Arcos Restaurant

Authentic Mexican Cuisine
129 South Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21231
410-522-4777

Nicolas Ramos, owner, had a dream of establishing a restaurant. Then, after four years of carefully designing and creating the place, he wanted to bring a piece of true Mexico to Baltimore. With its authentic food and true Mexican décor, what you see at Arcos is not is not your typical tourist restaurant in Mexico’s large cities. Arcos is your authentic Mexican restaurant you will find throughout the towns of Mexico. With the old woodwork and brick-paved paths topped with arches (arcos), you will experience a warm and relaxed atmosphere. The surroundings make you feel as if you have gone back in time to old Mexico.

The bar was crafted from steel, wood and marble recycled from old buildings torn down around Baltimore and Washington. The wood around the tiles comes from old barns that Nicolas tore down himself. He recycled the windows and light fixtures from an old church in the Washington area. The beautiful handcrafted tables are made from hardwood floorings and beams. The materials used came from various sites such on the Francis Scott Key highway, Canton, Locust Point and Fells Point. The bricks, both inside and outside date back to the 1820s. Nicolas himself carefully removed many from old beautiful buildings. The marble on the bathroom floors came from the Congress Hotel on Franklin Street. The extremely large and heavy bathroom doors came from the Munsey building. The restaurant’s patio has an open grill and Mexican music background. The benches surrounding the patio and the “grotto” come from an old Catholic church on Calvert Street.

Over ten thousand man hours of restoration and renovation was put into Arcos to create a hand-crafted hand-made atmosphere that everyone can admire. We hope you come see us and bring your friends. Since its opening, Arcos has catered many parties including Baltimore’s famous Green Week.

Our First Review Ally and I had previously noticed and were curious about Arcos (on Broadway between Pratt & Lombard), but had never made it inside. Then the City Paper gave the restaurant an excellent review and that was all the kick in the butt we needed. We went on Friday, along with my friend Bryant from Colorado, and were immensely impressed with not only the restaurant as it currently stands, but for the potential that lies in what may become Baltimore’s best spot for Friday night summer dinner and drinks! Arcos is immediately welcoming and feels very “Spanish” or Latin American. There are many brick arches in the inside of the restaurant and these brick arches contrast nicely with the very heavy and deeply stained wooden beams that predominate the front bar area of the restaurant. Spanish tiles are mixed into this combination and the whole inside ties together quite well and feels both substantial and airy at the same time. Even more impressive is the fact that all of the materials used to build Arcos are recycled materials from buildings and demolition work in the nearby area. Before I forget, the bathrooms were very tidy and nicely lit- predominately with candles.

The place was packed when we arrived and after a 5 minute wait, the bartender, Fernando, offered us a bar table by the window. After plopping in our chairs he took our drink order and talked to us briefly before hustling behind the bar to whisk up drinks and direct traffic- a great and friendly bartender. The City Paper review mentioned that Patron was the default tequila used in Arcos’ margaritas and Ally and I were floored by this! Would this turn out to be the proverbial “shot across the bow” of Blue Agave (which impressively uses Herradura Silver as its “rail” tequila) in the beginning of Baltimore’s Summer of 2005 Margarita War?

Fernando reached for the big bottle with “1800” emblazoned on it (Jose Cuervo 1800) and I was curious. Questioning later, Fernando informed me that Patron is poured by request, but that Cuervo 1800 was the base tequila (which is not swill either). Regardless, our margaritas arrived quickly and tasting tart and oh so good. No sickeningly sweet rubbish using a bottled mixer and/or orange juice here. The margaritas at Arcos have an excellent balance of tequila, fresh lime juice, and triple sec. Delicious and some of the best to be had in town. Not to mention that our margaritas arrived with a deliciously fresh salsa and what are hands down the best chips I have had in Bawlmer. Light, airy, puffy, and virtually greaseless. The menu is indeed very small, for now. There were only 6 selections to choose from, including only one non-land meat dish, a shrimp cocktail. The owners informed me that more choices would be offered in the future, including some more vegetarian dishes. Still, there are no plans for a monstrous menu- just a focus on a small to moderate selection of high quality dishes.

I ordered the Enchiladas de Pollo, hoping that I wouldn’t get the usual overly salted and mediocre quality meat smothered under a heavy blanket of melted cheese that makes me wonder how places like Nacho Mama’s stay in business. My worries were assuaged when my four enchiladas arrived plated rather smartly and sitting on top of a very earthy brown mole sauce with a light sprinkling of cheese. At $6, this was a steal! No soggy mass of heart stopping madness here! It’s funny to hear me ramble about a friggen enchilada, but they were fantastic. The enchiladas were lightly crispy without being greasy. The chicken looked to be slow cooked and the enchiladas were filled with a heavy amount of very fresh and slightly smoky tasting shredded chicken. This was all balanced by a fabulous mole sauce that was subtlety complex to the point where both my friend Bryant and I enjoyed more with each bite.

The food is very good, the waiters spoke clear English and were friendly, and from watching them work the floor, they are attentive in their service. I’m looking forward to more menu selections and for the place to iron out the occasional growing pain as they finish their kitchen and get to full capacity.

The real show stopper however, is the back patio. This may turn out to be one of Baltimore’s hot spots. The brick arches carry to the outside patio. There is a newly brick floored and walled patio out back with a nice sized central area with two narrow alleyway/portage ways that shoot off to the right and left. The alleyway to the right goes to Pratt Street and has brick arches occasionally breaking up the open sky over the narrow lane. In between the columns that support the arches are padded little nooks for seating. The seating area to the left of the main patio is actually sunken down about 3 feet and runs back alongside the restaurant’s exterior. The sunken area is long and narrow, is covered by a roof, and has smart couches and tables for relaxing and eating. The main patio has a new and very large stainless steel grille with a rotisserie attachment on it.

Arcos hopes to have this back patio filled with grilled food, Salsa and Mariachi music, sangrias, margaritas…..and you this summer. Our neighborhood needs a place close by that offers outdoor seating and a scene that requires more than blue jeans and shorts, but less than stiff suits and stuffy attitude. I can picture Friday evenings with guys in linen pants and shirts and women in sundresses dancing and relaxing in the twilight as the music pulses along. My guess is we’ll have to show up early to get a spot. I’ll definitely see you there! --Kelly Beckham

Open Hours:
Mon: Closed
Sun-Thu: 4pm-11pm
Fri-Sat: 4pm-2am
Neighborhood: Spanish Town in Fells Point
Category: Mexican
Accept: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners, Discover