Maryland city.

By Maria Rodriguez | Oct. 26, 2026

The Tasting Room

AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a regular at your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in magazines from Spain to Seattle.

Frederick has a habit of giving landmark buildings a second appetite. The Voltaggio brothers serve steaks inside a former chapel; the restaurant Bryan Voltaggio opened in a onetime car dealership; and a former barbershop on North Market Street now sends out steamed buns. Yet the story isn't all clever renovations: a walk around Market Street and Carroll Creek will turn up Spanish tapas, Cuban cooking, serious wine, and pizza from a blisteringly hot Neapolitan oven. The city's dining life extends to an Ethiopian kitchen on East Street and a gastropub that has made Detroit-style pizza a local obsession. I've eaten my way around Market Street and Carroll Creek, and these are the 12 best restaurants in Frederick, Maryland, for seeing what this historic city is cooking now.

Ekiben

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Ekiben started in Baltimore, but its first move beyond the city landed in a former North Market Street barbershop. The draw is the Neighborhood Bird: Taiwanese curry fried chicken with sambal mayo, pickles, and herbs stuffed into a steamed bun, though the rice-bowl version is just as compelling. Don't skip the tempura broccoli, tossed with vinegar, onions, and herbs, or the tofu with spicy peanut sauce. This is counter service with enough flavor to justify a line.

Best for: Taiwanese-style fried chicken buns and tempura broccoli

Hootch & Banter

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At this Market Street spot, the menu has a sense of humor, but the cooking doesn't rely on it. Miniature beef Wellingtons arrive with truffle duxelles, while crab egg rolls and twice-cooked wings are good reasons to order more than one appetizer. The corned beef in the Banter sandwich is cured in-house, and the cocktail list is reason enough to stay for another round. There's no regular reservation book, so a wait is part of the bargain.

Best for: Inventive tavern food and cocktails worth waiting for

Isabella's Taverna & Tapas Bar

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Tapas are the point at this long-running Market Street restaurant, and ordering just one plate misses the fun. Start with panko-crusted asparagus fries and garlicky sizzling shrimp, then work toward patatas bravas, fried manchego, and a pan of paella if you're settling in. Sangria and a fireplace toward the back encourage the kind of evening when the table keeps finding space for one more dish.

Best for: A long dinner built around shared Spanish small plates

Pistarro's Ristorante Pizzeria Napoletana

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The oven is the star here: built in Naples, fired with wood, and hot enough to turn dough into blistered, soft-centered pizza in minutes. Order the margherita to see the basics, or the Versace with prosciutto, arugula, and parmesan; mozzarella is made in-house. The menu stretches to pastas, meatballs, and gelato, so nobody needs to agree on pizza to eat well. A broad patio gives the restaurant a distinctly social feel.

Best for: Neapolitan pizza and a leisurely meal on the patio

Sabor de Cuba

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Chef Angel Gattorno cooks from family recipes at this Cuban restaurant just off Market Street, and the menu knows exactly what it wants to be. There are crisp croquetas, ropa vieja, and roast pork with rice, black beans, and sweet plantains; the pressed Cubano makes a good argument for stopping at lunch. The walls carry art by Antonio Gattorno, a Cuban modernist and distant relative of the chef. It feels like a family restaurant because it is one.

Best for: Cuban comfort food, from ropa vieja to a pressed Cubano

Showroom

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Before it became a restaurant, this big-windowed East Street building displayed cars; chef Bryan Voltaggio later turned it into Family Meal, and it now operates as Showroom. The menu has held onto its best idea: fried chicken, with biscuits and pickled vegetables, plus chicken and waffles and pot pie fritters. Brunch runs daily, but there's also meatloaf, steak, and cocktails for dinner. It's a diner at heart, only with a more serious kitchen.

Best for: Fried chicken and an all-day approach to brunch

Sumittra Thai Cuisine

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Sumittra takes its name from the owner's wife, while much of the cooking traces to recipes passed down by his mother, Paijit. That family history shows up in familiar dishes done with care: pad thai with tamarind, wide rice noodles in spicy basil sauce, and creamy panang curry. The more adventurous end of the menu includes crisp duck with chili and basil and jumbo shrimp in tamarind glaze. It's an easy place to eat well whether you're ordering cautiously or turning up the heat.

Best for: Family-recipe Thai cooking and a flexible spice level

The Tasting Room

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At the corner of Market and Church, the windows make this one of Frederick's best seats for watching the city go by. The kitchen works from a contemporary American playbook with European turns: duck, seafood, and lobster ravioli have all been strong draws, while sticky toffee pudding has its own following. The wine list is serious, the cocktails are too, and the service has helped make this a favorite for celebrations.

Best for: A special-occasion dinner with serious wine and cocktails

White Rabbit Gastropub

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Frederick's most persuasive argument for Detroit-style pizza comes out of a gastropub with a deep beer list and a sense of mischief. The square pies have crisp, caramelized edges; one Maryland-minded version piles on crab, béchamel, Old Bay, and scallions. The restaurant won a best-pan-pizza honor at the 2022 International Pizza Expo, but the bar is hardly an afterthought, with rotating taps and whiskey. Come hungry enough to share a pie and still try something from the rest of the menu.

Best for: Detroit-style pizza, craft beer, and a little irreverence

The Wine Kitchen on the Creek

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Carroll Creek is a fine place to spend an evening, especially when it comes with a glass of something unexpected. The Wine Kitchen builds its list around tasting flights, then backs it up with seasonal cooking from chef Briana Mansberger that might include duck breast, steak, or seafood. Executive chef Briana Mansberger spent years cooking in kitchens associated with the Voltaggio brothers, and her menu makes the most of regional ingredients. Grab a patio table when the weather cooperates.

Best for: Wine flights and seasonal cooking beside Carroll Creek

Wye Oak Tavern

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Frederick natives Bryan and Michael Voltaggio turned the former chapel at the Visitation Hotel into a steakhouse with enough personality to outlast the initial surprise of eating where an altar once stood. Prime rib and dry-aged steaks anchor the menu, but the brothers have also worked Maryland flavors into seafood, starters, and comfort-food dishes. The high ceilings and preserved details are spectacular, even if they don't do much to quiet a busy Saturday night. This is the city's big-ticket dinner, and one of its most distinctive.

Best for: A celebratory steak dinner in a former chapel

Yenya Bet Migeb

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On North East Street, Yenya Bet Migeb is devoted to the pleasures of eating from the same platter. The Ethiopian kitchen serves doro wot, beef tibs, and vegetable stews over injera, with a vegan sampler that brings lentils, greens, and other dishes together in one spread. The restaurant describes its food as a continuation of family recipes, and the menu makes it easy to explore without knowing every dish in advance. Order a sampler and let the injera do the work.

Best for: Ethiopian stews and vegetable platters for sharing