The Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe is turning two on Aug. 3. And while the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the brewery to cancel events and limit the size of crowds, the production of delicious beer has continued on.
To celebrate its second anniversary, the brewery is releasing two new beers–including one inspired by a favorite Baltimore summer treat.
Lexington Market, the largest of Baltimore’s public markets, is set to reopen on July 30 with a 50 percent cap on capacity to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Going forward, the market will only be open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. until further notice.
Baltimore is a delicious city and a pandemic can’t hold us back from celebrating food and eating local. From July 24 – August 2, enjoy 10 days of outdoor dining and takeout deals with Baltimore Restaurant Week. Restaurant Week may be a little different this year as each establishment handles social distancing unique to their business model, but it will be just as tasty. Check out the 60+ amazing restaurants offering outdoor dining and takeout deals!
Despite the uncertainty of coronavirus, the Baltimore restaurant scene continues to stay busy, with openings and additions, events and collaborations. Here’s a look at what’s happened recently and what we can look forward to over the next few weeks:
After 10 years of selling grilled meats from a food truck, Bullhead Pit Beef opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant today at Cross Street Market, market owners Caves Valley Partners and CANAdev announced.
The restaurant was originally slated to open at the market in March, but Bullhead owner Larry Jackson told Baltimore Fishbowl that the coronavirus put their plans on hold.
“The shutdown pretty much stopped all of my vendors, so it was pretty impossible for me to get a lot of stuff,” Jackson said. “Also, we slowed down because we weren’t sure what coronavirus was and opening up in the middle of coronavirus wasn’t advisable.”
Now that Maryland has lifted some restrictions on restaurants, and Cross Street Market has implemented safety precautions, Bullhead’s restaurant is open for business.
The vacant building that formerly housed Martick’s Restaurant Francaise will be partially restored but left open to the elements as an outdoor dining space, part of a plan blessed by a nephew of the late restaurateur Morris Martick and approved today by Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation.
The preservation commission voted 9 to 0 to accept a proposal from the building’s owner to use the outer walls of the former restaurant to enclose an open-air patio that could be used as dining space for a to-be-created restaurant next door.
On the heels of sharp increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations Tuesday morning, Gov. Larry Hogan called on the leaders of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions to strictly enforce coronavirus-related restrictions on bars and restaurants, saying some establishments are “flagrantly violating the law.”
The Urban Oyster, a Locust Point restaurant known for its chargrilled oysters and other seafood selections, will close its doors on July 26, but owner and chef Jasmine Norton hinted at reopening the business at a yet-to-be determined new location.
Pen & Quill, a Station North restaurant known for its creative menu of New American fare, will close for good on Friday, co-owners Helmand Karzai and Naomi Hope Karzai posted on Facebook.
Opened in 2014, the business took over the former home of the Chesapeake Restaurant, a fabled dining destination that was one of the top spots in the city during the 1950s and ’60s.
