Yes Chef!, the fast-casual restaurant and prepared meal service that had anchored a corner of McHenry Row since 2021, has closed its Locust Point storefront for good. Owner Jodi Roze said the decision came down to a simple, painful truth: business ownership had become too much of a struggle for her family to keep carrying.
The closure was first reported by SouthBMore.com, which detailed the personal toll behind the shutdown. Roze told the outlet that the family experienced the sudden death of its operations manager in June, a loss that came on top of already-heavy grief. Months earlier, the family had endured the death of their three-year-old grandson to cancer. Roze said the family ultimately had to move on.
A Five-Year Run Built From Scratch
Yes Chef! was owned by chef Clint Roze and Jodi Roze, who launched the business as a subscription-free prepared meal delivery service in 2019, serving households across the Baltimore and Annapolis area without minimums or membership fees, according to JMORE. That flexible model set it apart from national meal-kit subscription competitors and became the foundation for the couple's eventual leap into a physical storefront.
The Roze family opened a 1,700-square-foot retail marketplace at McHenry Row in November 2021, then expanded a year later into the adjacent former Clean Juice space to add seating for 19 fast-casual diners, per SouthBMore.com's earlier coverage. The combined build-out grew the operation to 2,904 square feet, blending grab-and-go heat-and-eat meals with a made-to-order menu. That space had a layered history: it was originally part of a larger 4,200-square-foot unit that once housed Ruby 8 Noodles & Sushi before that restaurant closed in July 2018 and the unit was subdivided into three retail suites.
A Marketplace For Maryland Makers
Beyond its own kitchen, the McHenry Row storefront doubled as a curated marketplace for Maryland small businesses. It stocked products from 18 local vendors, including Taharka Brothers Ice Cream, Route One Apparel, Southeastern Roastery, and Michele's Granola, according to Baltimore Magazine. The closure eliminates a retail outlet that those smaller producers had relied on to reach shoppers in Locust Point.
Jodi Roze said the McHenry Row developer, 28 Walker Development, had provided support and assistance to Yes Chef! during its time in the property. Clint and Jodi Roze both came from backgrounds in higher education administration before founding the company, a professional history that later informed how they designed campus dining and catering offerings, according to The Elm.
Campus Marketplace Closed Weeks Earlier
The McHenry Row shutdown was not an isolated retreat. It came after Yes Chef! closed its second storefront, inside the SMC Campus Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, on July 2. That location had operated since February 2024, when UMB selected the company as a local dining and catering partner for students and staff. Together, the two closures mark a complete exit from physical storefront operations for the Rozes in Summer 2026.
McHenry Row itself was built by 28 Walker Development on a former 20-acre industrial site, with its first phase opening in 2012 featuring a Harris Teeter grocery store, roughly 250 residential apartments, and more than 300,000 square feet of commercial space. The mixed-use development also draws daytime foot traffic from corporate tenants; Comcast Corporation relocated 140 regional staff members into the property's Banner Building in 2017, according to SouthBMore.com's earlier reporting.
Independent Food Businesses Face Tight Margins
Yes Chef!'s exit adds to a broader pattern among independent food operators navigating South Baltimore's commercial corridors. In Locust Point, Philly cheesesteak shop Dimples opened on East Clement Street in November 2025 while managing rising beef prices before expanding across the harbor to Fells Point this year, as Hoodline previously reported. Small dining establishments across the neighborhood have faced similarly tight margins amid rising food costs.
The neighborhood has also seen fresh investment aimed at its waterfront connections. Baltimore City received a $10.9 million federal grant in August to replace aging harbor ferries with hybrid-electric vessels linking Locust Point, Canton, and Fells Point, a system that carried nearly 350,000 riders in fiscal year 2026, Hoodline reported. That kind of transit investment underscores how much foot traffic still flows through Locust Point even as individual storefronts like Yes Chef! struggle to stay afloat.
For now, there is no word on what will take over the vacant 2,904-square-foot space at McHenry Row, which has already cycled through several tenants since the site was subdivided in 2018.
