Tropical restaurant and lounge coming to former Sangria in Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon is getting a new destination for tropical cocktails and fare.

Diners will be able to sip rum punch and snack on coconut shrimp at Echelon Restaurant and Lounge when it opens later this year at 930 N. Charles St. The building was previously home to Sangria Patio Bar and, before that, a tapas bar called Red Maple.

At a liquor board hearing Thursday, co-owner Okeigbo Ifeanyi Nwoko told commissioners he’d been visiting the spot since its Red Maple days. It was a “good date night” place, he said later, with an upscale and inviting atmosphere that reminded him of Manhattan.

He hopes to bring that back.

The menu at Echelon will feature a mix of Caribbean, West African and soul food dishes, with beef suya skewers alongside options like braised oxtail and shrimp and grits. The food reflects Nwoko’s heritage and background: He is Nigerian but was raised in both West Africa and Trinidad and Tobago. He now calls Baltimore home, telling commissioners at the hearing that he’s lived and worked in the city for nearly three decades.

To open Echelon, Nwoko is teaming up with restaurateur Berry Clark, who opened Proper Cuisine and Papi Cuisine and brings “flair” and business acumen to the project, Nwoko said. Clark also has experience in restaurants that combine traditions of West African, Caribbean and soul food, Nwoko said.

It will be a third eatery for Nwoko, who owned the now-shuttered Montego Bar & Grille in Station North and Karma Restaurant & Lounge in Prince George’s County.

The design of the space will feature tropical accents, with palm trees, bamboo and an aqua palette. An outdoor patio will feature TVs and a garden, and the restaurant will host live music, Nwoko said.

Before Sangria Patio Bar closed, the establishment frequently drew complaints from neighbors to the liquor board. Nwoko is looking to turn over a new leaf for the address. The business owner said he met with members of the community and found “a lot of synergy” with their goals for the neighborhood. Echelon’s owners have signed a memorandum of understanding with the neighborhood association that will limit the business’s hours of operation and be attached to its liquor license.

The spot, Nwoko said, will cater to “mature professionals who are not into the club scene.”