A Coffee Shop Right Where We Need It

Charmington’s is a coffee shop, so on my most recent visit – the one for the books – I wasn’t interested in the complicated. Just coffee, a sandwich, maybe a pastry.

As I stood waiting for my to-go almond butter and jelly on grainy bread (simple and perfect, p.s.), I remembered sitting in a community meeting years ago, just blocks away. I was listening to a member of the development team of Miller’s Court, the building that gives Charmington’s its home, fantasize out loud about the possibility of a coffee shop nestled in the southwest corner of the property.

At the time – when Miller’s Court was still the "Census Building," with windows boarded and holes in the floor – I thought that stretch of Howard Street was far from ready for a trendy coffee shop. This part of town was a bit – dare I say? – gritty for the fair trade beans and philosophic banter the thought of such establishments invoke.

And yet, there I was. Seeing Charmington’s open this fall was such a personal pleasure - not only because of the nearly round-the-clock activity it brings to this corner, but because its very existence is testament to a community’s ability to reclaim its urban decay, to repurpose, to recreate – and to persevere.

Miller’s Court jibes with the surrounding neighborhoods in a way that makes me forget the Census Building and its decades of disrepair.

Charmington’s is a part of this equation: of course, the high ceilings and natural lighting are a visually pleasant departure from the necessarily dark and serious Baltimore coffee shops nestled in windowless rowhouses. But more important than its visual impact, Charmington’s is a meeting place at the crossroads of two North Baltimore communities, in a space not long ago frequented only by squatters. Two years ago, I couldn’t imagine it. Today, I can’t seem to imagine this corner without it.

For me, coffee shops fall into two categories: those you pass through, and those where you order a for-here, refillable, steaming cup-o-joe and stay a while with a friend or a newspaper or, if you must, your work laptop. Charmington’s is the latter. Each time I’ve visited, the coffee, service and café fare filled my stomach and warmed my heart.

Charmington's

2601 N. Howard Street

410-235-5004

Charmington’s is less about charm and more about splice: the café is located on the border of Charles Village and Remington. 

Coffee shop chic – be prepared to find “comestibles” rather than just plain food.