Robin Godwin: BRD Opens at Wheelhouse in Federal Hill

BRD, a fried chicken sandwich and wings stall at R. House in Remington, will host the grand opening for its new Federal Hill location today at 5pm. BRD is located in an approximately 1,700 sq. ft. retail space at Wheelhouse in Federal Hill.

Construction is wrapping up at Wheelhouse, which is a five-story building with 29 apartments at 1100 S. Charles St. The new building is replacing a former parking lot, rowhouse, and auto body shop.

Wheelhouse will have approximately 5,500 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail fronting S. Charles St. and W. Cross St. There is expected to be three retail suites. BRD occupies the southern-most space on S. Charles St. adjacent to an existing rowhome.

Former Federal Hill resident Alex Janian started BRD and Amano Taco at R. House in 2017. Janian, a Baltimore native, was working in finance in New York and San Francisco before deciding to come home and pursue his childhood goal of opening restaurants.

When Janian was growing up, he spent some time living in Italy, where he had a favorite rotisserie chicken place he would visit twice a week. He initially wanted to open a rotisserie chicken restaurant of his own, but that concept morphed into a restaurant focused on fried chicken, a food he has always loved and sees as a comfort food.

The sandwiches at BRD have more than a half a pound of seasoned, battered and fried, antibiotic-free, Maryland Eastern Shore chicken thighs on top of a Martin’s potato roll. The most popular sandwich is the Bmore BRD which includes local pickles; the BRD sauce, which Janian said is sometimes compared to Thousand Island; and Old Bay. Additional sandwiches include the Japanese-inspired Katsu Ando, the Angry Buffalo, Hanoi Hen, and the Jamaican Jerk.

Customers can order a side of fries, which Janian said are a “labor of love.” The fries undergo a 24-hour de-starching process, before being battered, double fried, and tossed in a signature seasoning. BRD also sells Ma’s Carrot Slaw.

BRD offers small and large orders of wings in Bmore Buffalo, Sweet Thai Chili, Japanese BBQ, Alabama White, and Jamaican Jerk.

For the Federal Hill location, BRD will be adding all-white meat fried chicken tenders with a bit less spice than the fried chicken thighs. It will also have a milkshake menu including vanilla, chocolate, black & white, banner split, cookies & cream, and PB&J.

BRD will have an order counter and communal seating. The restaurant features warm and wood tones. It was designed by PI.KL Studio

The Federal Hill location will offer delivery via UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub, and DoorDash.

BRD is open Monday to Wednesday from 5pm to 10pm, Thursday from 5pm to 12am, Friday from 5pm to 3am, Saturday from 11am to 3am, and Sunday from 11am to 10pm.

“Our goal is to continue to provide the best chicken sandwiches imaginable. We apply the same mentality to everything we’ll serve in Fed, including our fries, wings, BRD Bites and milkshakes,” Janian said in a press release. “We’re pumped to be in Federal Hill, where residents know how to have a good time and appreciate awesome food. We’re looking forward to making lots of friends.”

In February, Wheelhouse developer 28 Walker said it was actively engaged in negotiations with a national franchise concept for an approximately 2,300 sq. ft. suite in the building. No build-outs have begun on the other retail suites.

Photos from BRD’s Facebook page