As a place to it it was strictly a second class cafeteria. But Bickford's on the east side of Calvert street between Baltimore and Fayette was called nothing less than "No. 10 Downing Street" - because  it was thought to be the center of Baltimore's political power, as No. 10 Downing Street was of Great Britain's. Here the politicians would crown kings and give them the power to remove the beaten. When the building was torn down in 1972 they who had decided who should be king and who should be removed were themselves removed.