Restaurateur who blamed Mall in Columbia crime for closures faces millions in claims

Restaurateur Desmond Reilly closed all three of his eateries at The Mall in Columbia last year and blamed forces beyond his control.

“Now that I’m completely gone from Columbia, I can be honest ... The Mall in Columbia has become a different world,” Reilly said in May 2025.

The Howard County resident slammed the shopping center for letting crime get out of hand and said fights between young people had driven away customers.

Reilly’s abrupt shuttering of Chicken + Whiskey, Bennie’s Pizza and The Walrus Oyster & Ale House left empty storefronts along a key dining corridor connecting Howard County’s only remaining movie theater to the heart of the mall. His explanation sparked debate on social media, with some residents defending the mall and others agreeing with him.

But there’s more to the story.

While candid with his criticism, Reilly didn’t mention that days earlier the mall had evicted Chicken + Whiskey as part of a court judgment that found he owed about $341,000 in unpaid rent.

More than a year later, Reilly and his companies — Star Restaurant Group LLC and Chicken + Whiskey Columbia LLC — are still grappling with the financial repercussions of his exit from the shopping center.

The mall is suing both companies for breach of contract and is seeking a combined $5.6 million in damages. A trial is scheduled for January 2027.

Last month, the Maryland comptroller’s office issued a lien against Chicken + Whiskey for unpaid taxes amounting to nearly $35,000. A second state tax lien was entered Tuesday for about $160,000.

Reached by phone, Reilly declined to comment on the liens and litigation, calling them private matters.

Lindsay Kahn, a spokesperson for mall owner Brookfield Properties, also declined to comment on the litigation.

Records of the dispute between the mall and the restaurant owner shed light on a challenging era for the sprawling marketplace, which has anchored downtown Columbia since 1971.

Two fatal shootings in 2024 and 2025 prompted mall operators and county leaders to take steps to reassure tenants and shoppers that the property is safe.

A 17-year-old Homewood Center student, Angelo Little, was shot and killed in the food court bathroom in July 2024. Authorities have arrested and charged 18-year-old William “Junior” Marshall III, whose trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 21.

In January 2025, 15-year-old Blake McCray, an Oakland Mills High School student, and 16-year-old Michael Robertson, a Wilde Lake High School student, were shot dead near a bus stop close to the mall. A Howard County court has since sentenced 19-year-old Emmetson Zeah to life without the possibility of parole, plus 70 years

Following the shootings, Howard’s elected and law enforcement officials rolled out a sweeping safety plan for the mall that February. It included more marked patrol cars, more uniformed and undercover officers on patrol, and the use of drones. In April, the county announced another measure — a new permanent police unit based in downtown Columbia.

Although the shootings heightened safety concerns at the mall, police data showed crime there had remained relatively flat.

Then came Reilly’s departure.

The restaurateur told The Banner at the time that the mall had done little to encourage customers to return following the food court shooting. He said county leadership should have held a town hall or issued communications to address adolescent crime.

Reilly said the troubles began in March 2023, when he noticed more fights between young people in front of Bennie’s. Brookfield Properties enacted an escort policy that year for people under 18 on Friday and Saturday evenings following reports of unruly behavior.

Court records show Chicken + Whiskey stopped paying its monthly rent of $18,200 in September 2023 and still had not paid by November 2024, when the shopping center filed its first lawsuit against the restaurant. The court sided with the mall and ordered the business to pay more than $341,000 in restitution, which has since grown to more than $513,000.

Several months after Reilly’s kitchens closed, the mall sued again. This time, it also named Star Restaurant Group, claiming the company had unconditionally guaranteed Chicken + Whiskey’s ability to pay the lease.

If a court sides with the mall, Reilly’s companies could be on the hook for $5.6 million in damages as well as attorneys’ fees.

Reilly’s attorneys have argued in court filings that the mall’s claims are invalid in part because it failed to provide the restaurants with “quiet enjoyment” of the premises.

While the dispute plays out in Howard County court, the mall has distanced itself from questions of safety.

More than a year after Howard County officials pledged to open a police outpost there, law enforcement moved into a new satellite office on the mall’s upper level near Nordstrom.

More than half a dozen new businesses are slated to open in the mall in 2026 and 2027. They include two restaurants — Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings and Fogo de Chão — taking over spaces that Reilly left behind.