Will Mester, co-owner and chef of The Wren in Fells Point, doesn’t want patrons to be confused if they hear the new spot referred to as an “American-Irish” pub.
Pub culture in Ireland is vastly different than that of American gastropubs. Across the pond, pubs are places people can walk to for a pint, or just to catch up with neighbors. They’re usually seen as an extension of a person’s home. The intention for the team at The Wren—Mester, his business partner Rosemary Liss, and his life partner Millie Powell—is to bring this culture to life.
“Of course it’s an Irish pub, because Millie is Irish and contributes enormously to what this place is,” says Mester, who has operated European bistro and wine bar Le Comptoir du Vin in Station North with Liss since 2018. “But we’re not in Ireland, we’re in Baltimore, and more specifically, Fells Point. It’s a Fells Point pub. It’s about representing, in a balanced way, the immediate community here.”
Born out of the owners’ love of relaxed, community-driven environments, the pub officially opened on Feb. 6, taking over the former site of Birds of a Feather—a scotch bar that operated in the Aliceanna Street building for 44 years before closing in 2024.
Mester and Powell plan to live above the building, fully embracing their waterfront surroundings. “I’ve always been fond of Fells Point,” Mester says. “I like the community here.”
Though it’s a completely different concept, the pub’s name carries on the bird motif. It’s a nod to Wren Day or Saint Stephen’s Day, a Celtic-rooted holiday celebrated throughout Ireland that’s an ode to the wren, known as the king of the birds, symbolizing the cycles of creation and destruction and returning to something new.
“We wanted to have an Irish reference that’s low-key, and that’s also not particularly or specifically Irish,” Mester says.
Along with the building, the team inherited the Birds of a Feather inventory, boasting 90 different scotches with plans to expand its Irish whiskey offerings. Fans of the wine program at Le Comptoir du Vin will be happy to see smaller production, low-intervention wines here, as well, although on a smaller scale. With a fully stocked bar, the team can also make all the classic cocktails, if that’s your fancy.
With the sit-down space limited to an 18-seat bar, dining is meant to be looser—a derailment from the bistro experience locals are used to at Le Comptoir. But the ethos behind the food is “exactly [the same],” says Mester. The team has always valued putting good cooking into a bar setting, with quality ingredients sourced as best as they can find.
“It’s a bit of a smaller menu, and the food comes as ready—there’s no coursing,” Mester explains.
The Wren’s menu of 8-10 items—handwritten on a chalkboard, just like at Le Comptoir—will rotate, with Mester doing the cooking for dinner service Wednesday to Saturday from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Dishes on the opening menu include brown bread and butter, farmhouse cheeses, lamb and bread soup, cassoulet, and poached ox tongue with lentils and two sauces.
The kitchen will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but will still offer snacks often seen in Irish pubs like pickled eggs, toasties (toasted sandwiches), and crisps (chips). Plans for lunch are in the works to launch soon.
“A pub is a relaxed and natural sort of setting to have a meal,” Mester says. “You can skip over a lot of the pageantry and nonsense of going to a restaurant.”
The Wren also features a fireplace and a lounge area that the team hopes to use to host regular community events—such as book clubs or live music sessions—in the near future.
It’s a space for community, after all. “I like the regularity, and the kind of everyday-ness of a bar over a restaurant,” says Mester. “You just have people in, they have a chat, maybe they have some food. It’s a place people can come in quite often.”