Bluegrass Co-Owner Opens Breadbangers on Fort Ave. in Federal Hill

Tuscan Fresh, which closed at at the end of May after less than six months in business, has quickly been replaced by Breadbangers at 544 E. Fort Ave. in Federal Hill/Riverside. Open since this Tuesday, Breadbangers is a new restaurant by Brett Marshall, the managing partner of Bluegrass Tavern. It will specialize in ‘huge’ over-stuffed sandwiches and pitchers of beer.

Marshall has long had a vision for a new sandwich place in the area and when the Fort Ave. location presented itself, he quickly jumped on it. “The space has the perfect set up for us. With Breadbangers we are trying to bring something fun and different, but that has the same quality as Bluegrass, just with a lighter feel,” said Marshall.

Marshall’s love for 80s and 90s rock will be reflected in Breadbangers’ logo; on its menu with items honoring Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Iron Maiden; and in the music playing at the restaurant.

At any time, Breadbangers will have 10 to 14 sandwiches which come with a bag of chips and a pickle, four to five salads, rotating soups, and sides of pasta. Marshall described the menu as ‘chalkboard style’ with things constantly changing and they are always looking for suggestions from their customers. Breadbangers’ sandwich offerings include Cubanos, muffalettas, tomato basil, portabella, pastrami reubens, and more.

The bar offerings will focus on pitchers of beer which include $10 pitchers of Natty Boh, pitchers of Blue Moon, and four other rotating drafts. It will also serve red and white wine, Bud Light Lime-A-Ritas (a favorite of Marshall’s), and shots of Jager and Fireball. Breadbangers will also have a soda machine.

Breadbangers includes a bar area, where there is a small kitchen, prep area and panini presses, as well a large dining room. The second floor has a very large kitchen and another large dining room. It will use this space for special events, crawfish boils, cooking demonstrations and lessons, canning lessons, and more. The upstairs kitchen will also be used for prep work for Breadbangers ingredients and sauces as well as for catering oppotunities.

The executive chef at Breadbangers is Antonio Rice, who serves the same position at Blue Grass, and the restaurant will be managed by Liz Snyder, who has worked in the restaurant industry her entire life. Her family has owned Snyder’s Willow Grove in Anne Arundel County for more than 75 years and she formerly worked at Bluegrass as well.

Breadbangers will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 5pm to 12am, Friday and Saturday from 12pm to 2am, and Sunday from 12pm to 10pm. It will soon be announcing daily happy hour specials and be offering a late night menu on the weekends with additional items like quesadillas and nachos. It will also have specials for kids and will have a collection of board games patrons can play.

The team is excited to be open and be on Fort Ave. where there are already so many successful businesses. “There is a lot of foot traffic here and we are doing something different,” said Snyder. “We felt there was a need for a good sandwich place in the area to compliment the other great places on Fort Ave.”

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.