Fells Point has pretty diverse ownership, though. Ekiben and Thames Street Oyster House are regularly considered among the best in Baltimore. There’s plenty of other great places around there not owned by Atlas and outside of their usual portfolio - Thai Street, Kippo, Pitango, Sacre Sucre, etc.

Also, it’s not like the Cup and Waterfront are culinary masterpieces that offered a lot of diverse cuisine. They were/are your fairly typical standard fare for tourist areas, which can be found all across the nation. Considering the prevalence of these types of restaurants (I would include Barcocinia in the same category, as an example) there is obviously a high demand. I, personally, would prefer something else but it seems like a large number of people are not looking for exciting, unique options.

I feel like this is sort of a slippery slope type argument. I just don’t see Atlas taking over everything and crushing the competition. Also, it’s pretty common for the heart of tourist areas to not have the best restaurants. Those who care will manage to find their way a few blocks away from the water to Ekiben. Those who don’t… will probably love the Atlas experience.

The selling point is the ambiance. They realize that a large number of people are more interested in putting their dinner on Instagram than having a culinary experience.

The ambiance is very Instagram friendly. The food is good but falls short of where it should be at the price point. There's certainly a lot better in the city at a variety of price points.

The restaurant scene IS owned by a large variety of individuals, though. Atlas has a fair number of properties (probably a dozen or so in Baltimore?) and is probably the largest single entity/group. However, there are significantly more places owned by non-Atlas entities that are superior in quality. Outside of Harbor East they have very little presence in the city.

Get out of here with your nuance. People on this sub love, love having an enemy. If it’s not Atlas it’s people from the counties. Or rich Texans buying up properties. Or elitists from DC invading. Or whatever the boogeyman du jour is. Everything is clearly black and white, good and evil, with clearly defined villains.

I don’t see how they are killing the restaurant scene. A decade ago the restaurant scene here was much weaker than today. Much much weaker. There’s now a significantly larger number of great restaurants, despite Atlas opening more restaurants.

Things are going to generally go to the highest bidder.

Damn, that’s a LONG commute to get to an Amazon locker.

There’s a big difference between quick eye contact affirming recognition of the other parties and sizing someone up for robbery. You may make eye contact with them but it’s brief and you move on and don’t remember the person. People sizing someone up stay fixated on the target.

711 off Hollins Ferry?

A not insignificant number of people basically don’t even know how to hold a screwdriver. This isn’t surprising.

Wear some layers so you can adjust to the temperature.

First Watch and Metro Diner (not in the local area, yet) are probably my top choices for chain breakfast places that deliver good value. Maybe not the absolute best breakfast nor the cheapest but you generally significantly better than something like Denny’s.

Is Victoria open for breakfast?

Damn, I’ve actually been here… I would have never thought this place would ever be mentioned on here.

It's a good time to get TSA PreCheck or Global Entry if you don't already have it.

Keep going and connect Baltimore to the BWI trail, connect the BWI trail to WB&A, connect WB&A to the DC area network, and also connect the end of B&A to DC. NOVA has such an expansive network of trails (although not all are perfect, by any means) compared to suburban MD.

Also build a bridge over (or tunnel under, although less likely given the elevation on the northern end) Cold Spring to replace that extremely awkward intersection.