Robin Godwin: Royal Farms Opening a Fried Chicken Stall at Cross Street Market

Baltimore-staple Royal Farms is opening a new concept for the redeveloped Cross Street Market in Federal Hill. The Royal Farms’ stall will just focus on the convenience store and gas station’s “world famous chicken,” which will include fried chicken, chicken tenders, chicken salad, chicken sandwiches, and sides.

Cross Street Market is being developed and leased by CSM Ventures, LLC, a partnership between developer CVP and CANAdev, with construction and property management by MacKenzie.

CVP Partner Arsh Mirmiran told SouthBMore.com that the idea for a Royal Farms at Cross Street Market was discussed a couple of years ago, but he nixed it because he thought people would overreact because Royal Farms, while Baltimore-based, is “perceived as a chain.” But, after luring and announcing other local businesses for Cross Street Market, some of which are opening their first brick-and-mortar location, he revisited the idea when the team was looking to get a fried chicken stall.

“Once you get all the local concepts, to have the area’s best chicken would be a huge plus,” said Mirmiran. “If you are looking at a list of five to ten foods to eat while in Baltimore, Royal Farms is probably one of them. If you are in town, you are probably not going to go to a convenience store or random gas station, you’ll go to a market.”

Royal Farms will be going for more of a vintage look and will be using its cartoon chicken logo for signage. “People very easily could come to the conclusion five to ten years from now that Royal Farms Chicken was probably started in the market and grew out from there,” said Mirmiran. “Time will tell how it works, but my level of confidence is just as high with the Royal Farms store as anything else we are putting in there.”

The stall will sell Royal Farms chicken boxes, different chicken sandwiches, western fries, dipping sauces, and sides including mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, biscuits, and rolls. It will also serve fountain sodas and iced tea.

Royal Farms will have a window for curbside service.

Mirmiran wanted to make it clear that this will not be a convenience store and will not sell many of the items in a typical Royal Farms store.

The Royal Farms is already under construction and is expected to open around August 1st.

Already in business at Cross Street Market, which reopened last week after being closed for construction since January, are legacy tenants butcher shop Fenwick’s Choice Meats and Steve’s Lunch with its diner-style menu. The Sweet Shoppe, which offers candies and Taharka Bros. ice cream and milkshakes, will open this week. In the next couple of weeks, Annapolis-based Ceremony Coffee; Vietnamese pho restaurant from Hanover Phubs; Haitian cuisine farmer’s market and event business Sobeachy; and local Hawaiian-style concept Ono Poké will also open.

Opening throughout the summer will be Annoula’s Kitchen, a modern Mediterranean soup and sandwich place from Anna Leventis, owner of SoBo Market and SoBo Café; Cans Filling Station, a craft beer concept from Will Glass of Taps Fill Station, which has locations at Mt. Vernon Marketplace and The Bourse in Philadelphia; Taco Love Grill, a family-run taqueria based in White Marsh; Burger Bar from the team at Southside Diner; Korean concept Rice Crook; Pizza di Joey which will take its NY-Style pizza food truck into a brick-and-mortar location in the market under the direction of Riverside resident Joey Vanoni; Old Line Cocktail and Wine Bar which will be run by Highlandtown distillery Old Line Spirits; and Gangster Vegan Organics which is bringing its plant-based concept from Pennsylvania to Federal Hill.

The vendor has not been announced yet, but Cross Street Market will also have a “market within a market” stall which will sell farm-fresh items like produce, flowers, sauces, nuts, beef jerky, honey, breads, cheese, dairy, pastas, home goods, prepared foods, and more.

Also planned for Cross Street Market is a 5,000 sq. ft. crab house, seafood tavern, and seafood market from Alex Smith’s Atlas Restaurant Group. It will take the former space of Nick’s Inner Harbor Seafood at the S. Charles St. entrance which is expected to open in Spring 2020.

Cross Street Market, which will have 22 vendors, currently has four spaces still available. Mirmiran said the team has letters of intent for two of the spaces and several other concept have been proposed. A pit beef concept is one the businesses with a letter of intent. Mirmiran said one of the stalls will likely be a bakery focused on desserts.

In regards to fresh food and criticism that Cross Street Market would become a food court, Mirmiran said, “With Henry (from Fenwick’s) doing his butcher shop, Atlas doing a fresh seafood market, and all the products at the “market within the market” concept, our offerings will be head and shoulders above the old market.”

This story was first reported in the Baltimore Business Journal

Read SouthBMore.com’s articles detailing the different aspects of the Cross Street Market redevelopment here.