Two Westminster Main Street Restaurants Won Conditional Liquor Board Approval on the Same Morning
On August 12, 2026, the Carroll County Board of License Commissioners met in the Reagan Room of the County Office Building at 225 North Center Street. That's a short walk from Main Street. Two of the cases on that morning's docket were for new restaurants in downtown Westminster, scheduled half an hour apart.
One was for a restaurant on East Main Street and the other was for one on West Main. Both are aiming to open this fall, and both still had paperwork left after the vote.
The county's hearing notice set the morning's schedule:
Citizen Portal publishes AI-generated summaries of the hearing video. According to those summaries, the commissioners approved both applications with conditions attached. San Sushi's approval depends on outstanding building permits and sign-offs from other agencies. The Corner Ledger's depends on permits, agency clearances and signed operating agreements.
Both restaurants still need permits and agency sign-offs before they can open.
San Sushi will be familiar to anyone who ate in Baltimore County over the past three decades. Sesum opened the first location in Cockeysville in 1995. It later moved to Towson, which closed in 2021. As Westminster Wire reported in July, 172 E. Main St. will be San Sushi's first Maryland location since then. Sesum runs it with his longtime partner, Anita Wong.
Westminster wasn't their only option. Westminster Wire reported that the couple also looked at properties in Havre de Grace, Hagerstown, Ellicott City, Sykesville, Odenton and Catonsville. They wanted a building with character, not a unit in a strip mall or shopping center. They scouted Westminster quietly in October and November, and on their first visit they ate at Liquid Library.
The building is the Victorian that used to house Rare Opportunity Bakehouse and Starling's Cafe. Sesum and Wong aren't gutting it. Most of the existing kitchen is staying, and the only structural change is a small partition wall that moves the dishwasher station closer to the line. Westminster Wire described the layout this way:
The menu pairs Sesum's sushi with Thai dishes carried over from Towson, including lemongrass soup, drunken noodles and pad Thai. The restaurant plans to close on Mondays and open later on Sundays than on other days.
The couple also explained why they picked this block. They told Westminster Wire that the stretch of Main Street between Liquid Library and Burgerland has few sit-down dining options, and they want San Sushi to anchor it and hold foot traffic there.
The other application came from a building that served downtown for more than three decades. Johanssons Dining House began in 1994, when David Johansson bought the property and turned the venue then called Champs into an English-style tavern. The family added O'Lordans Irish Pub in 2005. When Johanssons announced its ownership change in June, the farewell letter pointed customers to O'Lordans.
The Maryland Beer Journal's September update confirmed that Johanssons has closed at 4–6 W. Main St. The tavern served American food alongside beer brewed on site, including Honest Ale, Hoodle Head and Whistle Stop Amber.
Citing the Carroll County Times, the journal reported that the owners of The Liquid Library in Westminster and of 1623 Brewing Company in Eldersburg are building a new gastropub there. The downstairs will become The Corner Ledger, which is associated with Liquid Library. The 1623 Brewing team will run the upstairs and plans to brew beer on site. 1623 Brewing's production brewery and taproom are at 5975 Exchange Drive in Eldersburg.
That makes the West Main project an expansion by an operator already on the street. San Sushi's owners named Liquid Library as one end of the dining gap they want to fill. Now people connected to Liquid Library are opening a second room in the same downtown.
The license hearing added some operating details. Citizen Portal's summary describes The Corner Ledger as an American gastropub. The applicants said they plan to keep staff on alcohol-awareness training, use an in-house handbook, check ID for anyone who looks under 40, and hire paid security Thursday through Saturday. They proposed hours of noon to 2 a.m., Wednesday through Sunday, with last call at 1 a.m. Those were the hours proposed at the hearing, so the posted schedule may differ once the doors open.
Asked about timing, Ferrari gave a short answer, as quoted in Citizen Portal's hearing summary:
"We're open for mid to late fall."
The Maryland Beer Journal reported a target of October 2026. The name of the upstairs brewing concept hasn't been settled in the coverage so far, so it will be clearer once the operators announce it.
Here's where each project stood as of October 12:
| San Sushi | The Corner Ledger | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 172 E. Main St. | 6 W. Main St., former Johanssons at 4–6 W. Main |
| Building's last use | Rare Opportunity Bakehouse, Starling's Cafe | Johanssons Dining House |
| Concept | Sushi and Thai | American gastropub, plus an upstairs brewing concept from 1623 Brewing |
| Liquor board, Aug. 12 | Conditionally approved | Conditionally approved |
| Stated timing | Fall 2026 | October 2026 target; "mid to late fall" at the hearing |
San Sushi's website already lists signature rolls, nigiri, sashimi, sake and Asian beers, and it mentions dine-in and takeout. Still, neither restaurant had announced a firm opening date or posted hours in the coverage available as of October 12. The best sources to watch are each restaurant's own channels and Westminster Wire, which has followed both projects since the spring.
Until either restaurant opens, downtown keeps its usual fall schedule.
Saturday mornings. The Downtown Westminster Farmers' Market runs from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday through November 21, and Westminster Wire calls it Carroll County's oldest continuously running market. The city calendar lists it in the Conaway Parking Lot, with market days on October 17, 24 and 31.
First Wednesdays. The last Westminster Wednesdays live band of 2026 was scheduled for October 7. From November 2026 through March 2027 there won't be bands on the library stage. Even so, Discover Westminster says many restaurants and shops are choosing to stay open until 8 p.m. or later on those nights, and it suggests checking individual businesses' social media for details.
So November's first Wednesday will run without a band, on shop and restaurant hours alone. If either new restaurant has opened by then, it will be one more place serving dinner downtown that night.
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