After a few rocky years during the pandemic, the Baltimore food and restaurant scene was mostly back to normal in 2023.
Things weren’t always smooth sailing this year – remember that rainy weekend in September that canceled multiple food festivals along with fun Artscape food plans? But for the most part, we were back to doing what we love most – trying out new restaurants, piling our plates at raw bars, downing local brews, and fighting about who has the best crab cakes.
In 2023, we welcomed new spots with open arms and sadly said goodbye to some old favorites. We got excited about pop-ups, watched as local restaurants gained national attention, and celebrated milestones.
Here’s a look back at the highs, lows, and biggest moments of 2023 in the Baltimore food scene:
Saying Hello
After a tough few years of COVID-related closures and related struggles, Baltimore’s restaurant scene was in expansion mode this year, with more restaurants opening or expanding than closing. The growth happened all over the city, too, from south to north and east to west. No single neighborhood seemed to lead the surge.
One of the fancier openings this year was Amoora, a Syrian restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton, which opened in January. The restaurant, which specializes in the cuisine of the Levant region of Syria, is still gaining rave reviews, nearly a year after its launch.
Other high profile launches include Bunny’s Buckets and Bubbles, a fried chicken and champagne spot, helmed by Sally O’s Jesse Sandlin, which opened in the old Wharf Rat space in Fells Point in June. Also in June, Ashish Alfred of Duck Duck Goose opened Osteria Pirata in the former home of Points South Latin Kitchen.
The summer also saw some exciting news in other parts of the city, including the long-awaited opening of Toki Underground on the border of Harwood and Better Waverly, Estiatorio Plaka on Eastern Avenue in Greektown, and Peter Chang Baltimore, serving dim sum near the Hopkins Hospital.
A few spaces left empty by recent closures are now back in use, which is always good news. In November, Medium Rare, a steak frites spot, opened in The Rotunda, using the kitchen space previously dedicated to Cinebistro’s food prep. In Fells, Thai restaurant The Dara opened in September in the old Red Star space.
The final few weeks of the year have been promising, too, with the opening of The Buttonwood in Mt. Vernon and a new outpost of Mama’s on the Half Shell in Owings Mills. Here’s hoping there’s a lot more like that to come in the next 12 months.
Bakeries Blooming
It was a big year for bakeries in Baltimore. Ovenbird Bakery, which started with one Little Italy store, now has a Lexington Market stall (opened in January) and a new additional location in Highlandtown.
Another bakery, Roggenart, is also in expansion mode, with a Towson location that opened back in March plus a pair of Howard County spots – one in Columbia and one in Ellicott City.
Remington added a bakery lineup with the opening of Doppio Pasticceria, a Sicilian bakery that was a farmers market fan favorite before opening in R. House in May.
Crust by Mack, the pastry brainchild of Amanda Mack, bounced around a bit early in the year then settled down (for now) in Harborplace. Mack is staying busy with the shop and providing sweets for events like the opening of the Inner Harbor Ice Rink.
Old Faces, Fresh Looks
Several local institutions received facelifts this year, including The Prime Rib, which made news this year when management decided that, instead of moving from Mt. Vernon to Cross Keys, it would stay in its longtime home on N. Calvert St. Instead of picking up and moving across town, the restaurant briefly closed for an aesthetic update (though some of the classic parts of its décor remain).
The Oregon Grille is another venerable restaurant that experienced a rebirth this year. The horse country restaurant reopened in February after being taken over (and renovated by) Atlas Restaurant Group.
Atlas Rising
Speaking of Atlas…there’s really no way to talk about the current state of the Baltimore restaurant scene without mentioning its quickly growing empire.
In addition to the reopening of The Oregon Grille, has generated many headlines for its other plans in the works.* A steakhouse called The Ruxton is slated to open in the old Fleming’s space in Harbor East in January 2024 and other local plans for 2024 include the opening of a cocktail bar, Order of the Ace, and a Chinese restaurant, in partnership with Caves Valley Partners, in Cross Keys.
The company also has plans to move its corporate offices into the Aliceanna Street building that formerly housed Pazo and Bar Vasquez, and to open a new restaurant in that space.
And that’s just what’s happening in Baltimore. Atlas has continued to expand around the country, opening additional locations of some of its restaurants that started in Baltimore, and introducing new concepts.
Saying Goodbye
Of course, not all restaurant news this year has been good news; we also said goodbye to some spots that had been beloved for years and others that were new favorites but didn’t quite get off the ground.
Closings this year include Bo Brooks, which shut its Canton doors in February, and Baba’s Mediterranean Grill, the popular Federal Hill restaurant, which closed in April. Also in April, the pair of new vegan restaurants in the 414 Light St. building, Liora and Double Zero, closed their doors.
Summertime brought bad news from No Way Rosé in Federal Hill, Joe Benny’s in Little Italy and Velleggia’s, the short-lived reprise of the classic Italian spot. Old Goucher’s Church: A Bar changed ownership in June, following news about staff issues related to compensation and management, and ended up closing altogether in early September.
Sad news in the fall and winter included the closing of the tiny and delicious 1157 bar + kitchen in Locust Point, the final goodbye from Bertha’s, and the devastating news that both locations of The Local Oyster would close their doors (though their catering operation is still a going concern).
Unfortunately, closings were not the only kind of loss the food world experienced in 2023. In September, William Maughlin, known as Chef Bill, passed away unexpectedly. Chef Bill, who co-owned Nancy by SNAC with his longtime life partner Kevin Brown, was an integral part of the social fabric of the restaurant industry and the Baltimore community as a whole. He left a lasting impression and will continue to be missed.
Baltimore on the National Stage
When the James Beard Award nominations were announced in January, Baltimoreans had a lot of room to brag. Not only was Charleston nominated for Outstanding Hospitality Program some of our smaller spots – Ekiben and Foraged Eatery – were included on the Best Chef Mid-Atlantic list.
In June, Wine Spectator announced its 2023 Restaurant Award winners. The list has, for years, included a handful of Baltimore restaurants with impressive wine programs like The Bygone and Magdalena. This year, True Chesapeake Oyster Co. was added to that list; the Whitehall Mill restaurant earned an Award of Excellence.
In September, the New York Times included Little Donna’s on its list of the country’s 50 best restaurants. The Upper Fells Point restaurant’s owners and fans were thrilled about the honor – but also have had to contend with a surge of business since publication. It’s a good problem to have – but can make getting a reservation tough. The restaurant has a strategy though – they reserve a certain portion of their tables for walk-ins every day. Still, if you want a seat, you should get there early.
Lane Harlan, one of the key players behind Clavel, Fadensonnen and The Coral Wig, has been Baltimore restaurant world royalty since the opening of W.C. Harlan a decade ago. Now, the rest of the world is also getting a glimpse what Harlan can do: she and her family and friends are featured in the December issue of Bon Appetit.
Collabs Continue
One of the most charming aspects of Baltimore’s restaurant scene is the willingness of locals to partner with each other and to create opportunities for collaboration.
Those vibes continued this year, both at restaurants like Ekiben and JBGB’s, which are frequent stops for chefs from in and out of town, and in spaces that are designed to host pop-up events, like Larder in Old Goucher and The Sinclair, in Belair-Edison.
At The Sinclair, throughout the year, H3irloom Food Group’s owners, David and Tonya Thomas, bringing people together for themed dinners and pop-up collaborations (often with their friends from The Urban Oyster) and interesting events like talks about history and foodways.
The city is a great place for pop-up only concepts to thrive, including Ggoma Supper Club (which hosts multi-course meals at places like JBGB’s and The Milton Inn), Costiera (special menus at Southpaw, Sally O’s and The Dive) and Big Softy (pizzas and more in Hampden near the lights, at Union Collective, and Baltimore Spirits Company Cocktail Gallery).
Congratulating Consistency
Openings, events and pop-ups are always exciting – but in Baltimore, we also do a good job of appreciating restaurants that have a few years under their belts.
This year, a handful of favorites celebrated milestone anniversaries. Liberatore’s in Timonium rang in 2023 with a 30th anniversary back in January. They were the oldest restaurant to observe a milestone this year – but not the only one.
Gertrude’s turned 25 in October and Mama’s on the Half Shell in Canton turned 20 in November. A pair of newer favorites – the cocktail bar W.C. Harlan and ice cream shop The Charmery – both celebrated ten years in business this year.
The food and restaurant industry is a tough one – and these last few years have been especially challenging – which makes celebrations like these even sweeter.
What to watch for in ‘24
So what can we expect in 2024? It’s hard to say.
One surefire prediction is that there will be a lot of discussion of what will happen with Harborplace and how that will impact the local restaurant community. When Harborplace was originally built, the change in traffic patterns and retail and restaurant options lead to shifts in restaurant business in other parts of the city (like Little Italy).
Given that, it’s safe to say that whatever happens in that area next, the one thing we can expect is that things won’t stay the same. We’ll just have to stay tuned to see.
*Note: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that Atlas Restaurant Group owns Kneads Bakeshop, which opened in March. Kneads is owned by Adam, Kira, Shawn, and Ryan Paterakis while Atlas is co-owned by their cousins, Alex and Eric Smith.
