Clavel Mezcaleria

Clavel was founded in the summer of 2015 at 225 W 23rd Street in Remington by Lane Harlan and Carlos Raba, and Raba's summary of the reception is worth keeping: they were called fools for opening a taco place in Remington. Raba was born and raised in Culiacán, Sinaloa, taught to cook by his mother and five aunts, and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu; Harlan was born in Pampanga in the Philippines, raised around the United States and settled in Baltimore at seventeen. She co-owns the bar with her husband Matthew Pierce. The kitchen nixtamalises its own corn — the ancient alkaline process that turns dried maize into masa — from small farms in Oaxaca and Puebla, which is the difference between a good tortilla and a great one. Aguachile of raw butterflied shrimp cured in lime is the specialty at $18, with queso fundido at $16 and tacos at $5.50 each. In 2024 Clavel was a James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Bar. It takes no reservations.

The non-alcoholic list here is one of the deepest in the country, let alone Baltimore: a full printed section headed "Refrescos Sin Alcohol" running eight drinks, nearly all built on house-made ferments and shrubs rather than bought-in substitutes. El Curandero ($11) uses a house tres chiles shrub with limón, Topo Chico and chile salt. Malabarista ($12) is the most unusual, built on house beet kvass — a lacto-fermented beet drink — with ginger, tamarindo, piña and a turmeric-marigold salt. Horchata Real ($12) layers a house black rice, coconut and pandan horchata over Chiapas cold brew and raw wildflower honey. Beyond those sit Sandia Madura with watermelon and serrano, Tormenta Tropical on an ají dulce-pandan-banana shrub, Reina Carmesí with a house red aperitivo and yuzu, El Chilango, and Rosa Morado with guayaba and timur peppercorn — all $12. Every michelada on the menu is also available without alcohol. One correction worth making plainly: a widely-read local round-up listed Clavel's Suero as alcohol-free, but the venue's own menu puts it under cocteles, built on mezcal.