Baltimore arson investigators are looking into a Monday dumpster fire behind Papi Cuisine, a restaurant in Federal Hill that had its liquor license renewed last month after a flurry of protests from neighbors.
A Baltimore Police spokesperson said Tuesday that police and fire units responded to the restaurant on East Wells Street at about 9:17 a.m. and extinguished the fire, which caused minor damage, without injury. The city’s Arson Task Force is investigating the blaze, police said.
One of the restaurant’s owners, Alex Perez, posted surveillance footage on the business’ Instagram page, showing a person carrying a bucket and walking toward the dumpster Monday morning. The person is seen walking away shortly before the dumpster catches fire.
“Apparently, someone got the bright idea to try and blow up our restaurant,” he said, noting there were carbon dioxide tanks on both the exterior and interior of the restaurant that could have exploded and harmed people if they exploded. He said the individual seen on camera used a “cocktail bomb.”
The restaurant, which serves Afro-Caribbean fare, delayed opening by three hours on Monday because of the fire.
In the Instagram video, Perez linked the fire to opposition from neighbors who made a failed bid last month to encourage the city’s Board of Liquor License Commissioners not to renew the restaurant’s liquor license.
The board renewed Papi Cuisine’s liquor license last month after protests from about 10 neighbors, who submitted complaints about double-parked cars, litter, public intoxication, drag racing and fights outside the restaurant. The restaurant’s owners have denied the business and its customers being involved in those disturbances.
The restaurant moved from Fells Point to Federal Hill after hearing the same complaints in the original location. Its other owner, Berry Clark, described moving to “get away” from the neighborhood disputes and noted feeling singled out as a Black restaurateur.
Last month’s liquor board protest “was not granted to those individuals, and a few days later, voilà,” Perez said in the video.