Named after its owner (Michael Tabrizi), Tabrizi’s is a Mediterranean restaurant and a wedding venue located at the heart of the Harborview community in South Baltimore, just feet away from the luxurious Pier Homes project and the Ritz Carlton Residence.
Tabrizi’s was first launched in 1990 on South Charles street in Federal Hill, and has introduced the Middle Eastern Cuisine to Baltimore with an open kitchen concept. In 1991, Chef-Owner Michael Tabrizi made it on Baltimore Magazine cover for his culinary achievements.
In 2006 Mr. Tabrizi obtained the current leased property at 500 Harborview Drive and converted it to a Mediterranean restaurant on the first floor and a wedding venue on the second with a seating capacity of 230 people. The first floor encompasses an outdoor full bar with a 10000 square foot of an open outdoor patio and another 5000 square feet indoor dining with a full bar.
The second floor is strictly for catering such as wedding ceremonies, receptions, corporate and private event as well as corporate meeting space offering lunch and dinner.
How this all got started?
In 2015, and after Michael’s encounter with a homeless man, Michael decided to convert the annual Baltimore Restaurant Week to the Homeless Restaurant Week. The initiation and the huge success of Homeless Restaurant Week by Tabrizi’s, has gained national and global recognition.
“I formed Chefs Table Foundation Inc. in August 2016 after the success of 2015 Homeless Restaurant Week. The foundation has received a (301)c tax exempt status from the IRS and all donations are tax deductible. I am the only employee of the company and I draw no wages” Mr. Tabrizi says. Homeless Restaurant Week was sponsored last year by Tabrizi Enterprises Inc. (Tabrizi’s) and will be this year, and the followings as well. The donations will be entirely for the project below.
Poorpeople.gov and chefstablefoundation.com are both serving the same cause.
“I know feeding the homeless is a noble thing to do, but I was thinking that if I can teach qualified homeless individuals a skill, perhaps they can feed themselves and be out of the shelters”. So, the idea is to raise enough funds and open a “Homeless Restaurant Training Center” where it will offer regular meals to regular patrons, but also every weekday between 2 and 3 pm, homeless people can come and be served a special meal served by a volunteer server. The restaurant will be run mostly by volunteer chefs and managers, and the homeless qualified candidates will learn and work as well so they can obtain a skill and earn a decent living on their own. They will be taught about commercial food handling and will be the Health Department certified”, says Mr. Tabrizi.
The candidates must be all registered in shelters to qualify for the program, the main goal is to raise $250,000.00, Mr. Tabrizi’s plans is to purchase an abandoned building and convert it to such facility, either a Baltimore city property or a church-owned one. “So, I am thinking once we have the funds, it will be much easier to convince the hard-headed officials”. So wish me luck.
We currently have over 953 volunteers in our database, ready to operate any function related to helping the homeless in Baltimore city. We have raised over $47,000 to date from local and global donors, and still, need $200,000.00 to open the doors to the first Homeless Restaurant in Baltimore city as a model. We believe it will encourage homeless people to take part in this promising project, and it will inspire others to follow.