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Zeke’s Coffee on Washington Boulevard will be serving its last cup of coffee this weekend.
Pigtown Main Street announced Monday on its Instagram account that the shop, which opened in January 2022, is closing its doors on Sunday, March 3, due to “Zeke’s reorganization and downsizing.”
The business still has a café on Harford Road, which opened in 2010, a roastery and wholesale space on Montebello Terrace, and several Washington, D.C., locations. Owner Thomas Rhodes declined to comment further on the reasons for shuttering the Pigtown shop.
Zeke’s, which bills itself as “a local, Baltimore based, small batch, family owned coffee roastery” on its website, is the latest store to shutter in the neighborhood. In the last seven months, Suspended Brewing, Mobtown Ballroom and Charm City Books have moved out of Pigtown, and Groundwork Kitchen has closed its doors.
Residents swiftly voiced their reactions to the news on social media. One Instagram commenter lamented Zeke’s closure, calling it “a real shame. I moved into Pigtown last year and have really enjoyed having walking access to an excellent community coffee shop. … It really seemed like we were finally making progress in this part of the city.”
User @thesmokingswine, who formerly ran a barbeque food truck in Baltimore, blamed the city for the news. “This city has to do better to keep small, local businesses going, especially in the less popular neighborhoods. City Hall trips over its own feet to ge[t] national retailers and big business in town like it’s some kind of flex that there are national retailers here. It’s a flex when the smaller local guys can stay open 100 years, or even 25! Baltimore never fails to break my heart.”
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Kim Lane, executive director of Pigtown Main Street, told The Baltimore Banner that Zeke’s closure was “not based on financials. The café was doing pretty good.”
Lane noted that while Pigtown has recently lost some businesses, “at the same time we have three new ones opening and lots of interest.”
Pretty Disaster, a women’s boutique, will open between March and April, Mystique Barrel Brewing will open sometime in the early summer and a lease was just signed for an unnamed Mexican eatery, Lane said. Flock, a sports bar and restaurant, also opened in late January.
“A lot of these businesses are seeing a shift, but Pigtown is still doing well,” she said. “We’re just going through changes.”
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Taji Burris has covered the Baltimore music scene since 2015 for outlets such as The Working Title and The 4th Quarter, and now at the Baltimore Banner.
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