Popular Bakery Opening 3rd Location In Anne Arundel County

CHURCHTON, MD — A family-owned bakery whose owners once competed on a TV cooking show is opening its third location in Anne Arundel County this Friday at 8 a.m.

Black Market Bakers will debut in South County at 5451 Deale Churchton Road. It will replace the Wagon Wheel Restaurant, which closed in December 2024.

"Churchton really fits into what we're trying to do at Black Market. Move into an engaged community and love on people," Co-Founder Steve O'Leary told Patch in a Thursday statement. "We love people through food[,] which is always a nice intro."

The bakery announced the forthcoming Churchton location this April on the third anniversary of opening its flagship store in Edgewater.

That same day, Black Market announced that it would also open a storefront in Annapolis that doubles as a warehouse. It will be situated in a large commercial building that also houses the Classic Theatre of Maryland.

"We were passively looking for retail space and stumbled upon both further stores," O'Leary previously told Patch. "We love the idea of moving into markets that are a little bit off the beaten path. The flashy stuff is exciting but we want our staff and our food to be the draw."

Black Market has not yet announced the Annapolis opening date. Located at 1804 West St., this will be the business's second location in the state capital.

"The Deale location was brought to us by a friend who had recently purchased the real estate. The West Street store fit the build for our idea of a larger warehouse we could bake out of for our satellite stores while also offering substantial retail space," O'Leary previously said.

Black Market Bakers gets its name from O'Leary's early days of professional baking. O'Leary baked bread at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. His mother sold and delivered the loaves personally, leading some to call it a "black market" for bread.

O'Leary launched Black Market Bakers soon after with his older brother, Brendan, and their father, Tom.

The business opened in a food truck in August 2020. The O'Learys parked their truck outside Chevys Fresh Mex in Annapolis, which the family also owns. With restaurants facing pandemic capacity restrictions, the food truck was an instant hit.

Black Market Bakers got an even bigger break when O'Leary and his dad competed on Season 1 of "Baking It," a cooking show streaming on Peacock. The contest was hosted by actors Andy Samberg and Maya Rudolph.

The O'Learys advanced to the finals of the show, which aired in December 2021, but they did not take home the crown. After three weeks of filming in Los Angeles, the O'Learys returned to Anne Arundel County determined to raise the bar for Black Market Bakers.

The Annapolis natives took the next step in April 2022 and opened their brick-and-mortar shop in Edgewater's Main Street at South River Colony.

The O'Learys temporarily pivoted away from the food truck and embraced the bakery full-time.

"As far as the growth of Black Market, I know I speak for my dad, brother, and I [in] saying that we feel immense gratitude for the people who have loved and supported us through this entire journey," O'Leary said on Thursday.

Black Market Bakers eventually opened its first Naptown store in April 2023 in the Port Annapolis Marina.

"Our business has grown substantially in the past two years. Our food truck is back open, both stores are busy from the time we open until the time we close. We have 5 times the staff we had when we opened 3 years ago," O'Leary previously said.

Customers can visit blackmarketbakers.com for additional details. Guests can also follow the bakery on Facebook and Instagram to see the specials, which rotate weekly.

Read Patch's feature story on Black Market Bakers to learn more about the business.

Related:

• Black Market Bakers Opening New Locations In Annapolis, Churchton
• Bakery Featured On Peacock's 'Baking It' TV Show Opening 2nd Shop At MD Marina
• Egg Price Spike Tests Bakers' Creativity As MD Battles Bird Flu
• New Bakery Opens In Edgewater After Owners Compete In Cooking Show
• New Baking Show Features Father, Son From Annapolis: WBAL