Looks like Pita & Rye won't be the last new restaurant in the Maple Lawn development in Fulton.
Maple Lawn trumpets its "Traditional Neighborhood Development -- a town planning philosophy inspired by the small towns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries."
And that means McDonalds in Maple Lawn, according to the Web site of the company that runs 15 franchises around Baltimore, Brndancat Enterprises, Inc.
Hat Tip to John who found the Web site and DonkeyKong who let me know.
(Update: Denise noted on the HowChow Facebook page that it's a Scottish chain, not Irish. I fixed the headline.)
Before people in Maple Lawn freak out on the developer, let's remember that they're renting to Pita & Rye. Obviously, no one knows if that place will be special or average. But it's a kosher deli run by a guy who, as far as I know, has no restaurant experience. That's a landlord taking a risk, and people should balance the McDonalds against both the casual spots like Sidamo, Pita & Rye, and Looneys and the upscale Ranazul and Venegas Prime Filet.
People can tease these developers for talking about a unique philosophy and then building a McDonalds. But then they should go have coffee and a sandwich at Sidamo -- a terrific coffee shop that those same developers put at the entrance to the neighborhood.
Honestly, I'm more mystified why the developer lets Looneys flap beer banners from its fence and lets giant beer logos dominate the main intersection on Maple Lawn Boulevard.
(Update: Inside Maple Lawn, the McDonalds is going to be viewed in a larger context about what qualifies as amenities. From the lens of food alone, a McDonalds seems fine among a mix of options. I think people in Maple Lawn are more concerned about whether the pedestrian, "town planning" atmosphere that they were sold matches with the actual result, including green spaces, parking lots, playgrounds, and other stuff that have nothing to do with food or a McDonalds.)
10 comments:
we moved to maple lawn back in 2007 and anyone who looked at the master plan for the neighborhood could see a fast food restaurant was slated for the development. honestly, i was hoping for something other than McDonalds, but whatever.
I'm with you on the signs at Looney's - they are tacky and i cringe every time i drive by them. i couldn't pick the colors of my house but they can fly vinyl banners from the rails?
I think you mean Scottish.
Ugh. I'll keep supporting Sidamo, and Pita and Rye when it opens...
Looney's is sooo tacky, but it's raking in fistfuls of cash for G&R so what are they going to say? would they rather have Trapeze back?
Shame we couldn't get a Sonic in there. At least that would be something different. I can think of 4 McDonalds within a few miles of Maple Lawn.
@Anon (whose comment I deleted) -- I share your hope that no one gets hurt. The language just didn't make me comfortable. Many lines that might be ironic or effective in person can come across mean in writing. I don't want people to misunderstand your point.
Is it a Twisted Kilt? Recently I saw an ad and heard about one in White Marsh. Just curious if anyone knew if it was a franchise or an independent restaurant.
@Judy -- I'm so sorry. The headline is a joke. It's a McDonalds, which is noteworthy because Maple Lawn's rhetoric and advertising contrast with the idea.
But anything called Twisted Kilt sounds fun!
Twisted Kilt? I think you meant Tilted Kilt which has a location in White Marsh. Its a go to spot for me since I work occasionally in that area. Its a mix between Hooters and an Irish sports bar with decent food.
I notice that more commercial buildings are going up all around there - any idea as to how and what they are going to fill with all that retail, commercial, and office space? I can't wait until it's all developed! But I am afraid of waiting for 10 years!
Today is the opening of the McDonalds. Strike one. We ordered at the drive through at about 6:00PM. We were the 2nd car in a line of 3 cars. Not exactly busy. We live 2 miles away and by the time we got home the sandwiches were barely warm. The food must have been sitting a while because when we grabed a french fry from the bag when we were still in the parking lot it was limp and past it's prime. We should have stopped right then, gone in and asked for fresh fries but we didn't. When we got home we noticed the hot fudge sundae we ordered was no where to be found. I should have noticed before we left the drive through but who would think that on opening day there would not have been someone making sure all the orders were correct? I called the phone number on the promotional card announceing the opening that we received in the mail. The number was for a mobile phone without voice mail. I will go back tomorrow to get my hot fudge sundae and let them know they need to do better than this if they want my patronage.
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