Lib's Grill Granted Liquor License For Bel Air Restaurant

BEL AIR, MD — Lib’s Grill was granted tentative approval Wednesday for a liquor license in Bel Air.

Nick Liberatore, who also oversees Lib's Grill in Perry Hall and Fulton, will be the operator of the business.

When it opens, the restaurant on Agora Drive will be able to sell beer, wine and liquor, following the board's tentative approval.

The menu will change every three months with the seasons, featuring about 10 staples year-round, according to Liberatore. It will center on steak, seafood and the raw bar.

"The Liberatore brand is known for its Italian heritage, but I think after 35 years," Liberatore said, "we’ve got an American side too." The menu will be chef-inspired and use ingredients that are locally sourced as much as possible, he added.

The candy bacon is "to die for," said Liberatore, who also noted the fish tacos.

As the liquor board members reviewed the menu, Liberatore said: "What's not mentioned here is the hospitality aspect." He attributed the other Lib's Grill locations' success in part to the service.

The Bel Air restaurant will be in the Amyclae shopping center where Della Rose's used to be.

“This is the former Terrino’s, then it was Half Pints, and then it was Della Rose’s, so it has a long history” as a restaurant, attorney Joseph Snee told the liquor board. Most recently it was Della Rose's, which closed in 2019.

About 50 people will be on staff when Lib's Grill opens, according to Snee.

The liquor board requires a minimum $250,000 capital investment in the new dining room and kitchen for a business to obtain a beer, wine and liquor license.

To date, the Liberatores have spent $110,000 and will be “well in excess of that” when they open, Snee said.

The board's approval of the liquor license was contingent on factors including fulfillment of the capital investment and other needed approvals, like those from the fire marshal and health department.

"Hopefully we'll be open within six months," Snee said. Otherwise, the business would not have to appear before the liquor board again.

Liberatores signed the lease Aug. 30, according to Snee.

At that point, Liberatore told the Baltimore Business Journal he hoped to open by April.

Hours for the kitchen at Lib's Grill in Bel Air will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. The bar may remain open until 2 a.m., and the restaurant will still serve bar food during hours the kitchen is closed, Snee said.

Lib's Grill will be at 1204 Agora Drive in Bel Air.

See Also: Lib's Grill Opening In Bel Air