Papi Cuisine was vandalized early Monday morning after a person allegedly attempted to set fire to the side of their building in Federal Hill, according to an online post by the business.
Papi Cuisine shared photographs on Instagram of a singed dumpster and storage space along an alleyway near East Wells and Marshall Street. Timestamped CCTV footage they shared shows a person walking through the area at 6 am and disappearing from view by a dumpster. By 6:04 am, the dumpster appears to burst into flames. Business owners Alex Perez and Berry Clark were not available to immediately comment on the attack, but employees at the restaurant later that afternoon said clean-up had taken hours.
On Instagram, Perez wrote that the restaurant’s sprinkler system had “neutralized the flames promptly. So, ‘Minor’ damage was done, but this could’ve been a lot worse.”
No one was hurt in the fire and requests were not immediately returned from the Baltimore Police department as to whether a police report was filed or if an investigation was opened. Neither a manager nor an owner were on site Monday afternoon to answer questions about the incident. A portion of the restaurant’s brick wall outside remained blackened into the evening.
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The 2 E. Wells St. eatery moved into the neighborhood in 2021 and has become the subject of recent protests at the Baltimore City liquor board, where their license is up for renewal and contingent on a memorandum of understanding with neighbors. Concerned residents submitted complaints against the renewal In late April, welcoming customers were drag-racing, double-parking and fighting within feet of the restaurant’s doors. A statement posted to the Afro-Latin fusion spot’s social media described Monday’s incident as a “deliberate attack” and only the latest sign of tension between the business and the surrounding community.
“Enough is enough. We are done being silent jumping through hoops, responding to frivolous concerns with no offer of resolution,” Papi Cuisine wrote.
Despite the damage, the restaurant opened Monday, although three hours later than its noon time. Reservations scheduled during that time period were canceled, according to an Instagram post.
“We’ve hardened a lot over the last five years… While thankfully no one was hurt, this puts the icing on the cake,” the business wrote. “They want us to close our doors, but we’re open.”
This is a developing story.
Matti Gellman is a Food Reporter for The Baltimore Banner.
