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Parkside Among a Spate of Restaurant Closures

July 21, 2010
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The bright, red brick, black-trimmed storefront of Parkside Fine Food and Spirits has been replaced this month with a closed sign and black plastic, signaling the shuttering of this local favorite on Harford Road.

Best known for its kid-friendly atmosphere and bottomless mimosas on Sundays, the Parkside closed earlier this month. “It’s because the economy sucks,” co-owner Colleen Cashell says. “It got kind of overwhelming.”

The restaurant, owned by Cashell, her husband Chris, and their partner Vickie Johnson, opened in 2008 to a favorable  reception. The Parkside had a little bit of everything: It housed a kid-friendly play area (complete with a wooden playhouse), a little shop that sold local wares, a deli, a bar, and even a bakery.

Cashell plans to continue baking (her first love), and says there are no plans to reopen the restaurant or to open another eatery.

The closure is the latest in a string of recent culinary collapses this summer: T.D. Lounge in Fells Point closed its doors in May, Baltimore Pho‘s final day serving food is July 24 (it will reopen as the non-Vietnamese Cockey’s Tavern at Hollins), and the already closed Brass Elephant is going to auction at the beginning of August.

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  • Josh

    Thanks for reporting on this. But in the intrest of supporting locals, I wish the City Paper had thought so highly of the Parkside when they reviewed it a year ago. Might have made a difference. The Parkside opened in September 2008, almost to the day the economy went to hell. They tried hard and deserved better.

  • NE

    Actually- as someone who tried to support the Parkside – what REALLY killed them was the spotty service and varied quality of meals. I ate their quite a bit, their brunches were a hidden (hidden being a problem) gem on Sundays. But time and time again I ran into people who had iffy meals and frankly had tired of the service issues and the unsupervised kids in the play area- including the owners kid who was a serious problem for other kids. I have a kid and loved the play area, but the play area rules were never followed and the mimosa drinking parents did little to help.
    In the same area The Chameleon has done prospered, Clementines is not only still in business but has expanded, the Lauraville House does fine, and the Hamilton Tavern is packed. It was sad to walk in and see the Parkside with such a huge unoccupied space. I believe that the owners- who were nice enough folks – simply didn’t agree with their patrons on the comments or suggestions they made. We (a party of 6) went in on Fathers Day- had a great brunch but watched huge party after huge party walk out as one server (and she really tried) could not possibly keep up. That has less to do with the economy than not making the best business decisions.
    The bar was a thing of beauty. I hope someone with better business skills and an ability to bring consistency to the food takes over. I loved the meals I had (they seemed to do better by vegetarians) but peppering the kids meal peas and using high end cheese and tomato sauce for the kids (the kind kids don’t like) speaks of someone who doesn’t know their clientele.

  • NE

    Did not mean to write “has done prospered…”

  • http://twitter.com/marciej marciej

    I have to agree– I really wanted to like/support the Parkside, but the food was simply awful.