Serenity Wine Bar To Offer Pizza and Self-Serve Wine in Locust Point

Serenity Wine Bar will open next month at the 2,000 sq. ft. former home of Our House at 1121 Hull St. in Locust Point. Serenity is a new concept from Nneka Bilal, who has worked at Pizza Hut for 23 years.

Serenity will have a self-serve electronic wine system in which patrons can pay for different sized pours of wine from 16 different bottles. Bilal said she saw the idea on YouTube and later visited restaurants that had self-serve wine in Washington D.C. and Timonium. She was excited to learn that Baltimore didn’t currently have any self-serve wine bars.

Along with self-serve wine, Serenity will serve house-made sangria and a selection of beers with a focus on Maryland brews. Serenity has a 7-day beer and wine license that allows for the sale of package goods. It will have a fridge for carryout six-packs and bottles of wine.

Bilal will follow her roots in the industry and serve a pizza and pasta menu at Serenity. She liked that her new restaurant space came with a pizza oven. Bilal said the pizza will be thin-crust pizza that is similar to New York-style and cooked on a stone-bottom oven. The menu will also offer sandwiches, appetizers, and salads.

The menu was created by Bilal and her business partner Tiara Snowden, who has also worked for many years in the restaurant industry. They hope to add a brunch menu in the future.

Serenity will keep a similar layout as Our House. It will not have a dedicated bar, but will have a lounge area with comfy chairs and areas with low- and high-top tables. Bilal said she has not had a fire inspection yet, but the capacity for Our House was 70.

Serenity will also have a couple tables on the front sidewalk.

Bilal said she is taking on a mostly-cosmetic renovation of the space. She said it is close to ready and she is going through the inspection process now.

Bilal spent the last couple of years planning her first restaurant. She initially wanted to be in Owings Mills or Catonsville, but then decided to look in Locust Point. When she saw the former Our Space, she knew it was the one for her.

“It’s a very nice area, ” said Bilal. “I have met a lot of neighbors and everyone is always out walking.”

Serenity is expected to open around May 20th. It will be open seven days a week starting at 11am. It will close at 11pm on Sunday to Thursday and likely stay open to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. It will have between five and seven employees.

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.