We admit it: This was supposed to be a category for Best Raw Bar. But "raw bar" doesn't quite fit Faidley Seafood (which apparently isn't "Faidley's," even though that's what everyone we know calls it). Somehow, "raw bar" equates with "fern bar" in our minds, and Faidley's is, well, a little more raw than that. People line up in its cavernous Lexington Market space for its famous fist-sized lump-laden crab cakes and the fish market (occasionally stocked with Maryland delicacies like shad roe and muskrat), but more than anything we love to belly up to the central shucking station during a weekday lunch hour and order up a half-dozen oysters--a dozen if we're feeling flush, and hungry--slurp 'em down, chase 'em with a saltine, and maybe order some more. It has little or none of the social aspects of the Cross Street Market weekend shuck-and-suck scene, but we wouldn't trade this simple, workmanlike exchange of a few bucks for a quick and dirty delicacy for the fanciest raw bar in town.

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