Beloved Annapolis seafood restaurant O'Learys to close Aug. 2

O'Learys Seafood Restaurant in Eastport will close permanently on Aug. 2, ending a run that began in 1983 and removing one of Annapolis' most familiar waterfront dining spots. The shutdown follows the loss of the restaurant's lease, a blow that will erase more than four decades of service from a business that became a beloved Annapolis waterfront institution.

Owner Will Peterson said the closure was not his decision. In the restaurant's announcement, O'Learys said, "After serving the Annapolis community since 1983, it is with an incredibly heavy heart that I share the news that O’Learys Seafood will be closing its doors due to the loss of our lease. This was not my decision, and it is not the ending I ever imagined."

Peterson took over the restaurant about eight years ago, but the handoff did not protect the business from the pressure of its lease. In Eastport, where long-running independent restaurants sit on some of Annapolis' most coveted waterfront property, lease terms can matter as much as reputation, and O'Learys' exit shows how quickly a familiar name can disappear when that arrangement ends. The business had already lasted more than 40 years, a stretch that helped make it part of the area's dining identity.

The final day of service will be Aug. 2. After that, O'Learys will join the growing list of legacy institutions in the Baltimore-Annapolis region that have been forced to give up their space when property costs and lease deadlines collide with decades of community loyalty.