Last call is coming for a flagship bar in Towson, the Greene Turtle, which will close by the end of the year, according to its CEO Geovannie Concepcion.
The Baltimore County Liquor Board prohibited the bar from selling liquor on Thursdays after some Thirsty Thursday promotions got out of hand.
The Greene Turtle’s Thirsty Thursday promotions drew a massive crowd in August, which led to their liquor license getting revoked for Thursdays in October, along with a $1,000 fine for serving a minor.
Thursday is one of the busiest nights for the Greene Turtle, which does not have a regular lunch rush crowd and sits largely empty during the week, according to Concepcion.
Concepcion said the bar will lose $50,000 a month without the Thursday events, which the company says will force it to close the Towson franchise later this year.
The Greene Turtle said terminations are already underway at the Towson location.
Video shows massive crowds at Greene Turtle
Concepcion says the Maryland franchise’s Towson location isn’t entirely to blame for the massive crowds along York Road for the unofficial start to the weekend.
Videos on social media show a large crowd spilling out of the bar onto the major corridor. Patrons who attended the Thirsty Thursday event in August said there was a DJ, drink deals, and other promotions.
Baltimore County Police said an officer was injured and a pedestrian was struck by a dirt bike in the crowd.
“We have DJs at other locations. We have promotions at other locations. Nothing has ever occurred to the magnitude of what’s happened in Towson,” Concepcion said.
Changes made at the Towson bar
Concepcion said the company used third-party promoters to market the big nights on social media.
After the events got out of control, the Towson bar said it enhanced security, cut ties with the promoter, and even stopped special promos on Thursdays.
Despite the changes, the county’s liquor board acted, which Concepcion said is a massive blow to revenue.
“If you run a bar business on York Road, the only way you can survive is by having a Thursday business,” Concepcion said. “The fact that we received the suspension on Thursdays only was just a pretty clear message.”
“Most expensive and short-lived franchise”
The Greene Turtle returned to Towson in 2022. Historically, it was in the community for decades, but was rebuilt as a flagship for the restaurant company.
Concepcion said it is the “most expensive and short-lived franchise in the company’s history,” which cost $4 million to open.
He said the bar started losing money immediately, feeling like everything the company tried at this location either hadn’t worked or backfired. It operates 19 locations in the Maryland region and has expanded as far south as Florida.
Baltimore County Council Chairman Mike Ertel told WJZ on Monday that Towson may be better off without the bar.
“While we don’t want to see any business close, this might not be the end of the world,” Ertel said.
Writing was on the wall
However, Concepcion said the safety issues along York Road extend beyond his bar. He also said he felt the writing was on the wall from the county, almost forcing the bar out.
“Greene Turtle may go away, but to think that there won’t be a shift and that everything happening multiple blocks away, not in our line, disappears, I think, is incorrect,” Concepcion said.