By Beth Rubin – West Street has a pretty new face—several of them, in fact. Once a major eyesore of ramshackle buildings and down-on-their-luckers, West Street has undergone a major nip and tuck. And it looks mahvalous.

A short stroll from the Naval Academy, and the Main Street and Maryland Avenue shopping districts, West Street has morphed into a hip and happening ‘hood.

Until the makeover began a decade ago, the turf belonged largely to prostitutes, drug dealers, and lost tourists searching for City Dock. To drive down the street was to risk eviscerating your buggy’s belly or disappearing in a pothole bigger than Peoria.

Best I can recall, when I arrived from the D.C. ‘burbs in the mid-80’s, the Rams Head tavern, then a teeny basement brew-and-burger joint, and a mom-and-pop pizza parlor were the only draws. read more…