The Aquarium’s main café had seen the wear and tear of more than 1.4 million visitors per year since it opened in 2005. The newly renovated space offers an inviting atmosphere where guests can take a break from their Aquarium tour to enjoy delicious food while learning about earth-friendly food practices. The Harbor Market Kitchen and extension eateries throughout the Aquarium buildings are available to all Aquarium visitors during normal business hours as well as for catering for groups and special events in the evenings.

The menu at the Harbor Market Kitchen was modeled from local farmers markets and offers far more than seasonal fruits and vegetables; it offers wholesome, farm-to-table preparations showcasing that the food is farmed, not manufactured.

Local purveyors include the family-owned Arnold Farms in Chestertown, MD, delivering cauliflower, corn, cantaloupes and tomatoes for the fresh market salad station and Toigo Orchards in Shippensburg, PA providing beefsteak and Heirloom tomatoes, apricots, plums, raspberries and peas produced in pesticide-free greenhouses. Hormone- and nitrite-free hotdogs, cage-free, hormone-free free chicken and grass-fed beef are also available at the Harbor Market Kitchen. Healthy alternatives such as sweet potato fries and all-natural hotdogs are available for those who prefer traditional favorites.

Recent menu favorites include:
- The Chesapeake Farm Salad, with the season’s first tender lettuces, local spring peas, butter radishes, potatoes, asparagus and grass fed flank steak tossed with a green onion vinaigrette,
- Sustainably-harvested Blue Crab Chowder with smoked bacon, potatoes, tomatoes and sweet Chestertown corn,
- A Reuben Sandwich fashioned with house-cured corned beef, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing and gruyere cheese, along with White Oak Pastures Beef Brisket BBQ.

In addition to changes in what is served, Harbor Kitchen Market renovations also include composting stations that return valuable nutrients back to the soil and reduce our impact on the earth. The Harbor Market Kitchen also utilizes recycled, compostable materials, and offers alternatives to non biodegradable waste whenever possible such as sustainably harvested bamboo plates and bowls along with compostable potato based fork, knives and spoons.

If you have kids and live in the Baltimore area, you should get a membership to the aquarium. It is not just a great place for tourists. This is a fun outing on bad weather days that your children will enjoy. They will learn more about water life and get exercise too.

Great to take a family for the day. Love the dolphins

What a terrific family adventure! Exhibits are very educational are geared for every age. The jellyfish are intriguing and mesmerizing - just beautiful. The dolphin show was great fun for the little ones in our group and the shark tanks are just amazing. There's a nice area just outside the dolphin show for the toddlers to play - a great "rest" area for the kids as there is so much to see that you can easily spend the entire day here. The place is well designed - even when it is crowded you can still get up close to the tanks to see the fish. We skipped the 4D show as we had children under three and figured it might be a bit too intense. The Aquarium is a must-see in Baltimore!

Visiting The National Aquarium in Baltimore is by far one of the city's most exciting adventures. Seeing the towering Crystal Pavilion that has been welcoming visitors to the aquarium since 2005 and houses the Australia exhibit is an experience in itself. My personal favorites of the aquarium are the giant tanks full of sting rays, sea turtles, and sharks. The enormity of the tanks and how they surround you as you walk through the exhibits completely immerses you in the animals' underwater world. And, the current jelly fish exhibit is a graceful spectacle not to miss. Other must-see attractions are the 4-D Immersion Theater and the interactive dolphin show.

I have visited the Aquarium with kids ranging from 3 to 83 and it never fails to amuse and entertain all of them. Having a child's birthday party there and taking in the Dolphin Show was one of the best times we've had on our family outings - and even the older kids had plenty to see and do that they never once yelled "I'm bored, can we go home?" The Rain Forest is my personal favorite - so much to see, you won't know where to look first!!

I love the new dolphin show! Great kid-friendly Baltimore outing/ thing-to-do in Baltimore!