Simply Marie's, the breakfast-only restaurant that has fed Canton for a decade and a half out of a converted Elliott Street bakery, will serve its final plates on Sunday, August 23. Owner Marie Branch is closing the doors for retirement, not financial distress, ending a run that began when she opened the restaurant in January 2011.
News of the closure broke via a social media post from the restaurant, in which staff wrote, “On behalf of Simply Marie's, we want to thank everyone who has supported us in the last 15 years! Thank you!” As reported by WMAR 2 News, the restaurant said simply that “it's time for retirement.” Branch, a North Carolina native, was inspired to open her own home-cooking restaurant in 2009 after watching Oprah Winfrey, according to her own Simply Marie's biography.
That dream nearly died before it began. Around 2009, Branch lost her entire down payment when the Patterson Park Community Development Corp. went bankrupt while she was attempting to open a location near the Patterson Park library, wiping out savings and nearly ending her hope of owning a restaurant, per WMAR 2 News. She eventually found another former bakery on Elliott Street, and rehabbed the space with help from family before opening in January 2011.
A Signature Menu Built on Southern Comfort
Simply Marie's built its local following on scratch-made Southern comfort food, including house-made home fries, chicken and waffles served with three large wings, and a scrapple, egg, and cheese biscuit that Baltimore Magazine rated the number one in the city, according to the restaurant's own menu page. In May 2019, Hoodline ranked Simply Marie's as the top breakfast and brunch spot in Baltimore based on Yelp data, where it held a four-star rating across 160 reviews at the time.
The restaurant's staying power was tested hard by the pandemic. Baltimore Magazine reported in September 2021 that Simply Marie's survived the steep pandemic-era drop in foot traffic thanks to a local restaurant relief fund created by Jimmy's Famous Seafood owner John Minadakis, which covered the restaurant's rent through the summer of 2021. In its final stretch, the restaurant kept a tight, breakfast-only schedule of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, staying closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Neighbors Mourn the Loss of a Community Anchor
The Canton Community Association said on Facebook that Simply Marie's closing will be a real loss for the community, praising Branch's cooking and wishing her and Robert the very best, as they will be missed. One customer's comment captured the sentiment simply: “Thanks for bringing great food to our community.” Just two months before the retirement announcement, the Canton Anti-Racism Alliance gathered at Simply Marie's for a Juneteenth celebration in June, underscoring the restaurant's role as a Black woman-owned neighborhood hub, according to a Facebook post from the group, reported by WMAR2 News.
The restaurant's building sits at 3023 Elliott Street, one block south of O'Donnell Square, Canton's primary commercial and dining hub, and one block north of Canton Waterfront Park, according to Redfin listing data. Real estate in Canton remains in high demand: Bright MLS reports cited by Fortune Homes MD show a median sale price of $385,000, or $265 per square foot, in the neighborhood during the first quarter of 2026, with homes selling in a median of just 18 days.
Part of a Broader Shift in Canton Dining
Simply Marie's departure adds to a string of changes along Canton's dining corridor. The neighborhood previously lost long-running institution Nacho Mama's in December 2024, a closure Hoodline covered in depth, and this year Lao restaurant Charming Elephant shut its dining room amid similar shifts in the area. Even as legacy sit-down spots exit, newer concepts have moved in nearby, including a bowl-and-drink eatery that opened near Canton Square this summer.
For Branch, though, the closing of Simply Marie's marks the fulfillment of a dream rather than a defeat. What started with a wiped-out down payment and a rehabbed bakery on Elliott Street became a 15-year fixture that fed generations of Canton neighbors breakfast, one scrapple biscuit at a time.
