Mums

Natty Bo and shots of evil! Best dive in Baltimore. Come here when you’re sick of the tourist bullshit.

Who doesn’t love a good dive bar?!
With their 5.75 #1 special (a shot of evil and a can of Natty Boh), you can’t resist Mums.
There’s always a cool mixture of folks there listening to whatever band falls through.
It’s also a plus that they let you being in outside food.
Check them out.

A friend invited us here for her going away get together on a Tuesday night. I was excited as I read the reviews of this little bar I hadn’t been to. My boyfriend asked upon entering, «What do you have on tap?» — No draughts. «Sam Adams Seasonal? — We have Sam (points toward fridge of bottles). «I take it you don’t have a kitchen.» — Nope, bare bones bar man. Hah. It was a funny little exchange that kinda gave us the jist of the place. No assholes and no frills. I was already appreciative of it being something different in the Fed Hill area. The bartender was really cool and nice, as was the owner who we were introduced to as he placed an ashtray on our table. Yeah, you can smoke here too.
A man at the bar insisted that since we were Mums virgins, we had to try a shot of Evil. I was surprised as it was tasty! Spicy with a bite. It tasted a bit like an oatmeal cookie shot, but with more Goldschlagger. But I have no idea what’s really in it.
Good jukebox in the back, a pool table with a significant lean to the front lol, and a decent amount of space to hang out with tables and chairs in the back as well as the bar seats. My friend said this is her favorite bar, and I can see why. If in the area I would definitely go back.

A barfly’s bar
A flavor all its own
A damn good haunt
Mums is more Schlitz than glitz, and authenticity is what will keep this place afloat in a residential area that maybe is arm’s-length-OK with this bar, but might also be mildly uneasy with it.
We walked in and the locals looked up from their beers and butts, assessed us, and, presumably deciding we were OK, went back to watching the movie that was midway through (2011’s Carnage, of all flicks). Cool. We grabbed some beers and moved back to the billiards and darts, just as we’d wanted to. Would love to have seen an act play the back area of the bar near the fireplace, but we weren’t so lucky this night.
Before we knew it, an hour had passed and one of our crew who’d been in before recommended we do a round of the locally-​made Lithuanian honey liqueur — similar to a Polish Krupnik. Good call. The stuff had such a full mouthfeel, fine heat, exceptional flavor, and general balanced charm to it that everything added up perfectly.
We stayed around a while longer… got some more beers, shot some more darts, got to know some of the fellas up front at the bar, got some more honey liqueur, shot some more pool, and left fulfilled, happy, and pleasantly buzzed.
Mums is one to add to your list.

One of my favorite bars in the area. Laid back, good music, nice bartenders, and not full of preppy broski’s. You can’t go wrong here!

Best dive bar in Federal Hill! Small, dark, real bar … a true drinkers bar …

This place is the best. Black out drunk, lost my Credit card, next day, it was there. Mum’s is everything the rest of Federal Hill is not, and for tat, I love it.

You kinda wish the people in Federal Hill /​Riverside /​South Baltimore werent so douchey right? You just wanna go to a local watering hole with a jukebox that isnt controlled by the internet populous and maybe shoot a game of pool where you dont hear the term «Bro» tossed around like a term of endearment. You like bottled beer, arent trying to impress anyone and could care less about meat market up on Cross St… Mums it is!
Deemed one of the early punkrock /​dive bars in City, Mums is still true to its roots. If you can deal with bathrooms that are a little rough around the edge, an ever so eclectic crowd and possibly a cat roaming around (dunno if the kitty is still there or not), this place is a score.

Okay, so if you are wondering what Evil is, it tastes like pumpkin pie and it will crush you. I had heard that an old eastern bloc lady makes it – I think it’s some kind of spicy cinnamon-​y brew with everclear added to it. They definitely do not make it at Mum’s, it definitely is provided to them in unlabeled bottles, and it definitely makes people drunk.
Mum’s is great if you’d rather have absurdly cheap drinks and a phenomenal jukebox than clean bathrooms. Make sure you know what you want when you go to the bar as you’re also likely to get a chippy bartender serving you those cheap drinks. If you can operate in those conditions, Mum’s will treat you right.

Nothing on tap, erotic photo hunt right up front, shots of Evil, great jukebox, dirty bathroom, rarely ever waited for the pool table, great spot to watch the O’s games in the middle of the week. Everyone should have a bar like this right around the corner.

Total dive. Great jukebox. Home of a shot called «Evil» that held some sort of mystery the first time I went there because I had read a review that they bring out this non-​descript bottle to pour your drink and then they throw the bottle away. Supposedly they wouldn’t tell you what is in it. This mystery was dispelled pretty quickly when I saw them making the drink behind the bar. I really can’t tell you what is in it though because I had had a few shots of it by that time and, well, it is deserving of the name evil. It’s got some spices and what not in it, I can tell you that much. More of a winter time drink than anything. I don’t recall any beer on tap here-​all bottles. Pool table in the back. Yep, that sounds about right. Give it a whirl.