Hard Water Bar & Grill to Open in the Former Metropolitan Space in Federal Hill

The former Metropolitan space at 902 S. Charles St. in Federal Hill will become Hard Water Bar & Grill. Metropolitan closed at the end of 2017 and Hard Water hopes to open by May 1st.

The Hard Water team is comprised of Dave Peel, who has been in the restaurant business for 30 years and was recently the general manager of Cheshire Crab in Pasadena, his stepdaughter Taylor Novak and his son-in-law Ray Novak. The Novaks also own a flooring business and Ray Novak grew up in Locust Point.

Peel is childhood friends with the building’s owner, who convinced Peel to take a look at the space.

Hard Water, which is named after a slang word for liquor according to Ray Novak, will have a nautical theme.

Hard Water will be open daily for breakfast/brunch, lunch, and dinner seven days a week. The team hopes to continue those hours as long as there is demand from the neighborhood. The kitchen will likely close at 11pm. The team is looking to have nightlife on the weekends and will likely bring in DJs on Friday and Saturday nights.

Peel said he is the “old guy” who will run the day-to-day restaurant business. He said the “younger Novaks” can bring life into the place at night.

The menu, which is still being developed, will focus on American fare with sandwiches, appetizers, and salads. There will be rotating entrée specials each night that will likely include some seafood dishes. The bar menu will have domestic and craft beers, house wines, and standard liquor offerings.

The televisions at Hard Water will play sports, especially the Orioles and Ravens.

The building has a first-floor dining room, bar, and kitchen, and a loft-style second floor with a dining room and bar. The third floor has storage, and there is an office on the fourth floor.

Peel said the second floor will be open based on demand, but said they will likely focus on the filling the first floor during the week.

Peel and the Novaks are completing a cosmetic renovation of the space currently. This includes updated flooring and new paint.

via https://www.southbmore.com/2020/03/09/hard-water-bar-grill-to-open-in-the-former-metropolitan-space-in-federal-hill/