Mexican Café Serves Up Some Change

On a recent afternoon, owner Pam Gladfelter was busy adjusting and updating the signs outside of Mexican Café on Bay Ridge Road.

Gladfelter still has about a month left before she moves the popular Mexican restaurant — that is as well known for its margaritas as its food — across town to the former Northwoods location in West Annapolis. However, the pending shift for the 17-year-old business doesn't mean the work stops at the original location.

She said her plan is to make the move during the last week of September, though the exact date is "not set in cement yet." She added that she's aiming for a seamless transition, aided by the convenience of a month-to-month lease along Bay Ridge Road.

"This was always in limbo," said Gladfelter, referring to the move date, as she held a clipboard packed full of papers in hand.

She has leased the Bay Ridge Road building since 1992 until last year when she was informed her lease was not going to be renewed in favor of the new development. The owners of the land revealed plans to redevelop the 11 acres that include the site of the popular eatery.

Once Mexican Café moves to 609 Melvin Ave., the work crews already preparing the site will level the current building to make way for a CVS store, said Tom Smith, chief of current planning for Annapolis.

Several bulldozers and backhoes seemingly loom behind the restaurant as workers clear trees and are preparing the land for construction.

Smith said the approved plans also include a site for an office building, another for a restaurant and a fourth site zoned residential for future development. For now, he said the city only has seen the current application for the CVS store.

Meanwhile, Gladfelter is busy preparing the former Northwoods site. She said aside from the building's ambiance, its location in the city is also what drew her to the former upscale eatery.

"My liquor license has transferred and the zoning is intact," she said. "There are very few places that are for sale and are older with some character. I couldn't put it in a strip site. It just wouldn't have the same effect."

Besides, Gladfelter said, most of her repeat customer base is from West Annapolis and the surrounding area.

There are a few walls that need to come down at the Melvin Avenue location and there's some painting to be done. She said one of the biggest concerns from her customers is whether the new restaurant will have the same eclectic paint colors as the Bay Ridge Road location.

"We're certainly going to have the same colors and the same feel," Gladfelter said.

Gladfelter may introduce some new menu items but with such a major change, she said she wants to keep things as similar as possible for her customers.

She adds that they can rest assured the margaritas will remain the same.