The smell of fresh paint still lingered in the air when we walked into Pink Flamingo in May. Yet, even the newness of the place couldn’t mask the feeling that we’d been there before.
Call it Dizzja vu.
Thus was the popularity of The Dizz, a Remington staple that closed in 2019 but could trace its tavern lineage all the way back to 1937. Even while it sat dormant for years (save for an unfortunate stint as a brunch place), its fate seemed preordained: this spot was meant to be a corner bar.
Enter Brendan Dorr and Eric Fooy, the team behind Old Goucher’s superb cocktail bar Dutch Courage. The pair have reimagined the space and opened a rum-based concept that has quickly become a popular gathering spot for the neighborhood.
“People were vocal about how much they loved The Dizz,” Dorr told us in April. “We wanted to pay a little honor to it, but we weren’t looking to open somebody else’s business. What’s more Baltimore than pink flamingos?”
While the establishment has retained the welcoming spirit of its predecessors, make no mistake about it—Pink Flamingo isn’t a dive. The brightly colored decor, the Pachinko (Japanese arcade game) machines hanging on the second floor dining room wall, and most importantly, the menu make that abundantly clear.
Rum is the star here. An inventive cocktail menu features the spirit widely, in ways few people could imagine. The Whirlybird mixes Hamilton Estate black pot still rum, St. George bruto americano, pineapple gomme syrup, and lime bitters. It was among the sweetest of the many sweet drinks that we sampled.
The best was perhaps the Fire Island, a blanco tequila-based concoction with strega, blood orange-calabrian chili-honey, lime, and a spiced rim. The acidity of the orange combines with the spicy finish to create something truly intriguing.
While we had to look up most of the ingredients in the Planetarium—Bayab palm pineapple gin, Chinola passion fruit liqueur, orange, Liber orgeat, and Antica Torino Stellare primo aperitivo—the Googling was worth it. It tasted like something we’d down in a swim-up bar.
The two craziest drinks on an out-there menu are the Golden Hour, which our server called “a wild ride,” and the Flaming “O.” The former is made with shochu, Combier kummel, golden milk, black lemon bitters, and black pepper. It’s milky and tastes like a health shake, albeit one that will knock you on your ass rather than help you tone it.
The highlight of the rum-based, pink colored Flaming “O” is that it’s served with a banana slice that’s lit on fire. Subtle it is not.
The kitchen differentiates itself with appetizers like Spam chips and dip, crab dumplings, and tempura green beans. Four entrees, including a hangar steak and half chicken, also are available.
If fancy drinks and pomegranate walnut sauce wings aren’t your thing, we recommend a pitcher of beer (a surprising rarity these days) and the traditional burger, a juicy half-pound short rib patty topped with good old fashioned lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mayo. In an exciting new concept, this nod to the past always hits the spot.