The Wren, the Fells Point pub that was named last year by The New York Times and Bon Appétit as one of the best restaurants in the country, is up for sale.
The $1.25 million listing price includes the liquor license, furniture and fixtures, and name of the pub.
Chef Will Mester opened The Wren in early 2025 with business partner Rosemary Liss. It was the second venture for the two after opening their Station North bistro, Le Comptoir du Vin.
Mester said he and wife Millie Powell, who also helps run The Wren, are looking to move near Dublin, Ireland, to be closer to her family. “The plan is to have the place on the market and see if we can get what we’d like for it,” he said. The bar will remain open while they search for a buyer.
Liss, who now heads operations at Le Comptoir du Vin, previously said she and Mester considered closing the pub during a slump last summer, just before The Wren landed on nationwide critics’ lists. Soon afterward, the pub was flooded with business, and customers were lining up to check it out.
“It was a very tricky beginning, but it’s really started to gel,” Mester said. Even as the hype has died down, a core following of loyal regulars from Fells Point and Patterson Park has kept the business going.
Liss said people have asked her why she’s not interested in keeping The Wren going herself, but she’s got her hands full with Le Comptoir du Vin and other potential projects. “I’m 37; it feels like I’ve been working three jobs just running two businesses,” she said.
The property at 1712 Aliceanna St. was previously home to scotch bar Birds of a Feather; it sold in 2024 for $800,000, according to online property records.
“Somebody could just step right in,” said listing agent Matt Garono, principal at CREative Solutions, which is handling the sale. Mester and Liss renovated the building after taking over, so “the building is really in fantastic shape,” he said. “‘Turnkey’ is the optimal word.”
The address also includes an owner’s apartment above the bar. “It’s a cool, unique situation in Fells Point that’s not going to require a lot of capital investment,” Garono said.
Liss said she’d like to see The Wren purchased by someone interested in being part of the Fells Point community. “Aliceanna is a special street,” she said. Bar Alice Anne just opened nearby, and Liss said that “there’s a lot of good energy” in the neighborhood. “We want to keep that going.”
While Mester said the current political situation in the U.S. factored into his and Powell’s desire to move abroad, they’re also hoping that relocating will allow them to find a better work-life balance. “Doing this sort of work, it’s difficult to go on vacation or take a holiday,” Mester said. He and Powell dream of opening a small shop that offers lunch — “exactly the sort of food we serve at the pub.”
One thing the couple won’t be opening? A pub, which Ireland has plenty of. “There’s just no need for one,” Mester said.
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