Imaginings

My teen daughter and I were driving home on Little Patuxent Parkway yesterday after the dance party at the Chrysalis. As we passed the site of the former Copeland’s Restaurant, she mentioned that she wished they would do something with that space.

“What do you think they should do with it?”

She had two thoughts. One was a restaurant with a creepy, haunted New Orleans vibe. But she reckoned that would only be popular around Halloween. The other was some kind of retro restaurant where you could eat dinner and watch old movies. It was important to to her that the old building be significant to the rebirth of the place.

As for me, I have always assumed that the site would be razed and new owners would start from scratch. Unless someone wants to do a brand new version of Copeland’s I think that the present architecture is too confining for other restaurant “concepts”.

We’ve had such a rush of new restaurant openings recently that I can hardly imagine that we need another one. But if I were to choose something to put in the old Copeland’s space it would be something that would replace the old Tomato Palace. The new Lupa may be Italian food at the Lakefront but it is not the Tomato Palace, nor does it want to be. It is far more sophisticated and upscale.

How lovely it would be to have a restaurant where you could take your entire family for a birthday dinner and you wouldn’t go bankrupt? A place that could feel more celebratory and personal than a chain like Bob Evans? With all the new restaurants going in around town, I haven’t yet seen one like this.

Of course, correct me if I’m wrong.

What would you like to see in the old Copeland’s space? Post your comments here:

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