After James Sanders retired from the military, he and his wife Judy put down roots in Severna Park, and now they are turning a storefront on Benfield Road into a butcher shop. Severna Park Voice reported on October 29 that the couple is preparing The New York Butcher Shoppe at 543 Benfield Road, with premium meats, prepared meals and specialty foods. Judy Sanders told the paper she wants it to be "a comfortable place where neighbors can get to know our team, ask questions about cuts and cooking, and find something for dinner."
The butcher shop is the third in a run of fall arrivals with the same idea behind them. Each makes food from scratch on site and sells it to take home or eat early in the day. Y'ollk Bakery and Toastique both opened along Ritchie Highway in September, and the people behind them describe what they make the way the Sanders family describes cuts of beef. They talk about ingredients and technique, and about making things on the premises.
Where the new counters sit
| Business | Address | What it makes | Posted schedule or status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toastique | 580 Ritchie Hwy, Suite K, Park Plaza | Gourmet toasts, cold-pressed juices, smoothie bowls, espresso | Monday to Sunday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Y'ollk Bakery | 489 Ritchie Hwy, Suite 101 | Pastries, macarons, brioche donuts, biscuits, sandwiches, espresso | Temporary schedule, Wednesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| The New York Butcher Shoppe | 543 Benfield Rd | Certified Angus Beef, house-made sausages, crab cakes, prepared meals | Planned for late November |
The bakery that started from a gap
Y'ollk Bakery held its grand opening on September 19 at 489 Ritchie Highway. Co-owner Marie Cris Garay explained the location in plain terms. "I wanted to (open) in Severna Park because we don't have a local bakery – like, artisan, where you make everything from scratch, intentional," she told Severna Park Voice.
Garay is originally from the Philippines and lives in Arnold. Her partner, Basaran "Bas" Mulgan, is Turkish and once cooked at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. The two met while working at a catering company. Their menu starts from French technique and works in flavors from both of their home countries. Ube, the purple yam Garay grew up eating almost daily, goes into rolls and donuts paired with coconut. Tombul is a hazelnut and cocoa spread the two developed, made in Maryland from Turkish hazelnuts, and it fills some of the confections.
The case runs from macarons, cake pops, cinnamon rolls and brioche donuts to biscuits and handcrafted sandwiches. Smoked turkey and smoked salmon sandwiches are made from scratch. Pastries are baked fresh every day and nothing is frozen. Sweetness is kept low on purpose so flavors like yuzu come through. Garay also said she plans to buy produce from the Severna Park farmers' market.
The name joins egg yolks, the foundation of baking, with "y'all," to say the bakery is for everyone. The storefront used to be retail space, so Mulgan oversaw a buildout from bare walls before opening day.
Before you go, check the hours. Severna Park Voice reported on October 1 that Y'ollk was on a temporary Wednesday-through-Sunday schedule, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It also reported that the bakery was still hiring bakers and expects about 16 employees once fully staffed. Garay said most of her front-of-house staff are students, by design. The bakery posts updates on Facebook and Instagram.
Park Plaza's 7 a.m. counter
Y'ollk keeps bakery hours, and Toastique fills the earlier part of the day. Its posted hours at Park Plaza are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the week. That gives it two more hours each morning than the bakery and seven days a week where the bakery is open five.
Toastique celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting on September 18, held with the Greater Severna Park and Arnold Chamber of Commerce. The café is at 580 Ritchie Highway, Suite K. It is the second local location for franchise owners Allyson and Mo Jishi, who opened the Annapolis Toastique in 2024, as Severna Park Voice reported.
The menu covers gourmet toasts, cold-pressed juices, smoothie bowls and an espresso bar, all made to order. Toastique's own Severna Park page places it in the Park Plaza center anchored by MOM's Organic Market, Planet Fitness and Five Below, and pitches it to regulars coming in before the drive down Ritchie Highway or after a morning on the B&A Trail. Online ordering is available through that page.
The bakery and the toast bar sit about a mile apart on Ritchie Highway, which makes a breakfast stop easy whichever direction you're driving. Y'ollk is the place for a box of pastries to carry home. Toastique serves the 7 a.m. coffee and a bowl to eat on the spot.
Benfield Road and the freezer
The butcher shop extends the from-scratch idea from breakfast to dinner. Its space at 543 Benfield Road used to be Mutt & Joe, which moved and rebranded as Chesapeake Pet Grooming, according to the Capital Gazette's April report on the lease.
The October 29 Severna Park Voice report gave a late-November target, pending construction completion and final approvals. The shop's Severna Park location page is where it posts its opening date.
The planned counter goes well beyond steaks:
- Certified Angus Beef in High Choice and Prime, heritage-breed pork, and pasture-raised chicken raised without hormones or antibiotics
- Sausages made in-house and a rotating selection of fresh seafood, including house-made crab cakes
- Refrigerated meals, salads and sides to heat at home, plus hot meals for same-day pickup
- "Stock Your Freezer" packages, online ordering and delivery
- Custom smoking on request
- A rewards program that earns one point per dollar spent
The brand itself has a long history. Billy D'Elia and his family started The New York Butcher Shoppe in 1999 after moving from Brooklyn to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and seeing a need for a full-service butcher shop. Two customers, Jim Tindal and Todd Prochaska, bought the brand in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Greenville, South Carolina. The Severna Park shop is family-owned and run by local residents.
Benfield Road already has one holiday stop. Safeway at 540 Benfield Road is taking 2026 advance orders for prepared turkey, ham, ready-to-eat sides, desserts and pies. Its holiday page says to order early because holiday meals are limited and can sell out.
The rest of the fall changes
A few other changes on the same stretch fit the pattern, and each affects how locals eat, shop or spend a weekend morning.
Romilo's Restaurant & Bar in Robinson Crossing, at 478A Ritchie Highway, changed hands this summer. Naptown Scoop reported on August 3 that the Greek-Italian restaurant was closing temporarily that day for the ownership change. Romilo's has been in Robinson Crossing since 1993, and the outgoing owner had run it for nine years. Its website is the place to check its hours.
Paris Baguette leased 2,889 square feet at Park Plaza, Severna Park Voice reported in March, the same shopping center that holds Toastique.
Sweet Escape Bookshop isn't food, but it launched at a food stop. The woman-owned mobile bookstore held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting with the Greater Severna Park and Arnold Chamber of Commerce on August 16 at BD Provisions, according to Severna Park Voice. It stocks romance, thriller, romantasy and young adult titles and posts where it will be on its own calendar.
Thanksgiving week on the new map
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26. For anyone planning a Wednesday pastry run or a weekend of leftovers, here are the posted schedules and ordering windows on the local counters:
- Wednesday, November 25: Y'ollk Bakery's temporary schedule as reported in October covers Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Its social accounts carry any holiday changes.
- Any morning that week: Toastique's posted hours at Park Plaza are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
- Pies from farther afield: Black Market Bakers set its Thanksgiving preorders to open November 11, with pickup in Edgewater or on West Street in Annapolis. Its Severna Park stop is a weekend food truck at 44 W. Earleigh Heights Road.
- The weekend after: The New York Butcher Shoppe's location page will list its opening date and whether "Stock Your Freezer" packages are available.
From Y'ollk's Wednesday hours to the butcher's custom smoking on Benfield Road, we track this kind of street-level detail across Severna Park all year. If you'd like help getting to know these counters before a move, The PCS Home Team has your six. Make Your Move Easy — Schedule a Free Consultation.
