Zeke’s Coffee Shop

With its hardwood floors, pressed tin ceiling, and glass front facing Harford Road, Zeke’s Coffee Shop is a cozy stop for a cuppa joe and a bagel while also offering a small marketplace of local goods, including the necessary trappings of those fueled by Zeke’s: mugs, espresso cups and saucers, travel mugs, etc., all with the company name. So “shop,” yes, but it’s Zeke’s homey yet artisanal and mostly local foodstuffs that made us take a seat. Freshly baked pastries ranging from puffy iced cinnamon rolls to scones from American Hearth in Southwest Baltimore fill most of a display case, but we like savory in the morning so we ordered one of their many varieties of Blacksauce Kitchen biscuits. The Blacksauce food truck (blacksaucekitchen.com) may serve its fluffy biscuits with all manner of fillings, but a ham and cheddar ($3, two for $5) was delicious warmed up and hit with Nick’s Brand green No Name Hot Sauce (another local treat, $4 a bottle) alongside a Zeke’s iced coffee ($3.50 for a 24-oz. “jumbo”). The shop also serves Dangerously Delicious’ mini eggy pies ($6) in meat and meat-free varieties—just watch what you order. We didn’t end up with the bacon, onion, and gruyère that we asked for but the warm ham and cheddar was rich and satisfying with a flaky crust. Looking for lunch? Zeke’s will build a sandwich ($7) from a short but sweet list of turkey, applewood smoked ham, and roast beef from Clementine and appreciated options like sprouts and a choice of BBQ instead of regular chips on the side. Like everything else here, the roast beef on white bread exceeded expectations, featuring a nice serving of perfectly prepared meat on the best white you could ask for; a turkey on wheat was simple and tasty. The bread is real here, people, and we dig it.

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