Craft beer bar chain Growler USA is moving in at The Rotunda shopping center in North Baltimore.
Alli Oliver, who brokered the lease for The Rotunda’s developer and owner, Hekemian & Co., confirmed on a phone call Monday afternoon that the pub will be coming, and sit between the CinéBistro dine-in movie theater and the yet-to-open MOD Pizza. Julie Schorr, Hekemian’s marketing director, said in an email that the space is around 2,800 square feet.
A spokeswoman for Growler USA said the owner of the new location is Jay Jethwa, and that it is “tentatively set to open in November.”
The Baltimore Business Journal first reported Growler USA’s arrival Monday morning.
The Growler USA spokeswoman described the franchise in an email as “a microbrew pub dedicated to offering only 100 percent American-made craft beverages and a food menu designed and engineered to celebrate the flavors of each drink.”
Sort of like Baltimore’s own Max’s Taphouse in Fells Point, and more similar to craft beer chains like World of Beer and The Brass Tap that have prospered during the craft beer boom, Growler USA specializes in options. The company’s website says it keeps 100 beverages on tap, which also includes ciders, wines and kombucha (non-alcoholic) in addition to beer.
Growler USA began in Eugene, Oregon, and has grown to more than 20 franchised locations in 13 states. The company appears to be in expansion mode, with new outposts set to open soon in Baltimore, and in Oregon, California, New Mexico, Florida and Texas.
The Rotunda is beginning to fill out. A number of national chain eateries and drinkeries have moved in before Growler USA, including MOD Pizza, Cinnaholic (also coming soon) and Starbucks. Maryland-born options there include Mi and Yu Noodle Bar, The Local Fry (also coming soon), Moby Dick House of Kabob, which began in Bethesda, and, if you want to go bigger, Rockville’s MOM’s Organic Market, which has served as The Rotunda’s anchor tenant since the center re-opened in in 2016.
This story has been updated.
