Hampden’s Golden West Cafe, a long-standing fixture of The Avenue, is mulling a move elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Owner Samantha Claassen is in talks with developer Josh Mente to move the restaurant to the former St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and Outreach Center at 3900 Roland Ave. Mente and business partner Jesse Vann have a contract on the historic building and expect to close on the sale later this month.
He and Claassen went to the Baltimore City Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals last week seeking permission to use a portion of the old church property for outdoor restaurant seating. The hearing was delayed, however, after board members determined that information about the request should have been posted on a part of the property that is more visible to passersby.
Mente said the restaurant would be one piece of a mixed-use development envisioned for the St. Mary’s building, which dates back to the 1870s. The building is zoned for residential use, and could accommodate up to 29 apartments.
A lease deal is still in the works, and the project will also need zoning board approval before Golden West could relocate. The cafe, known for daily brunch, Southwest-influenced dishes and vegan fare, was established in 1997 at 842 W. 36th St. and moved to its existing space, a few blocks down Hampden’s dining and shopping corridor, at 1105 W. 36th St., in 2003.
Claassen could not be reached for comment about the potential move. The restaurant’s building, and neighboring space housing Greek restaurant Souvlaki, sold at auction for $1.94 million in 2021 to developer Jeremy Landsman. Landsman counts a long list of other Hampden businesses as tenants, including coffee shop Good Neighbor, pizzeria Paulie Gee’s and ice cream parlor The Charmery. Before the sale, Claassen and Souvlaki owner Dimitrios Taramas explored raising funds to purchase the property themselves.
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Mente is already the owner of another historic Hampden church, the former Grace-Hampden Methodist Episcopal Church at 1014 W. 36th St., which he converted into a coworking hub called Co-Balt Workspace.
The developer said he’s drawn to finding new purposes for buildings that have outlived their old uses.
“They just can’t build buildings like this anymore,” he said of the former St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. The stone structure still has tall stained glass windows and a ceiling with exposed timber.
The building was used as a church from the late 19th century until December 1999, when it closed following years of shrinking membership, according to an online history. In 2002, the Diocese of Maryland designated the building as the home base for the St. Mary’s Outreach Center. The former church later housed the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, which held performances in the center’s Great Hall, according to Baltimore Heritage.
If Golden West moves to Roland Avenue, the cafe’s dining room will be in the former sanctuary, Mente said. The developer pointed to other church conversion projects, including Ministry of Brewing in Upper Fells Point, and Church and Union, a church-turned-restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina, as inspiration.
“Here in Baltimore, we have a plethora of churches, [but] we don’t have the congregation to support them anymore,” he said. Mente said he’s interested in “how we become good stewards, and create different types of sanctuary spaces, whether it’s coming to work in an office or in a restaurant.”
A new zoning hearing for the church property has not yet been scheduled.