The Brass Tap to close after nearly a decade in Midtown-Belvedere

The Brass Tap, the craft beer bar and restaurant that has anchored the corner of Mount Royal Avenue in Mid-Town Belvedere for nearly a decade, will close on Aug. 31 after its owners were unable to reach a new lease agreement with their landlord.

Co-owners and brothers Barry and Michael Lowenthal said the decision, which was made in early July, came down to the money.

The bar’s lease was set to expire at the end of the year, and property owner MCB Real Estate wanted more in rent for a new five-year term than The Brass Tap could afford.

“They weren’t trying to kill us,” Barry Lowenthal said. “We thought we made a pretty reasonable offer. I’m sure they thought they made a reasonable offer, and we just couldn’t come to an agreement.”

MCB Real Estate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Brass Tap opened in January 2017 inside the Fitzgerald apartment building on West Mount Royal Avenue. It was the first Maryland location of the Florida-based chain.

Despite its more than nine-year run, Lowenthal said the bar was never wildly profitable, even during good years.

“It’s been borderline since the time we opened,” he said. “We’ve never done badly enough that we couldn’t make it. But we’ve never done well enough that we put money in the bank.”

Business jumped in 2022, he said, boosted by an outdoor patio that few other businesses in the area had during the pandemic.

Sales declined over the following two years before leveling off in 2025 and 2026, but costs kept climbing. Lowenthal said the bar’s BGE bill alone has roughly doubled, on top of rising prices for food, liquor and staff wages.

The bar, which is independently owned by the Lowenthals, has also scaled back staffing. It currently employs 14 people, down from a typical staff of around 25, according to Michael Lowenthal.

The brothers gave their staff about five weeks’ notice of the closing. Some employees have already found new jobs while others are still searching, Barry Lowenthal said.

The Brass Tap plans to keep its hours and full food and drink service through the end of August, adjusting as needed based on staffing and demand.

Both brothers described the bar as a fixture for the surrounding Reservoir Hill, Bolton Hill, Midtown and Charles North neighborhoods, drawing regulars for weekly trivia nights, happy hour and touring comedians. “We’ve been here 50, 60 hours a week since we opened,” Michael Lowenthal said.

“We’ve felt very welcome in the community,” Barry Lowenthal said. “We’ve had multiple people we knew when they were single who’ve since gotten married and had families, and we’ve seen their kids grow up.”