Imagine walking out the front door to find a suspicious package. Not one filled with illicit substances, but fresh-baked bread. That’s how Black Market Bakers got its start in 2020.
“We were literally dropping loaves of bread on people’s doorsteps, and they were just paying us cash. So, people thought they were kind of in the bread black market,” said Steve O’Leary, co-owner of the bakery.
Nearly five years later, the bakery has two locations: Edgewater and Port Annapolis. Later this year, the bakery will be doubling its locations, with one on West Street in downtown Annapolis and another in Deale.
When asked, two customers at the Edgewater location said they loved the pastries and the bakery’s casual coffee shop vibe. It offers around 40 different items, and the menu changes weekly.
Steve O’Leary runs the company alongside his brother, Brendan O’Leary, and his father, Annapolis restaurant veteran Tom O’Leary.
“Steve and I catered a lot. We had a catering business in Annapolis, and we lost a lot of parties for COVID, and this was the pivot. So, this is a business [that] blew up from this pivot, like, ‘What are we going to do?’” Tom O’Leary said. “Restaurants are closed, and you wonder, ‘How am I going to feed my family?’”
Tom O’Leary has been in the business for 50 years and opened and operated many restaurants across Anne Arundel, including several Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants. O’Leary also opened the Chart House in Annapolis and O’Leary’s Seafood in Eastport.
As this business grew, the family branched out to a food truck, and then eventually to its two locations, which opened in 2022 and 2023. In December, the food truck went back into operation in Severna Park after a hiatus.
The O’Learys hail from Annapolis but opened their flagship bakery in Edgewater. Everything is baked at the Edgewater location before being sent to the other stores. The West Street shop will have its own large kitchen that will feed the other stores as well.
“There’ll be challenges in stretching ourselves too thin. But I think that every time we look at a new opportunity, we make sure we have the people in place, the right people,” Brendan O’Leary said. “For many people … it’s like, ‘Wow, this company’s coming on fast,’ but for us, it’s a long time coming. Almost five years in business, and it’s just slow and steady growth, and doing it conservatively and smartly.”
Brooke Thurston, who works front of house at Black Market Bakers in Edgewater, holds a tray of just-baked strawberry pistachio Danishes. The bakery was named best of Anne Arundel County. August 10, 2023
They said business is typically slow in January and February, but things begin to pick up in the spring and summer. They expect the Deale location to open this summer and the Annapolis location in the fall.
In 2021, Tom and Steve O’Leary competed on the Peacock series “Baking It,” where they reportedly made it to the finals. They were brought on the show when their business was still just a food truck.
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