5 Sunday specials at Baltimore-area restaurants to try during Ravens season

As football season ramps up , the specials begin appearing on menus and chalkboards en masse: beer buckets, BOGO burgers, bottomless pitchers, 99-cent wings. Baltimore has Ravens fans to feed, and its bars and restaurants clamor to lead them to barstools with the juiciest bargains. To make the most of the season, here are five Baltimore-area establishments with Sunday specials, some branded for game day and some just a good deal:

Atlantic Food & Spirits

The large amount of space at Catonsville’s Atlantic Food & Spirits allows for multiple kinds of experiences: lively dinner with friends on the deck, date night in the dining room, a quick trip to the adjoining liquor store or Sunday football in the bar. At the latter, game day drink specials include $5 Natural Lights, $5 National Bohemians, $10 bucket specials and $6 crushes, according to a promotional menu provided by management. The Aperol crush was particularly refreshing, less bitter than the traditional spritz but not as sweet as a typical crush.

Also in the bar for game days, Maryland bay oysters are buck-a-shuck — this applies on Thursdays, too — and chicken wings go for $10 with eight sauce choices. I went with fried with honey Old Bay, and the thick crunch was a toothsome delight with the subtle sauce, leaving a small pool of honey on the plate. Thin-crusted flatbreads are $5 off the normal range of $14 to $22 in variants like buffalo chicken and gruyère-rich mushroom.

In addition, crab nachos are a fan favorite, my server said. Thin wontons serve as chips, loaded with jumbo lump crab, roasted tomatoes and corn, cheese sauce, everything bagel seasoning and scallions. For dessert, doughnut holes cooked with duck fat are balanced by a deep red wine maple sauce. 2205 Frederick Road, Catonsville, 410-441-3954, atlanticfoodandspirits.com

HomeSlyce

Somehow, HomeSlyce — boasting six locations in the region — feels like both a sports bar and a classy pizza joint. A league of televisions at the downtown location inspired a rambunctious crowd during the US Open when I visited, but the red, lightly stylish interiors set the scene for intentional and refined pizzas.

Every day has a special, and on Sundays, it’s a 12-inch premium pizza and six wings for $25 (or upgrade the pizza to 16 inches for $35), as well as 20% off with a student ID. “Premium” here does not mean the lackluster discount pizzas but actually 15 strong options.

Take the Falafelicious pizza, which features hummus, roasted red peppers, red onions, mozzarella, slightly spicy sauce and falafel. HomeSlyce smartly just used bits of the falafel to get touches of crispiness instead of weighing the whole pie down. Likewise, the Salmon Catch has fat chunks of fish complemented by lemony mozzarella and ricotta, banana peppers, roasted tomatoes and garlic butter. Crusts are thin but not at all floppy, sturdy enough to hold the unusual toppings.

The wings also exceeded expectations for cheap eats : extra large and in flavors like the heat-plus-sweet mango habanero and bayou Cajun. 336 N. Charles St., 443-501-4000; 3333 N. Charles St., 443-315-4046; 900 S. Kenwood Ave., 443-501-4000; 1711 York Road, Timonium, 410-616-4360; 12186 Clarksville Pike Ste.17-18, Clarksville, 443-552-0200; 9400 Snowden River Parkway Ste. 127,128, Columbia, 443-491-4000; homeslyce.com

Johnny’s

The upscale Foreman Wolf outpost in Roland Park is far from a sports bar , but fans can nab seats in sight of a television and enjoy half-priced bottles of wine after 4:30 p.m. during dinner service on Sundays. The wine list is helpfully divided into sections like “Salty & Crispy Snacks” and “Burgers & Red Meat,” and my server seemed thrilled to be asked for pairings. She went for bold ones like a red (the ripe Mas de Boislauzon Vin de France “La Chaussynette”) with fish (perfectly pan-seared Atlantic salmon with green beans and charred-onion agrodolce). Zardetto brut prosecco cut through the fry on moist fish and chips, and grüner veltliner harmonized with shellfish. Go for the fried oysters — which remained luscious inside their cornmeal dredge and are served with “Old Bayoli” — over the steamed PEI mussels, which were blander than their bright-orange tomato-pepper broth would imply. 4800 Roland Ave., 410-773-0777, johnnysdownstairs.com

Little Havana

Although there are TVs for football indoors, brunch at South Baltimore’s Little Havana is best enjoyed outside in view of the Patapsco River and Baltimore skyline, sipping one of the unlimited bloody marys or mimosas. Bottomless brunch drinks run $20 per person from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays, and in my experience, the staff is generally pretty relaxed about procuring outdoor seats and not rushing you out of them on a nice day. The menu combines American breakfast foods with Latin influences, with dishes like the Papas Bowl, made up of roasted potatoes with sofrito, fried eggs and jalapeño crema, or the Santiago Wrap with scrambled eggs, chorizo, pico de gallo and cheese, plus sweet potato fries and mojo sauce. 1325 Key Highway, 410-837-9903, littlehavanas.com

Papi’s Tacos

The rules are strict for the Sunday special at Papi’s Tacos, located in Fells Point, Hamden, Waltherson, Towson and Ocean City, but the value is worth it for hungry guests. At the bar only, get all-you-can-eat tacos for $20 from 5 p.m. until close. They come in chicken tinga, “gringo” beef, chorizo or veggie, and the first four must be the same base, though diners can mix it up with two of the same kind at a time after that, according to staff. To-go boxes are forbidden, but these tacos are piled high and will leave you full into the next meal or two. Navigating hers, my dining partner said, “It’s so full I can’t even tell where the [tortilla] is.”

Should you need more food than this, the yuca frita has a great fried crust, though soft inside, with a pico salad, or the mole poblano enchiladas will warm the soul as it gets colder. But the esquites could have had more seasoning, and some of the fruity margaritas lean toward the overly saccharine. 1703 Aliceanna St., 443-438-9144; 3820 Falls Road, 443-449-5796; 4801 Harford Road, 443-835-2071; 826 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson, 443-275-2546; 1500 Philadelphia Ave., Ocean City, 443-664-8611; papistacojoint.com

Have a news tip? Contact Kendyl Kearly at kkearly@baltsun.com .

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