Bar Antonio
Bar Antonio is all about product. The best anchovies in town are folded around a spicy house-charred Riojan pepper on freshly toasted bread. The perfect accompaniment to a glass of Txakoli.

Martnez
Many bars have stuffed peppers, but Martinez has the best -- hands down. A wood-fired piquillo pepper is filled with albacore tuna (bonito del norte) mixed with homemade mayonnaise and a hint of tarragon. Ask for a fresh one instead of those on the bar and owner Jesus will make a quick vinaigrette to pour on top and soak up with the delicious bread once you’ve finished your pepper.

Borda Berri
Crisp, salty and lashed with a garlic and parsley sauce, the pig’s ear at Borda Berri will change your mind about offal and all the odd bits of animals. The chefs here cook the way your grandmother would have if she had been Basque.

Restaurante Casa Urola
Casa Urola does everything well, but the chef has a particular genius for vegetables. The menestra is a restaurant dish, but it can be served at the bar as pintxo versions of whatever vegetable is in season.

Baja Produce
Baja Produce provides fresh fruits and vegetables to many of the Rosarito Beach restaurants and hotels. Owner Fernanda Sanchez maintains a shop with a restaurant and gallery in town that stocks a variety of goods including olives and cheese from nearby Valle de Guadalupe, homemade bread and very firm, very fresh tomatoes. The Deli Place Restaurant serves breakfast and lunch, offering local and fresh options such as Sopa Calabaza, a variety of salads, baguette sandwiches, wine, cheese and desserts.

Claudius Via Y Bodega
Master winemaker Julio Benito Martin from Segovia, Spain, started the city’s only winery in 2010 and is planning on going national in 2015. They produce a merlot that will change your mind about merlot, and a fantastic Nebbiolo. Claudius is available in more than 70 restaurants in Baja, including Javier Plascencia’s Mision 19 and Finca Altozano, Miguel Angel Guerrero’s La Querencia, and Puerto Nuevo’s Ortega family of restaurants.

Andy Nelson's Barbecue Restaurant & Catering
Andy Nelson’s, located in Timonium, MD, is an all-out barbeque joint but still makes an amazing pit beef sandwich. Nelson’s is a family-run company that traces its barbecue lineage nearly 100 years to Alabama. Barbeque runs thick through the veins of Nelson family.

Pioneer Pit Beef
Ordering is a cinch. There are two questions. 1) How do you want it cooked? 2) What would you like on it? Lines move quickly, so be sure you are ready to order. The coolest part about this venue is the guy taking your order, who slices the hot top round right in front of you. After successful completion of your order, this kindly fellow will hand you a big, hot slice of pit beef as a reward. The pit beef is succulent, warm and cut fairly thick. This is a serious sandwich able to satiate a big hunger, especially when accompanied by the delicious fresh cut fries.

Expressway Pit Beef
The Expressway Pit Beef in Odenton is a local favorite. Jason and April Farrell opened the “Beef Stand,” as it’s lovingly nicknamed by their regulars, in 2002 after having great success with their Bay Area Catering Company. The venue is a wonderful and eclectic roadside hole-in-the-wall, as is in accordance with Pit Beef Law! Their pit beef is an ode to the original and it was good, but not fantastic. The beef was a little overcooked, especially in comparison to its competition.

Fuku
David Chang hits an inside-the-park home run with his brand new addition to the Momofuku Empire, Fuku, with his spicy chicken sandwich. In a heavily guarded secret process, he brines boneless chicken thighs before deep frying them to golden perfection. The result is a juicy thigh that squirts hot oil down your hand as you bite through the crackly crust. Served on a Martin's Potato Roll that doesn't quite contain the behemoth thigh with pickles, the bread absorbs all the juices that don't make it into your mouth and somehow manages to stay intact while you eat. The spice level isn't too hot - there's Ssam sauce in bottles on the tables for you to up the heat - but just adds a nice tingle to your tongue. Don't be intimidated by the long lines for this trendsetter. They move fast and, before you know it, you'll be eagerly handing over $8 for this winner. Worth trying: the salad (farro, mandarin oranges, kale, cabbage); the Koreano - a special off-menu fried chicken sandwich that adds a big tangle of pickled daikon on top of the spicy chicken sandwich. Skip: the slightly over-seasoned, eh potato wedges.