Baltimore’s Chaps Pit Beef coming to Rehoboth

Baltimore’s favorite barbeque Chaps Pit Beef is coming to Rehoboth, and Mark Ludes said the beach town couldn’t be a better fit for the company’s second franchise.

Ludes, Chaps Pit Beef corporate representative, said Aug. 20 he thinks Rehoboth has the potential to be a phenomenal market. Unlike other beach communities in Delaware and Maryland, Rehoboth is now a 12-month-a-year destination, he said.

“This is like opening a place in Times Square,” he said.  “If we were opening in Ocean City, we’d only be open nine months.”

The original Chaps opened 31 years ago in Baltimore. Ludes said a second restaurant, serving as the corporate prototype, opened in Aberdeen, Md., two years ago. He said the first franchise opened in June in Frederick, Md., and is doing very well. The Rehoboth location will be located in Coastal Station on Route 1, abutting the new Iron Hill Brewery.

Brothers Christopher and Gary Desch are the owners/operators of the Rehoboth franchise. The pair are Baltimore-area natives, but Gary moved to Rehoboth seven years ago, and Christopher recently moved here.

Gary said Aug. 21 that he and his brother have always wanted to open a restaurant, and they chose Chaps Pit Beef because they thought it would bring something different to Rehoboth’s already full food scene.

“There’s just something that Chaps does that’s a little different,” he said.

Ludes described the restaurant as fast casual. The average ticket time is 4 to 6 minutes after ordering, he said. He said the restaurant has a liquor license, a first for the company, and will be serving a number of local beers.

Ludes said what separates Chaps from other barbeques is way the proteins are cooked.

“It’s not Carolina- or Texas-style barbeque. It’s Baltimore-style barbeque,” he said proudly, which he said means woodchip charcoal, a proprietary mix of spices and paper-thin slices of meat.

Gary said he was confident he and his brother will be able to replicate the famous taste of Chaps Pit Beef.

“That’s a 120 percent, yes,” he said. “Once we get to that point in the process, people from Chaps will be watching over us, and we won’t open until the flavor is just right.”

Gary said the year-round-restaurant is expected to open this fall. He said they’re shooting for October, but, he added, it’s construction and sometimes things take longer than expected.

For more information go to chapspitbeef.com.