Liquor licenses OK’d for 2 embattled spots
Two Baltimore businesses facing community complaints can keep their liquor licenses after agreeing to address issues ranging from excessive noise and trash to drag racing and double parking.
Baltimore’s Board of Liquor License Commissioners voted Thursday to renew licenses for South Baltimore’s Papi Cuisine and Downtown Baltimore’s Ikonic Assembly Room after representatives for both committed to working with neighbors.
The annual hearing to approve liquor license renewals is an opportunity for communities to raise concerns about bars, restaurants and other businesses that hold licenses to serve alcohol.
A protest against a third business, the Playbook Sports Bar & Lounge, was withdrawn as the bar will soon be under new ownership.
Neighbors of Papi Cuisine, located at 2 E. Wells St., came to the hearing with concerns about double-parked cars, litter, public intoxication, drag racing and fights outside the restaurant, known for its crabcake egg rolls, crab-stuffed lobster and Afro-Caribbean fare. Ten nearby residents signed a petition protesting Papi Cuisine’s liquor license renewal, citing “continued dismissiveness of our concerns and an inability to address these issues.”
“Our goal isn’t to put people out of business; our goal is just to have a peaceful block and neighborhood,” said Pam Kurowski, one resident who testified about trash and congestion in front of the restaurant, which moved from Fells Point to Wells Street in 2022. She said Papi Cuisine, which has a robust Instagram following of more than 130,000, “draws a really huge crowd.”
Neighbors said they have witnessed people drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis outside the restaurant. Resident Nick Clarkson said a member of the community called police in March after witnessing a group of women they believed to be customers of the restaurant arguing loudly and throwing punches.
Another resident, Kaitlyn Clarkson, said the South Baltimore neighborhood is tight-knit, with residents looking out for each other and volunteering to pick up trash. She said the community “expect(s) the restaurants and the businesses in our vicinity to also be good neighbors.”
Papi Cuisine co-owner Berry Clark said he’s tried to be a considerate neighbor, giving residents his personal cell phone number and offering to talk through concerns. He said his business and customers were not involved in the incidents and disturbances cited by the community.
Clark said double-parked cars outside the restaurant are UberEats and DoorDash drivers making deliveries to residents of the apartment units above Papi Cuisine. He told The Sun he checked security footage on the night of the March fight but didn’t see the people involved leaving Papi Cuisine.
Papi Cuisine operates under a management agreement at Wells Street, and the liquor license, held by a contract purchaser, will soon be transferred to the building’s new landlord. Joseph Woolman, an attorney for the landlord, said complaints about activity outside of the restaurant should be considered outside of the scope of grounds for protest. “To hold the operator responsible I think is a bit of a stretch,” he said.
Clark, who owns the restaurant with business partner Alex Perez, said he felt singled out as a Black restaurateur. Papi Cuisine left Fells Point after hearing similar complaints from neighbors.
“It’s literally the same thing. I moved to get away from it,” he said.
There are two other restaurants with liquor licenses on the same stretch of Wells Street, but residents told the liquor board that only Papi Cuisine contributed to the concerns they raised.
Clark said he still wants to meet with neighbors to hash out issues. In order for the restaurant to keep its alcohol privileges, it will have to do so: Liquor board commissioners renewed the license on the condition that the restaurant and community reach a memorandum of understanding (MOU) within 60 days of the license’s imminent transfer.
In Downtown Baltimore, the Ikonic Assembly Room concluded its hearing quickly after attorneys for the business and nearby residents announced they had agreed to an MOU.
Neighbors had lodged a protest against the venue at 316-318 Guilford Ave. for “unlawful, unreasonable and excessive noise incidents” linked to the Assembly Room’s new Belize Rooftop area, according to a petition submitted to the liquor board.
Between July and November 2023, when the rooftop was in use, they called 911 and 311 multiple times to report loud noise emanating from the venue. A log of 311 calls in board documents shows 35 calls were made to 311 about the Assembly Room during that time period. The noise drove one resident of the nearby 225 North Calvert Apartments to move out, according to a letter from the apartment building’s community manager.
The new agreement between residents and the Assembly Room will require regular sound checks. Neighbor Fernando J. Pineda said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the MOU, despite recording high decibel levels from the venue over the weekend.
Ikonic Assembly Room owner Larry Young noted his business did not have any past liquor license violations over two years in business. He said he wanted to keep an open dialogue with the community.
“We want to make sure we remain flexible and fluid with the neighbors,” he said.