HoodFellas downtown restaurant will close

HoodFellas Bistro & Catering will close its downtown restaurant at the end of the month, the owners announced on Instagram.

The owners will maintain their food truck and catering operation, and added that customers should “Stay tuned for updates on our next exciting move; we can’t wait to share it with you.”

The restaurant is known for offerings like a smoked brisket bacon steak burger, honey bourbon lamb chops and cornbread. News of the impending shutdown prompted grief from customers, one of whom commented: “Please don’t take my cornbread away from me.”

The brick-and-mortar restaurant opened in Calvert Street’s Munsey Building in 2021, an outgrowth of a mobile business founded by Ira Chase and Benjamin Thompson. The duo also partnered to lead a nonprofit called Chasing Your Dreams Inc., which offered job training programs for people ages 16 to 24.

“That age where you’re not cute anymore, that age where nobody wants to deal with that kid, we want to embrace that, because everybody deserves a second chance,” Chase said last year in an interview with WBAL.

Chase said Monday that HoodFellas has outgrown the small kitchen and 80-seat space in the Munsey Building, and that the landlord required the restaurant to shut down at midnight. “I would love to stay open later, but we can’t,” he said, adding: “The next thing we’re working on is a much better location for us in Baltimore.”

Christina Tkacik

christina.tkacik@thebaltimorebanner.com

Christina Tkacik is the food reporter for The Baltimore Banner.

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