Bel Air Man Added To Liquor License For Box Hill Pizzeria

BEL AIR, MD — Two restaurants in Harford County now have a Bel Air man on their liquor licenses.

Nicodemus Kanaras, 30, has been working at Box Hill Pizzeria for 14 years and selling alcohol for 12 of them, he told the Harford County liquor board. The pizzeria is one of two restaurants owned by the Kanaras Brothers in Harford County, the other being Riverside Pizzeria in Belcamp.

Following a vote by the Harford County Liquor Control Board on Wednesday morning, Nicodemus Kanaras will own nearly 25 percent of the restaurants and be the main liquor licensee for Box Hill.

Kanaras said he is at the Box Hill Pizzeria 71 hours a week, and he will serve as the responsible operator, meaning he must be there at least 30 hours. Sunday is his day off, and on that day one of the other liquor licensees will act as the manager/supervisor during that time.

The restaurant has a policy to safeguard against selling alcohol to underage patrons, he said.

"Card everyone — that's our motto," Kanaras told the liquor board. "No matter how old, that's it; we card everyone."

Kanaras, who lives on Wellington Court in Bel Air, is alcohol-awareness trained through March 2025, according to attorney Joseph Snee. Seven employees at Box Hill Pizzeria are also trained in alcohol management, said Snee, who represented the restaurant before the liquor board.

"They don't accept vertical licenses, and they card everyone," Snee said. "It doesn't get any better than that."

The lease is through 2026 at Box Hill, according to Snee.

Riverside Pizzeria added Nicodemus Kanaras to the license there as well.

Louie Kanaras, 59, who lives in Cecil County, is the manager and operator at Riverside Pizzeria, which has a lease through December 2042, according to Snee. The liquor board requires one of the liquor licensees to live in Harford County, so Nicodemus Kanaras will meet that requirement.

Here is the breakdown in ownership for Riverside Pizzeria, according to Judi Powell, special projects coordinator for the liquor board:

• Thomas Kanaras — 40 percent (not on liquor license)
• Louie Kanaras, assistant secretary and responsible operator —25 percent (liquor licensee)
• Christian Kanaras, president — 25 percent
• Nicodemus Kanaras, assistant secretary — 10 percent (co-licensee)

This is the ownership breakdown for Box Hill Pizzeria, Powell said:

• Christian Kanaras, president — 50 percent
• Nicodemus Kanaras, assistant secretary and responsible operator — 13 percent (liquor licensee)
• Alan Baer, assistant secretary — 13 percent
• Thomas Kanaras — 24 percent (not on liquor license)

George Kanaras was removed from the license in Abingdon, according to Powell.

She said Nicodemus Kanaras passed the test required for him to assume the responsibility of being the licensee, and the board unanimously approved designating him the responsible operator for Box Hill Pizzeria and a liquor licensee at Riverside Pizzeria.