OPEN
Midlina & Poe’s Tower: This vibey restaurant and speakeasy has landed on Boston Street in Canton. Midlina comes from Atlas Restaurant Group alum Karim Kiriakos, who tapped veteran chef Cy Keefer to serve up dishes with a transcontinental spin, including tandori octopus, Dutch meatballs, pork belly ramen, fish and chips, and lobster chicken pot pie. What might draw keen interest, though, is the upstairs Edgar Allan Poe-themed speakeasy, Poe’s Tower, complete with an entrance located behind a bookcase and a blue neon “nevermore” sign. Cocktails play a starring role at both concepts, with libations like the Empress gin fizz, strawberry Aperol spritz, and smoked Old Fashioned.
Asian Court: Fans of the beloved Asian Court in Ellicott City now have a second location to savor its famous Hong Kong-style dim sum. Asian Court is now open at Metro Centre in Owings Mills, serving up Cantonese cuisine and the aforementioned dim sum, which is available every day during lunch, plus on weekends and holidays with an added bonus of roaming carts. Favorite small bites include chive cakes, fried shrimp rolls, and pork dumplings. The original Howard County location opened in 2011 from owners Luu Quoc Hung and Kay Chen, then relocated seven years later to its current home in Turf Valley Towne Square.
Chicken Salad Chick: This Atlanta-based chain, which you might recognize from TikTok, just cut the ribbon at its first location in Maryland. The fast-casual concept, known for its dozen-plus varieties of chicken salad, is now open at 255 Baltimore Boulevard in Carroll County’s Westminster Station shopping center. Franchise owner Paul Weitz brings a menu of scratch-made chicken salad flavors—from classic to hickory-smoked barbecue and a spicy iteration with jalapeños—scooped atop a salad or on a sandwich. Other offerings include soups, salads, and pimento cheeses.
Equitea: The proverbial revolving door at the old JBGB’s building on North Howard Street—most recently the temporary home of Doppio Pasticceria, before it moved to its permanent new spot on 29th Street—has quickly spun around yet again. Now it’s a pop-up headquarters for Black-owned tea company Equitea, which specializes in high-quality matcha-based drinks. One year after its founding by owners Quentin and Erin Vennie in Baltimore in 2022, Equitea moved to Los Angeles, where the Vennies attracted the attention of actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who is now an advisor. The brand currently sells its blends in more than 600 stores across 28 states.
The pop-up in Baltimore (open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. through March 22, “to start”) is meant to be a homecoming: “The plan was always to come home,” Quentin told The Baltimore Banner. “Matcha, for me, is one of the healthiest ingredients you can consume. Taken in moderation, it’s a great alternative to coffee.”
Beverages on the menu include matcha lattes, flights, sodas, and wellness shots, plus dirty matchas and golden milk lattes. The tea company is even partnering with former tenant Doppio to offer fresh pastries and baked goods. On the weekends, patrons can also expect small bites and food pairings from local chefs.
EPICUREAN EVENTS
2/22-3/2: Black-Owned Restaurant Tour 2025
The CIAA basketball tournament is back in town, which means so is the Black-Owned Restaurant Tour. Nearly 20 Black-owned restaurants surrounding CFG Bank Arena have united to offer specials for spectators looking to get a taste of Charm City’s food scene. Participating concepts this weekend include Papi Cuisine, Slutty Vegan, Unity, Crust By Mack, and Jerk at Nite. The tour offers one or two featured spots daily—each going all out with food and drink specials, live music, and more fun. See the full itinerary, here.
2/24-3/1: The Dive Does The Olive Garden
As the famous slogan for the internet’s favorite chain restaurant goes, “When you’re here, you’re family.” This week, The Dive in Canton is channeling that familial spirit by transforming into an Olive Garden-inspired pop-up through Saturday. Of course, expect salad and breadsticks (but not unlimited because, as the owners wrote on social media, “we aren’t billionaires”), plus other familiar menu items like eggplant parmesan, meatballs, and a riff on the chain’s famous “Tour of Italy” entree. Here, it’s the “Tour of Canton,” featuring a sampling of favorite Italian dishes like chicken parmesan, beef lasagna, and fettuccine Alfredo. Other fun treats available include frozen bellinis, tiramisu with lady fingers, soft serve ice cream, and Andes mints to grab on your way out.
2/28-3/30: Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month
Started in 2017 by Baltimore restaurant owners Samantha Claassen of Golden West Café and Naijha Wright-Brown of The Land of Kush, the ever-popular Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month returns to the DMV area starting tomorrow. The month-long dining promotion doesn’t provide the traditional prix-fixe menus of other Restaurant Weeks. Instead, participating restaurants are encouraged to create a selection of affordable plant-based items to be offered throughout the month. Along with Golden West Café and The Land of Kush, participating Baltimore restaurants include Toki Underground, Catalog Coffee, Nana, Ekiben, Cafe Fili, and The Charmery. Firm up your plant-based dining plans by checking out the full list of participating spots, here.
SHUT
Paulie Gee’s: This Hampden pizza palace—a franchise of the small national chain that started in Brooklyn, N.Y.—has officially closed up shop. Owner Kelly Beckham cited lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and the location’s size as reasons for the closure. “Operating in such a huge space, particularly post-pandemic, created too many headwinds to navigate,” he wrote in a message posted to social media last week. “At the end of the day, I wasn’t up to the task.” But this doesn’t necessarily spell the end for Beckham. He added in his post that “another potential future for Paulie Gee’s in Baltimore is being worked on. A pie or slice might be available from this space or from another location in Hampden sometime relatively soon.” Here’s hoping the revival includes the OG “Stinger Bell” pie.