Social media offers a buffet of drool-inducing food photos so appetizing that they can make your stomach growl five minutes after you’ve eaten a full meal. But as anyone who has ever used a dating app knows, what you see online is not always what you get in real life.

Papi’s owner-chef Alex Perez first rose to local culinary prominence by posting photos of the Afro-Caribbean-Latin-influenced dishes he makes on Instagram and other social media platforms. He started his professional career in Baltimore by cooking out of the shared commercial space B-more Kitchen before opening his first brick-and-mortar restaurant, Papi Cuisine, in Fells Point in 2019.

The popularity of that corner joint—his dishes somehow tasted even better than they looked online—quickly proved so overwhelming that Perez moved the operation to the Riverside neighborhood of Federal Hill, where it opened in May in the space formerly occupied by the seafood restaurant Minnow and The Hot Dry.

From the moment you walk through the doors, it’s clear that something exciting is happening here. There’s a buzz in the large dining room and bar that’s been sadly missing everywhere during the pandemic. During our visits this summer, it seemed like many of the restaurant’s tens of thousands of Instagram followers were all there at one time. The crowds proved to be no sweat for the restaurant’s staff, which was friendly, efficient, and thoughtful during each of our meals.

Papi’s has an impressive cocktail list that, like the rest of its menu, trends toward the sweet. The Papi’s Pineapple, a rum punch with blue Curaçao served in a whole pineapple, is a show unto itself. It spews dry ice, which draws glances throughout the restaurant.

Several of the cocktails are made with Hennessy. When we ordered a pomegranate margarita, our bartender assured us that it wasn’t too sweet, and cheerfully promised to make us a new drink if it was. She was right. The tequila, sour mix, pomegranate juice, and honey combined to make a crisply refreshing libation. About that honey. It’s clearly one of Perez’s favorite ingredients, and it’s featured throughout the menu. The salmon bites appetizer (and the entrée filet) is glazed with it, but again, not overwhelmingly so. We might have been the only ones in the place to try an appetizer in addition to the crab cake egg roll, which helped put Papi Cuisine—and Perez—on the map.

The fried rolls of cheesy crab are topped with house sauces. Like much of the food here, they’re delicious, decadent—and quite filling. At $35, they’re not cheap, but with jumbo lump going for as much as $60 a pound, is any crab dish these days?

Entrees, almost without exception, are rich, buttery, sweet, and spicy. The lamb chops, which we ordered with a honey jerk rub, were exceptional, both tender and abundantly flavorful.

A dry-aged New York strip, cooked medium-rare with a simple peppery rub, also was outstanding. Seafood is featured prominently on the menu. The crab-stuffed lobster was surprisingly bland—the breading on the crab seemed to steal flavor from both the crab and lobster meat.

A build-your-own-pasta dish was more successful. A bowl of fettucine topped with a rich Alfredo sauce was surrounded by expertly fried shrimp tossed in a spicy house sauce. The dish was delicious but impossible for one person to finish.

The sides were less even. Mac and cheese, made with four cheeses including New York cheddar and smoked Gouda, is gooey, rich, and among the best takes on the comfort food in the city. Perez’s version of traditional greens is made with kale, and it is pleasingly acidic. Seasoned fries, mashed potatoes, and Brussels sprouts, however, were unremarkable.

A party vibe envelops the entire restaurant, which means a few things. First, everyone is having fun, including the staff, each of whom went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed. (One friendly bartender assured us that it is okay to park in any space on the ground floor of the attached garage for two hours, even though the signage is less than clear.)

Also: This place is loud. If you’re looking for a quiet, peaceful night out, you might want to save Papi’s for another, more jovial time. But don’t pass on it completely.

During each of our visits, multiple tables were celebrating birthdays and special occasions. The guests of honor ranged in age from 10 to—well, we won’t venture a guess, but at all the parties, both kids and adults were merrily eating some of the most festive food in the city.

Anyone who has scrolled through Papi Cuisine’s Instagram feed for even a few seconds will notice that private chef and caterer Alex Perez is known for upping the visual appeal of his dishes. (Think gooey mac and cheese, stuffed salmon, and massive crab cakes.) The eat-with-your-eyes approach has attracted more than 140,000 followers to the page. And soon, fans will be able to try Perez’s food, without having to order ahead of time, at the new Papi’s restaurant opening in Fells Point this fall.

In the meantime, the chef—who preps out of shared commercial space B-more Kitchen in Govans—is preparing to defend his title at the venue’s second-annual Battle of the Brands competition on Thursday, August 22. The event pits local purveyors (including Woot Granola, Hiatus Cheesecakes, Secret Sauce Co., and A Friendly Bread) against one another to see whose bites reign supreme in categories like Best Sweet, Best Savory, Best Overall, and People’s Choice.

We sat down with Perez to discuss strategy for this year’s competition, details about the new restaurant space, how he captures his drool-worthy photos, and constantly growing within the industry.

How did you get your start as a chef?
I come from a family of cooking. I have a lot of family in the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean, and South America. My dad taught me how to cook when I was 10. It was more so traditional Latin-Caribbean dishes, but I noticed at a young age that I had a knack for it. I love to cook because I love to eat.

Does your heritage translate into the food?
Papi Cuisine is a fusion-style cuisine. It’s taking Asian or French food and infusing with Latin-Carribbean flair. There’s a little Southern flair in there, as well. Papi was born back in 2014, when I decided to do a food prep service where I would offer pickup at my home. When I first told my family and friends I’d be cooking they brushed it off, but then they started to see me grow. I was transitioning into things I’d never cooked before and learning a lot.

How did social media impact the beginning of Papi Cuisine?
I started cooking more in my free time around the time Instagram and social media apps were launched, so I would post a lot of food pictures. What got me started was the buzz and the response I would get from my following. They started telling me that I should sell the food, and a seed was planted in my head from there.

What factors contributed to your following growing over time?
The following that we have now is something that happened the last six to eight months. We maintained like 10,000 followers for about three years, but I recently noticed that the food wasn’t getting the attention I wanted it to. I was determined to change that. The pictures and the posts that were gaining traction were the ones that were lively and made it look like you could actually touch the post and dive in and grab the food. I started editing the photos in a particular way to make the food look like it was sitting in front of you.

What led you to B-More Kitchen as a home base?

I was looking for a commercial catering facility that I could rent out to really let customers know I was in a licensed facility so I could run this business with no restrictions. After we made the change to do more catering and private dining, B-More Kitchen made a lot of sense. Once we moved in and got our official catering license, our business grew dramatically.

You won the “People’s Choice” Award at B-More Kitchen’s Battle of the Brands last year. How are you planning to defend that title this week?
Last year, we did our honey-glazed salmon bites with fresh salmon filet, which are cut into nuggets, seared, glazed, and baked. We also did a smoked gouda mac and cheese, and our “Rasta Pasta” with penne noodles, green and red peppers, jerk shrimp, asparagus, and a cream sauce. It’s been a year, so there’s a lot of things I’ve created since then. To defend the title, we’re going to come back with those three dishes and one new item. I haven’t decided what I want that to be just yet. I really love waking up, freestyling, and just creating. That’s where my passion is.

What can you tell us about the brick-and-mortar space opening this fall?
The whole thing about catering and private dining is that it limits the ways for people to try your food, which is why we wanted to do the brick and mortar. I was actually going to wait to open a restaurant for another six months or so. But we found the [former Baltimore Built Bistro] space and I was like, “Wow, I guess that’s how the universe works.” We’re working through everything with BGE and transferring the liquor license, and hoping to be open by mid-September.