A Baltimore restaurant has been forced to end its outdoor dining season early after a suspected drunken driver barreled into the business’ outdoor dining barriers.
Foraged, which is located along North Charles Street in the Station North neighborhood, said the incident happened sometime overnight Friday into Saturday.
“The pictures didn’t look too bad, and then I got here and it was crazy,” said Chris Amendola, the chef and owner of Foraged.
According to Amendola, no customers were present at the time of the incident.
But without proper protection, he does not want customers sitting outside anymore.
“Unfortunately we’re probably gonna have to cut it short this year cause, unfortunately, it’s just not safe anymore to have people sit outside,” he said.
Amendola said the barriers were set up by the neighborhood’s Central Baltimore Partnership (CBP).
“I know they’re pretty upset as well,” said Amendola. “I heard this is the second time this has happened on this street.”
Outdoor dining parklets became popular in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The concept allowed restaurants to increase capacity and allow for diners to sit outside.
However, this is not the first example of Baltimore dining parklets being destroyed by rogue motorists.
A month later, in November 2020, another driver was caught on camera driving through Blue Agave, also in Federal Hill.
“It's really about the drunk drivers,” said Amendola. “Obviously it was somebody late night drinking and driving. So I think that’s more of the issue than anything.”
Baltimore Police did not immediately respond to questions about arrests or a suspect vehicle related to this incident.
‘Foraged’ said it's hopeful to replace the barriers outside the restaurant, maybe in time for spring.
“So we can continue outside dining -- I know guests really love that,” said Amendola.
The Central Baltimore Partnership says it is accepting online donations to help replace the barriers.
CBP asks for donors to note the money is for “Station North D4D”.