If there was any doubt an old auto body shop could have a new life as a thriving food hall, R. House is here to dispel all doubt. From the outside, R. House looks unimpressive. However, upon entering, customers experience a bold new food and drink pleasure palace.
entrance to R. House
With more seating options than your average restaurant, hungry customers grab a seat at either the bar, bench, beer-hall tables, living room sofa, or comfy booths. There’s also a tiered set of benches and tables near Stall 11 where locals gathered to sip coffee and tea. It was at these benches I observed several customers using the free WiFi to dive into cyberspace.
The space is open and inviting allowing customers to find a place to enjoy real food in a laid-back atmosphere. Come spring, summer, and fall the garage doors will open for outside dining as weather allows. Seawall Development Company- the developer, wanted to create a food hall that felt like a combination of living room and dining room. From my observation of customers working, chatting, and eating in the various seating areas I believe they succeeded. Seawall took a year to co-design R. House with the restaurant owners, then a year to renovate the building.
Lots of choices
The restaurants feature many ethnic food choices like: Sushi at Hilo, Mexican food at Amano Taco, Korean BBQ at BeBim, Venezuelan food at White Envelope, pizze at Moina, Arba-modern Mediterranean food, fried chicken sandwiches at BRD, vegetarian, vegan, and fresh juice bar at Stall 11, sweets at Little Baby’s Ice Cream, and a bar called-r.bar in the middle of it all. Ground and Griddled covers breakfast offerings serving made-to-order egg sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, coffee, espresso, and nitro cold brew. There is a rotating “pop-up” stall ready for experimenting. Look for exciting announcements in the future of chefs trying out this space.
R. House inside view
The experience level runs deep as some restaurants at R. House. White Envelope owner Federico Tischer previously owned restaurants in Venezuela before moving to Baltimore. Dave Sherman, of Ground and Griddled, has owned and operated Cito in Hampden before R. House. Chef Munehiro Mori at Hilo has been working with fish preparations for over thirty years.
Hilo salmon bowl, yum
Sometimes too many food choices make it harder to decide what to try. With this assemblage of nine restaurants consider bringing some help. Three or four friends/family members ought to cover it. That way you can order from multiple restaurants and share food choices to get the most out of your visit.
Full-sized or small plate dining
In a perfect world, the restaurants would offer more small plates. This way if you wanted to try multiple dishes and were dining alone or as a couple it would be easier. Most of the restaurants serve full-sized items and not many” small plate” items. Amano Taco is the exception and has cute little tacos and a few sides bucking the trend of full-sized portions. I tried their street corn-on-the-cob smeared with cotija cheese, mayo, and chili concoction and loved it. The corn is served on a stick and is a taste treat any time of the year. Their tiny open-faced tacos are delicious too.
Amano taco
I’ve had poke-pronounced “POH keh,” before my visit to R House. It’s a marinated raw tuna or salmon dish famous in Hawaii. The first I had was at Pike Place Market in Seattle and it was delish! I had read about Hilo in a local publication where it touted the poke. On my first visit, I ordered up the Lumi Lumi, a salmon poke bowl eager to dig in. The surprise was the way they served the raw-marinated salmon on hot rice and vegetables. Although a bit odd at first I liked the flavor of the marinated salmon on hot rice. The only downside was the bulldog strength of the raw red onion slices that overpowered all other flavors. I plucked the offending onions out and partied on through the rest of the delicious fish bowl unperturbed.
Don’t forget dessert
On a follow up “Research Trip” I had the Hanoi chicken sandwich at BRD. This perfectly breaded and fried thigh was dragged through a street market of Vietnamese flavors making for a great tasting sandwich. At Little Baby’s Ice Cream shop they sell super-premium ice cream. Two kinds of pie- strawberry/ buttermilk and a coconut pie were staring at me with that-“You know you want me look.” but I had to try the ice cream first. Little Baby’s Ice Cream owner formerly sold treats from a bike cart but came to R House to have a sweeter spot to share the love. Since that first and second visits Sugar Baby’s became Little Baby’s Ice Cream and no longer offer pies.
There are healthy vegan and vegetarian options at Stall 11-Good Honest Food. Stall 11 is where chef Mel shares her take on old world vegetarian street food elevating vegetables from side dish to the main dish. Juices and smoothies like: Drop the Beet or Earth Mother, are served to those wanting to drink their veggies.
Stall 11 vegetarian and vegan
Real cutlery
Wait staff covers the seating area offering drinks from r. bar. Bussers clean up where needed. Customers are expected to bus their own tables, conscientiously dropping items in the compost, recycling, trash, or dish and cutlery tubs. I love that they use real plates and cutlery instead of the all too common plastic throw away junk. Parking is easy to find at one of three lots. Consult their website for details before going.
r. bar
I’m convinced this is one of the best re-purposing of an old building into a food hall I’ve seen yet. Seawall spent $12 million renovating the Anderson Automotive building and has set the bar high for other US developers. The community seems to love the idea and each time I’ve visited the vibe remains homey and relaxed. The only negative is I have to drive about thirty-five minutes to visit this foodie fun palace. For tourists or those of you living in Baltimore City, check out R. House. It’s close, the food is excellent, it’s family-friendly, and the bar is open. What more could you ask for?
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Kurt Jacobson
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