Werner’s Restaurant in Baltimore

Decades old diners often pride themselves as where your fathers ate, Werner’s can pride itself as where your grandfather ate. Werner’s Restaurant, located on E. Redwood street between Calvert and South streets has been a staple of the Financial District in Baltimore, where Redwood street was referred to as “The Wall Street of the South.” Operating since 1950, it was originally opened by the Kloetzi family who immigrated here from Switzerland. The Vickers Building where Werner’s is located was built in 1904, and sits across from the Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Building which itself was built in 1886. Werner’s is open for breakfast and lunch on Mondays through Friday from 7am to 2pm.

Rib Eye steak sandwich $9 (comes with 2 vegetables)

The Rib Eye steak sandwich with the bun facing upwards. (The bun was excellent)

Even though the average meal with entrée, sides and drink usually only comes out to about $10, it still remains a popular lunch spot among lawyers, financial-types, politicians, construction workers and tourists. You may have noticed it before in The Wire, where Mayor Carcetti and many other politicians and police officers meet. Even though the glitzy Inner Harbor and even glitzier Harbor East, attracts office workers for lunch, Werner’s still stays strong and I hope it operates for another fifty years.

Werner’s Menu (side 1)

Werner’s Menu (side 2)

Werner’s Restaurant
231 E. Redwood Street (located between Calvert and South streets)
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-752-3335
Monday-Friday: 7am-2pm
Credit accepted: American Express, Mastercard, Discover Card, debit cards

Baltimore Westside Photography- Part One (Howard Street)

For a long time up until the 1960′s/1970′s, Howard and Eutaw streets were the main retail and entertainment districts of Baltimore. Filled to the brim with 3 department stores (Hutzlers, Stewart’s, and Brager-Gutman’s), 3 major theatres (the Mayfair, the Maryland (connected to Congress/Kernan Hotel) and the Hippodrome), it attracted travellers from around the country to its glories. Suburbanization and white/wealth flight pulled away its most valuable customers and the stores followed suit into the suburbs. For about 30/40 years, the stores have either layed empty or with low-end stores catering to a lower-income clientele. However, the City of Baltimore as well as the Baltimore Development Corporation and a gaggle of investors are re-investing in the area to create a revitalization similar to that of the Inner Harbor and HarborEast. They hope that pushing out the lower-end stores and rehabbing the storefronts as well as adding new buildings (condominiums, apartments, etc.) will breath new air into the area and revitalize it. However, only time will tell.

Part Two

The following pictures were taken on Howard Street:

St. James Place on the corner of Howard and Franklin streets

Another shot of St. James Place

St. James Place

St. James Place

Last shot of St. James Place with the Congress Hotel peaking out from the right

The Congress Hotel

The Mayfair Theatre

Western High School, now Chesapeake Commons apartments

Another shot of the Chesapeake Commons apartments

Chesapeake Commons Apartments
The Howard Street view of the Chesapeake Common Apartments

Looking east down Centre Street from Howard Street

Martick’s Restaurant Francais on Mulberry Street, 1 block from Howard

A close up of the tile front of Martick’s Restaurant Francais

Another shot of Martick’s Restaurant Francais

Looking west down Saratoga street

The United Optical Center building on the corner of Park avenue and Saratoga street

220-222 Saratoga Street

218 Saratoga Street

Maison Marconi on Saratoga Street, near Cathedral

A closeup of Maison Marconi on Saratoga Street

Looking down W. Saratoga street with the Providence Savings Bank on the left

Providence Savings Bank on Howard Street

Looking south on Howard Street with the Hutzler Brothers department store on the right

The newer addition to the now closed Hutzler Brothers department store

A closeup of the Hutzler Brothers department store entrance

Two buildings that were added to the Hutzler Brothers Complex

A closeup of the Hutzler Brothers department store entrance

The Hutzler Brothers building, which was built before the brick one on the right

Stewart’s department store, now converted into the world headquarters for Catholic Relief Services

Centerpoint Apartments on Howard and Baltimore Streets

An old bank that has been converted into a Kentucky Fried Chicken

Avalon Centerpoint Apartments on Howard and Fairmount Streets

The Baltimore National Trust building from Howard and Lombard streets

Apartments on 8 South Howard Street

Part Two of the Baltimore Westside Photography Set