Twenty-two food-oriented businesses will receive grants totaling $1 million from a city program that was launched to help fuel culinary growth and put feet on the street in downtown Baltimore.
Mayor Brandon Scott and Downtown Partnership of Baltimore president Shelonda Stokes on Thursday unveiled the names of the 22 grant recipients and discussed how the program will help revitalize the city’s core.
The $1 million comes from the Downtown Partnership’s Baltimore Culinary Exchange grant program, an economic development initiative designed to strengthen downtown by supporting existing and new restaurants, food entrepreneurs, and culinary concepts within the 106-block business improvement district managed by the partnership.
This is the first round of awards for the grant program, which is funded through Scott’s Downtown RISE initiative, with support from the American Rescue Plan Act. Forty-three applications were submitted. It’s unclear whether there will be another round.
The 22 award recipients include 14 existing businesses and eight new businesses. In all, 18 are minority-owned businesses and nine are woman-owned businesses. Seventeen are currently located within, or soon will be located in, one of the targeted areas of investment. Six will move into a currently-vacant restaurant or café space that has existing equipment or infrastructure or both.
The targeted areas of investment include Pratt Street, Eutaw Street, the area around CFG Bank Arena and the Charles Street corridor. The grant program offered two funding opportunities: “Operations-Only Grants” of up to $40,000 to support operating costs associated with sustaining and growing a business, and “Building & Operations Grants” of up to $200,000 to support both operating costs and interior and exterior property improvements.
The grant program has drawn criticism from some merchants in areas outside downtown, including Little Italy and south Baltimore, for not including those areas. But officials have said the program is administered by the Downtown Partnership, which also serves as the Downtown Management Authority, and was intentionally tailored to assist businesses and properties within the boundaries of the management authority’s business improvement district.
The Downtown Partnership collaborated with the Mayor’s Office and the Maryland Small Business Development Center to evaluate the 43 applications based on a range of criteria that included sustainability of current operations; plans for property improvements and financial capability to start, sustain or expand operations.
Grant awards range from $8,000 to $160,000 and are aimed at enabling restaurateurs and other food entrepreneurs to sustain and/or expand their businesses, while also supporting property improvements, the purchase of essential equipment, inventory acquisition and marketing.
The 14 existing businesses that received grants were: B&O American Brasserie; Blue Island Malaysian Cuisine; IHOP Restaurant; Luna Del Sea Steak & Seafood Bistro; Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub; Papillons Ultra Café; Platinum Amala Spot; Refocused Vegan; Ronny’s Combo; Rosina Gourmet; Sausage Master; Sporty Dog; Sunny Side Café and The Empanada Lady.
The eight new businesses that received grants are called 4TEN; Day and Night Exotic Cereal Bar; Eastern Gourmet; Joyhound Beer Company; Nufriend Spirits; Salt Box; Toki Underground and Zero Empty Spaces.
Downtown Partnership representatives did not disclose exactly where all of the new businesses will be located or what they ‘ll offer, saying some still have to sign leases and otherwise finalize their plans. They indicated some of the new concepts could be open before the end of 2025.
One new business that was discussed in some detail is Zero Empty Spaces, a commissary kitchen that will take over a 5,200-square-foot space at 300 E. Baltimore Street that was formerly occupied by the Big Apple Tree Café, described as a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zero Empty Spaces will be on the ground floor of a public garage that’s owned by the City of Baltimore, one block from City Hall. The operator is a company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In a press event outside the vacant Big Apple Tree Café space, Scott and other speakers said the 22 new and upgraded businesses will give office workers, tourists and residents more places to eat downtown and more options in terms of what to eat. As more downtown office buildings are converted to apartments, they noted, there will be a need for additional dining spots for all the new residents.
“Downtown Baltimore is on the rise, in large part because of small business owners and entrepreneurs who are opening and supporting incredible restaurants here in Charm City,” Scott said. “Thanks to these folks, we’ve got world-class food options for those coming to sporting events, concerts, festivals, conferences and so much more downtown. I encourage everybody to check out these businesses — and so many others! — that are making Baltimore the place to be for foodies and casual diners alike. We’re proud to help them continue growing their businesses with today’s grant announcement.”
“Supporting our restaurant and food entrepreneurs is a critical aspect of all that we’re doing to make Downtown Baltimore — and the area encompassing the Downtown Management Authority, in particular—an economically robust and thriving community,” Stokes said. “In addition to fueling Baltimore’s culinary economy, we believe this essential funding will serve to catalyze further private investment, attract an increased level of foot traffic and contribute to the vitality and momentum we’re determined to continue as we work to bring about downtown’s next renaissance.”
“Restoring downtown begins at street level,” said Baltimore Development Corporation President and CEO Otis Rolley, who said he remembers the Big Apple Tree Café from when he headed the city’s Planning Department. “Together with our partners, we’re rebuilding the fabric of our city, not just buildings, but the communities and businesses that give them life.”
