Maryland: Pit Beef, Chaps Pit Beef (Baltimore)

Chaps Pit Beef started out as a humble shack serving up pit beef, a food you’ll only find in Maryland. Over the years, its popularity grew (along with its menu), and the size of the building has expanded substantially as well. The crowds still line up to eat here, and it’s one of those restaurants worth waiting in line for. The classic pit beef sandwich is made by rubbing whole bottom round roasts with salt, pepper, paprika, thyme and onion powder before grilling them over a 500-degree charcoal pit. Once a nice crust is developed, the cooked portion is sliced and then put back on the grill, and the chunk that’s sliced off is thin-shaved and grilled some more before being tucked into a kaiser roll. Some mayo-kicked horseradish (known as “tiger sauce”) and raw onions complete the dish.