BALTIMORE — A cozy café near Patterson Park is preparing for its final weekend.
Rize + Rest, which opened in November 2023, recently announced their closing—but not due to a lack of business.
The dual-concept café serves breakfast bites for the "Rize", and savory evening selections as "Rest."
One standout menu item is the chicken and egg biscuit with chili honey.
Days of ordering this customer favorite are numbered.
“These two years have been a whirlwind,” said Rize + Rest owner, Randall Matthews.
News of the popular café's closure came via Instagram, noting “Together, we've built something beautiful. But growth calls.”
Matthews said the decision was necessary, but not an easy call.
“It's sort of bittersweet,” he said. “They want to congratulate us, but they're also sad that they can't get Nana's biscuit every weekend or every day.”
The biscuit was inspired by Matthews' grandmother, who pushed for the cafés expansion.
“We're doing great now, but to get to where we want to be ultimately, we need a bigger vessel,” said Matthews. “We open up at 10, and by 10:10, the place is packed and we’re on a wait.”
Matthews recalls a conversation with his grandmother about a plant inside the café, telling him “You’re gonna stunt that plant’s growth if you don’t change the pot that it’s in.”
While Rize + Rest is closing its current location at 3100 E. Baltimore Street, Matthews says he's scouting new neighborhoods—including Locust Point, Remington, and Butcher’s Hill—with hopes of reopening by the end of the year.
Throughout his time in the food industry, Matthews says he's helped open more than 25 restaurants worldwide, from California to Dubai.
Yet when the time came to open his own place, it was clear Baltimore was the place to put down roots.
Before moving, Matthews wanted to make sure there was something that could replace the café.
“Let’s just say, it’s another café,” he said. “It’s a café that has a few locations already, and they’re relaunching a new concept here. It was important for me especially as the building owner to not just leave the community and this block, something that we helped create and help grow over here desolate. I just didn't wanna leave it blank and so it was important for me to get the right people here.”
Another thing Matthews is taking along on his next journey, are those beloved plants.
“These are my plant babies. They all have to come,” he laughed. Oh yea, and Nana’s famous biscuits!
