At 720 Frederick Road, a copper rockfish 22 feet long hangs inside a building that used to sell wallpaper. The copper used to be the storefront. The fish's scales are roof shingles that owner Damye Hahn, her husband and their friends picked up after the shingles came off the building. Dundalk artist Eric Magnuson turned that salvage into the sculpture.
That fish explains The Fishmonger's Daughter better than its menu does. Most of what you see, sit at, and eat in Catonsville's new seafood house came from somewhere specific: this building, the downtown Faidley's at Lexington Market, or a Baltimore food business many people thought was gone. If you've only heard it called "the Faidley's place in Catonsville," you're missing most of what makes it worth the visit.
A grocery, then a wallpaper store, then six years of work
The building has a long history on Frederick Road. It was once a branch of Heidelbach's grocery store, which ran for decades before the space became Plymouth Wallpaper. Plymouth closed in 2017.
Hahn and her son, Will Hahn, are the fourth and fifth generations of the Faidley family. Faidley's Seafood started in 1886, and the family considers it one of the oldest continually operating family businesses in Maryland. Hahn told Baltimore Fishbowl the restaurant took six years of historical restoration. She has a background in art and studied at the Schuler School of Fine Arts, so a project that long didn't scare her.
The Frederick Road address is personal, too. "I was born in Catonsville but grew up right over the line in Old Ellicott City," Hahn said. "So, my parents are still in their home off of Frederick Road. I've only driven one road in my life, and that's Frederick."
The opening was slow, which is how many people first heard about it. The Banner reported a reservation-only soft opening starting Friday, May 1, 2026, after repeated delays. Maryland's First Lady Dawn Moore led the official ribbon cutting in June, and full business service started the next day.
What the building gave back
During the restoration, Hahn took the building's roof apart and kept most of what came off it. Here is what she saved and where it ended up:
- Heart pine roof beams, about 100 years old, became many of the dining tables. Jason Dawson of Maker's Woodshop built them.
- Maple from her father's Ellicott City property, which she took more than 20 years ago, became the taller tables.
- Oyster shells from the downtown Faidley's, from oysters served to customers there, are set into those maple tables.
- Storefront copper and roof shingles became Magnuson's rockfish.
"There's a lot of fun things when you go through the building, a lot of little Easter eggs of history," Hahn said.
The tables also brought a new shop to the street. Hahn said that when she gave Dawson the project a couple of years ago, he decided to open a retail store on Frederick Road, his first, a short walk from the restaurant. "Anybody who likes my tables can walk down the street and have Jason make them one," she said. The Maker's Woodshop showroom is at 630 Frederick Road.
Lexington Market, moved west
The same idea carries into the kitchen. The Faidley's at Lexington Market is the family's best-known location, and Baltimore Magazine's September 24, 2026 review found many of its traditions here, starting with the crab cake. The reviewer called ordering one "mandatory." The cakes are the size of the hand of Nancy, who the review says makes about 50 an hour, and they come with house-made pickled tomatoes, red potatoes and slaw, much like the ones at Lexington Market.
Other dishes come straight from downtown Baltimore's food history:
- Faidley's Maryland crab soup, the family's well-known recipe.
- Shrimp salad from an heirloom recipe at Mary Mervis, a delicatessen at Lexington Market.
- Hendler's ice cream, which Hahn brought back. Hendler's began in the basement of an East Baltimore home, and the reviewer notes it was the first company to use a flash-freezing method. Josepha Hendler and Lindsay Devon, great-granddaughters of founder L. Manuel Hendler, make it now. Flavors rotate through coffee, butter pecan and butter brickle, and each dip comes with a house-made sugar cookie.
The newer dishes come from executive chef Scott Bacon, formerly of Magdalena at The Ivy Hotel. The review singles out a pan-roasted rockfish with curry corn chowder purée, and shrimp and grits with white North Carolina grits, dukkah, chile oil and collard greens, which it calls a nod to Bacon's Maryland roots and South Carolina heritage. If you're starting with crab, the crab dip comes with house-made soft pretzel spears. The fried oysters sit on creamed spinach with bacon and beurre blanc. One practical note: the reviewer enjoyed the whole fried sea bass with chimichurri but found the bones a challenge.
The crab sourcing is part of the same story. The restaurant holds Maryland's True Blue designation. That program requires at least 75% of the crab a restaurant uses each year to be harvested or processed in Maryland, and the restaurant proves it by sending its invoices to the Maryland Department of Agriculture every year. Hahn said the family has always bought directly from contacts on the shore and around the Bay. Maria Bell runs pastry and beverage, and the rolls, pastries and cocktail syrups are made in house.
Planning a visit
At the soft opening this spring, the restaurant took online reservations only, accepted no walk-ins and didn't serve lunch. Lunch is now on the schedule. The restaurant's website lists three meal periods and still links to reservations.
| Meal | Days | Time, per the restaurant's website |
|---|---|---|
| Lunch | Weekdays | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Brunch | Weekends | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Dinner | Daily | From 4:30 p.m.; closes 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday |
Baltimore Magazine's September review lists slightly different hours, Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., so call 410-525-7385 before you plan around a time. The website doesn't say whether walk-ins are accepted now.
The September 2026 review listed appetizers at $14 to $30, entrees and handhelds at $22 to $57, and desserts at $15 to $18. The restaurant's menu page says current prices are available on site because fresh seafood prices change.
The room upstairs
The dining room seats 168. The second floor is a 300-seat event space called the Plymouth Room, named for the wallpaper store. Before the restaurant opened, the room hosted a preview dinner for the 90th birthday of Hahn's mother, Nancy Faidley Devine. The Banner described weddings, corporate events, crab feasts and celebrations as the room's intended uses. For a room that size on Frederick Road, ask the restaurant directly about dates and availability.
The same pattern along Frederick Road and Route 40
The Fishmonger's Daughter isn't the only new business in Catonsville built around keeping something familiar. In December 2025, Roggenart opened on Frederick Road in the space that had been Charlsie's Bakehouse. Charlsie's closed before summer 2025 so its owners could focus on parenthood. Co-owner Brody Tennant, a Catonsville resident, told WMAR he wanted the space to stay "true to what it was. A bakery."
Out on Baltimore National Pike, two newer spots at One Mile West, 6600 Baltimore National Pike, bring different traditions to Catonsville:
- Fukado Kissaten, a Japanese tea room, was open by early March 2026, according to Baltimore Magazine. It serves soufflé pancakes, tamago sando, senbei, pastries and specialty drinks.
- Atul Bakery opened this spring. It started in Surat, India, and everything it bakes is eggless: cakes, pastries, savory snacks and puffs. The Daily Record reported its One Mile West lease in December 2025.
The Fishmonger's Daughter shows best of all that the history in an old building can stay in it. A former grocery store and wallpaper shop still has its beams, its copper and its shingles. They're just tables and a fish now.
At Walter Colquitt, I pay attention when an old building gets this kind of care, because the beams, the roof and the original materials of a Catonsville property often tell you more about its value than the listing photos do. If you own an older home near Frederick Road and wonder how its condition and original details affect what it's worth, a home valuation is a calm, no-pressure place to start the conversation.