Ropewalk Tavern manager buys Taps at auction
Marc McFaul (pictured), the manager of Ropewalk Tavern, bought Taps at an auction earlier this week, he confirmed yesterday.
McFaul paid $450,000 for the building and liquor license -- the whole shebang. That means McFaul and family (I like to call them the McFaul clan) will now have three South Baltimore bars (Stalking Horse, Ropewalk and Taps).
But McFaul isn't sure what he wants to do with Taps, he told me. He might transfer the liquor license up closer to Cross Street Market, or he might keep it at the corner of Fort Avenue and Charles Street.
In fact, McFaul wasn't expecting to own the place at all ...
Before the auction, McFaul planned on bidding $450,000, tops, for Taps. He put in a bid, and then bidding just stopped, he recalled. So he wound up with another bar. (The reason there aren't any direct quotes here is because McFaul called me while I was walking down the street in Washington.)
McFaul isn't sure about his next step. He said he doesn't want to rile up the neighborhood by running a loud and rowdy bar, but he doesn't have a building near Cross Street where he could transfer the liquor license. When McFaul makes a decision, I'll let you know.
(Baltimore Sun photo of McFaul in 2005 by Kenneth K. Lam)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
transfer the liquor license to Pigtown!
Posted by: DiplomaJill | August 27, 2010 9:14 AM
HA! Leave it to Marc to "accidentally" buy a bar
Figured it was going to be Mcfaul or Mccombs' group
Posted by: Anonymous | August 27, 2010 9:24 AM
He's right about the bidding, he put his hand up around 430k then all of sudden it stopped. Everybody was looking around to see if it was going to go up and it never did. The license will be better used closer to Cross Street, and if you have a license a building will appear. McFaul seems to know what he is doing. Should be interesting to see what happens with it and all the chaos that will be created in the community. Best of luck to the McFaul clan!
Posted by: anon;) | August 27, 2010 9:26 AM
I'd like to see him keep it where it is. It's a great location. If he's got Stalking Horse [little cheaper/younger] Ropewalk [midrange] maybe go a little more upscale with Taps with some higher-end food drinks. Although Bluegrass is already doing that just a block away.
Posted by: scottbbfm | August 27, 2010 9:35 AM
You should call in The Clan McFaul.
There can be only one.
Posted by: bryanintowson | August 27, 2010 9:37 AM
Here's a bold suggestion: create something the neighborhood will embrace and sustain. If this guy can only envision a bar overcrowded with loud young drunks, he will surely fail -- he got a steal for the building and license, and I hope he won't be so myopic as to see the need to separate the two.
Posted by: Marianne | August 27, 2010 9:45 AM
Private social club Marc! Trust me on this! I'll run it!
(into the ground)
Posted by: Evan | August 27, 2010 10:19 AM
to my knowledge, that license is transferable or at least liquorboarding would know. If it is then it will find a home on Cross Street. Good for them. The McFaul clan has been very successful and I am sure he knows more than us. That building looks big and even historic, tons of opportunities for it, but a bar without parking isn't one of them.
Posted by: anon;) | August 27, 2010 11:28 AM
Sounds fishy to me.
Don't forget, these guys have a place up in Bellll-AIR, because many of their constituents will never need set foot south of the Harford County line. That's way to close to the city, Whaew! Thank Gawd!
Did you ever wonder why the police winnebago camped out in front of Ropewal/McFails for over a year? Just wonderin...
Posted by: JoJo | August 30, 2010 9:40 PM
someone wrote when they found out that taps was closing that they should open a specialty grocery store--like whole foods but smaller and cheaper. i think that's a fantastic idea.
Posted by: DDM3721 | August 31, 2010 9:37 AM
@JoJo -- I believe the Ropewalk in Bel Air was sold to the MaGerk's folks and then bought back by the McFaul clan and renamed the Dark Horse Saloon. I'll confirm this with Marc today.
@DDM3721 -- That sounds like a great idea, but Harris Teeter is supposed to be opening down Fort Avenue in the next several months. I think that would put any other local specialty grocery stores out of business.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | August 31, 2010 9:47 AM