Review: Flock is a Game-Day Destination in Pigtown

Sports bars are ubiquitous in a city like Baltimore, with our passionate fan base for the Orioles and Ravens. Yet in Pigtown, a neighborhood close enough the stadiums that you can almost hear the roar of the crowd, they’re curiously scarce.

Enter Flock, a new gathering place for football and baseball diehards that opened in February. The concept is a partnership between Alex Aaron, the CEO of Blank Slate, the Baltimore-based development company that bought the building, and Mark Anthony Walker, the founder and CEO of the local Sphere Restaurant Group.

“This was a unique opportunity,” Aaron says of the establishment, which occupies the former home of Pigtown Ale House. “When we acquired the property, our original intention was to lease it to a restaurateur to create new energy.”

Instead, the building owner and the restaurateur decided to partner up to create what Aaron calls “a fresh concept in the community.”

Flock, which features a black and purple scheme, is located on Washington Boulevard directly across the street from Carroll Park, about a mile from M&T Bank Stadium. When we checked it out in the summer, the Orioles were flying high and their game against the Cubs was on the TVs behind the bar. It was happy hour, and the small main dining room and bar were crowded with families and young professionals.

Many were undoubtedly drawn by Flock’s formidable happy hour menu, which includes $8 signature cocktails, $6 rail drinks and select wines, $5 purple passion shots, and a plethora of food options.

We started with a Bmore Tails, made with tequila and peach, lime, and orange juices. It was refreshing and retained its bite despite the natural sweetness of the juice. Next came a Baltimore Manhattan, a curious combination of bourbon, red wine, and orange juice garnished with a cherry. It’s not for traditionalists, but we happily polished it off.

Caribbean and American Southern influences permeate the food menu. Rasta pasta, blackened salmon, and a catfish sandwich are available, as is more standard sports bar fare like wings and sliders.

Among the most popular items is the Flock burger, a six-ounce patty served with cheddar cheese, onion jam, and a house-made barbecue sauce called 1415. It was cooked exactly as we ordered (medium) and served with hand-cut fries. An excellent meal for before a game, during one, or after. The jerk chicken was adequately spicy and accompanied by roasted Brussels sprouts, which were solid. Only the shrimp po’ boy—too much bread, not enough of everything else—fell short.

Integrating Flock into the community is important to Aaron and Walker, and the second-floor event space has hosted birthday parties, networking get-togethers, and Citizens of Pigtown meetings. Flock, Aaron stresses, is a place for everyone (though we have a hunch that on this night O’s fans were in the majority), and as we walked out into the night after a great experience, we passed yet another group of people heading in.