Tom Gregory

Tom Gregory has lived in Federal Hill for thirty years. In that time he's seen the neighborhood change significantly. Based on the success of the Otterbein dollar home program, which offered run down homes in the downtown Otterbein neighborhood for a dollar to those willing to put work into them, the city initiated the Homestead Act, which helped people like Tom move into the city.

Now the vice president of the Federal Hill neighborhood association, Tom is involved both in negotiating the neighborhood's place in Baltimore's larger plan as well as Federal Hill's day to day life: its restaurants, bars, shops. He seems to know the owners of all of Federal Hill's bars and restaurants, many of them since they were kids growing up in the neighborhood.

Eat and Drink

The heart of Federal Hill is Cross Street Market, and Tom is quick to recommend it as a crucial place to stop when in the neighborhood. "Cross Street Market. I eat there at least once a day."

In addition, Tom likes a lot of the restaurants strung out along Fort Ave, like Captain Larry's and Lucas. He's also a fan of the more centrally located Metropolitan. "Metropolitan is the model of what responsible bar and restaurant ownership should be about."

Tom is less pleased with the way Federal Hill's mega bars have expanded, adding hundreds of square feet of new bar space in a neighborhood that's long had a moratorium on liquor licenses.

Still, not everything about these mega bars is bad, as Tom himself recommends Mother's as a good spot to get bar food. Ryleigh's, which is no small bar itself, is another of his recommendations. "Ryleigh's has certainly taken bar food and raised the bar on that." As Tom rattles off a list of spots he likes to frequent, like Regi's, Kirby's Szechuan, and SoBo Cafe, he seems to be able to go on without stop. "

"There's such a plethora of places to eat," Tom admits happily, "everything from good bar food, I'd say Mothers would be good for that. Ryleigh's certainly has taken bar food and raised the bar on that. They certainly do some good seafood."

Shops

Tom shops in the neighborhood whenever he can. He admits, however, that a lot of the specialty shops, like Light Street Cycles, are convenient for some but not what he's looking for. He says ruefully that he does much of his shopping online these days.

Nonetheless, Tom praises Andrew Stonebarger, the owner of The Book Escape on Light Street: "Andrew's doing a great job up there. He's taking the Tradestone Gallery and making it more of a reception area for book signings and things. He also lives in the neighborhood and his intentions are making Light Street and the area a viable business community."