The Inner Harbor is getting yet another chain restaurant.
The good news: it's a relatively obscure chain, called Elephant & Castle.
The bad news: it serves British food.
Didn't Baltimore fight off the Brits in 1814 to rid the land of bangers and mash?
Judging by the online menu, however, it looks a whole lot like standard American pub fare: steak sandwiches, chicken Caesar salads and the like. Mixed in are a few English classics like fish and chips and the aforementioned bangers and mash.
More British flavor can be had in the restaurant's slogan, "Bang on!" The menu goes to the trouble of translating for Americans: "adj. British Slang. Excellent. Exact. Right On."
Sounds like the perfect complement to the city's new tourism slogan, "Find Your Happy Place in Baltimore."
The chain has more than 20 locations in the U.S. and Canada, including Boston, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco and Toronto. There are two in Washington.
Let's hope it's good because the place will be plenty big and prominent. It will seat 278 at 1 Pratt Street, according to plans submitted to the liquor board, which approved its liquor license Thursday.
Elephant & Castle photo