Alice Visilia’s timing couldn’t have been worse. The day after she took ownership of Canton’s Cardinal Tavern on December 10, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott decreed that all bars and restaurants could no longer offer indoor service, even at a limited capacity, and could remain open for carryout and delivery only.

So, carryout and delivery it was for Visilia, who has never been one to let a little speedbump in life slow her down. She started working at Mahaffey’s Pub as a bartender in 2007 before eventually rising to become a co-owner in 2018.

When she decided to sell her share of that firmly established business and stake out her own, she bought then-defunct Cardinal Tavern, located just a few blocks from her house, and embarked on creating the kind of bar she wanted as her neighbor.

“I don’t want a niche, I just want it to be a place where people feel comfortable coming by themselves if they want,” she says. “Maybe you like beer, maybe you like cocktails—we’ll have something for everybody.”

An impressive array of local and craft draft and bottled beers highlights a drink menu that includes cocktails like a Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Martini and a Dirty Greek Martini with feta cheese-stuffed olives.

Visilia is second-generation Greek, and the food menu features classics like chicken and lamb gyros, a chicken souvlaki platter, and authentic Greek village salad (there’s no lettuce). Although the word “fae,” Greek for “eat,” appears on the menu, this is not a Greek establishment.

Executive chef David Munyon, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who helmed the kitchen at the late-great Lobo in Fells Point, serves sophisticated dishes like barbecue grilled salmon along with more approachable ones like Monion dip, his cleverly named take on onion dip. There also are fresh versions of bar-food staples like burgers and wings.

Return visitors to Cardinal Tavern will remember the exposed brick walls and beautiful long wooden bar, which has a bourbon barrel built into one corner. The more subtle differences are upstairs, where a long row of booths was reupholstered and a play area for children has been added.

“Our No. 1 rule is the gate is not your babysitter,” says Visilia, who has a young son. While there are TVs on both levels, on which Visilia plans to show all the NFL games in the fall, Cardinal Tavern is not a sports bar. Visilia wants to create an environment in which a 5-year-old, 25-year-old, or 75-year-old feels equally welcome.

“One guy said to me, ‘I love that you introduce your customers to all the bartenders and the people they’re sitting next to,’” Visilia says. “I’ve always liked hosting. I like to make sure everybody is eating and drinking and having a good time.”

Today, six months after it opened in the worst of circumstances, Visilia is well on her way to making Cardinal Tavern one of Canton’s most popular neighborhood bars.

Titans at Ravens, Sunday Nov. 9, 1 p.m., M&T Bank Stadium, CBS

The Tennessee Titans are one of the NFL’s four alliterative teams, and also one of the 32-team league’s four worst. At 2-6, the tiny Titans are just the type of sacrificial lamb the suddenly struggling Ravens need to feast on to turn their fortunes around. I could tell you how Tennessee’s opponents have outscored them by 65 points (by comparison, the Ravens have outscored theirs by 66), or how the Titans have won just one game on the road. I could tell you how they’re ranked 27th in offense and 23rd in defense, or how Vegas oddsmakers think so little of them that they’ve installed Baltimore as a huge, 10-point favorite. But really, all you need to know is this: Three weeks ago the Titans lost to the Washington Redskins. That tells the whole story.

What to Eat: The Titans are based in Nashville, a rapidly-growing vibrant city of musical and increasingly culinary acclaim. Seventy-five miles south of the country music capital sits Lynchburg, home to the Jack Daniel’s distillery. Mind-bogglingly, the town is located in a dry county, meaning the whiskey is not available for consumption at stores or restaurants there. Luckily, it is here.

I’ll be using it to make Oven BBQ Tennessee Pork Tenderloin:

• ¼ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 pounds pork tenderloin

Directions:
Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine all ingredients except the pork tenderloin in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer until slightly thickened, about five minutes. Place the tenderloin on a foil-lined baking or roasting pan. Brush with the sauce. Roast for about 30 minutes until the internal temperature is 150 degrees. Remove from the oven and let the meat rest about 10 minutes before slicing. Makes six servings.

Nashville’s Monell’s fries some seriously delicious chicken in its legendary skillets. While I generally prefer to consume my fried chicken behind drawn blinds in the privacy of my own home, I make an exception for the Cardinal Tavern (901 S. Clinton St.), which serves some of the best golden, crispy chicken I’ve found in Baltimore. It also has a nice whiskey selection and some big TVs to watch the game.

What to Drink: There is seemingly no limit to the number of ways one can self-administer a Jack Daniel’s-induced hangover. I will be choosing Tennessee Tea as my delivery method.

Combine two ounces of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7, one ounce of triple sec, one ounce of sweet and sour mix, and an ounce or so of Coke. Pour into a rocks glass filled with ice, garnish with a lemon or lime if you so wish, and enjoy.