Community Corner
Cafe 648 Opens in Downtown Glen Burnie
A local caterer is taking a swing at walk-in dining, and hopes his unorthodox menu will become a hit in Glen Burnie.
Cafe 648 is owner Jamaal Fuller's first restaurant, but it's far from his first time in the kitchen.
Fuller, along with his wife, has been running the Spice Rack catering service for several years, but he describes the evolving menu at his new downtown Glen Burnie business as "refined comfort food" full of stuff he likes to eat.
He said a single dish could be a mix of southern, caribbean, thai or latin.
"There's nothing on the menu that I wouldn't eat," Fuller told Patch in a recent interview.
He named the restaurant Cafe 648, for Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, where the business stands—also known as Route 648.
From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Cafe 648 serves as a walk-in lunch or early dinner joint, with a menu consisting of standards like a three-cheese macaroni dish and a bacon-lettuce-green-tomato sandwich. But the chalkboard menu also rotates with items like pulled pork tacos, seasonal fish and flatbread pizza.
"The beauty about this spot is we have the space in the back to continue the catering," Fuller said. "Up front, basically we get to play."
He said the catering service can limit his culinary endeavors, because not all foods maintain freshness and are appealing to large groups of people. In the cafe, he can experiment on an individual dish, serve it immediately and get feedback from a customer.
After officially opening doors in mid-May, he held the grand opening on June 19, with the help of the North Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce.
Watch the video above as Fuller cooks a steak sandwich with creamy gorgonzola cheese, dry roasted tomatoes and baby spinach.
Find out more about Cafe 648 at the restaurant's Facebook page.
Fuller, along with his wife, has been running the Spice Rack catering service for several years, but he describes the evolving menu at his new downtown Glen Burnie business as "refined comfort food" full of stuff he likes to eat.
He said a single dish could be a mix of southern, caribbean, thai or latin.
"There's nothing on the menu that I wouldn't eat," Fuller told Patch in a recent interview.
He named the restaurant Cafe 648, for Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, where the business stands—also known as Route 648.
From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Cafe 648 serves as a walk-in lunch or early dinner joint, with a menu consisting of standards like a three-cheese macaroni dish and a bacon-lettuce-green-tomato sandwich. But the chalkboard menu also rotates with items like pulled pork tacos, seasonal fish and flatbread pizza.
"The beauty about this spot is we have the space in the back to continue the catering," Fuller said. "Up front, basically we get to play."
He said the catering service can limit his culinary endeavors, because not all foods maintain freshness and are appealing to large groups of people. In the cafe, he can experiment on an individual dish, serve it immediately and get feedback from a customer.
After officially opening doors in mid-May, he held the grand opening on June 19, with the help of the North Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce.
Watch the video above as Fuller cooks a steak sandwich with creamy gorgonzola cheese, dry roasted tomatoes and baby spinach.
Find out more about Cafe 648 at the restaurant's Facebook page.
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