Harbor East's Oceanaire Seafood Room to Close in March

The Oceanaire Seafood Room, a fixture of Harbor East's dining scene for years, will shut its doors on March 26, ending the run of one of the few upscale seafood destinations in Baltimore's waterfront neighborhood not tied to Atlas Hospitality Group.

Landry's Restaurants Inc., the Houston-based operator of more than 600 restaurants nationwide, confirmed the closure through employees who spoke with The Baltimore Banner. No reason for the closing has been made public by Landry's, and what becomes of the 801 Aliceanna St. space remains uncertain. Some in the neighborhood believe another business is in talks to take over the location, but Atlas Hospitality Group spokesperson Erin Black told The Banner that Atlas will not be moving in. Atlas currently operates 11 concepts within Harbor East's 12 walkable blocks, including Loch Bar.

The Harbor East location carried both local and national history. It opened as the eighth installment of the Oceanaire concept, which once stretched across 16 locations under a Minneapolis-based parent company before financial collapse. Landry's acquired the remaining 12 Oceanaire restaurants for just under $24 million at a 2010 bankruptcy auction, folding the chain into its sprawling hospitality portfolio.

The Baltimore location invested in its own future as recently as 2017, when it spent $300,000 on an interior overhaul designed to keep pace with the growing competition in Harbor East. The renovation stripped out red leather booths styled after a 1930s ocean liner and replaced them with cerulean banquettes and mosaic tiles, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

The menu that drew diners to the Aliceanna Street address leaned hard into luxury: an Elite Shellfish Tower serving six to eight guests for $159, Imperial Gold Osetra Caviar at $125, king crab legs at $59 for eight ounces, and A5 Wagyu sushi priced at $25 per ounce with a two-ounce minimum. The restaurant also hosted weekly happy hour Monday through Friday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and had a Tapas and Tinis event scheduled for tonight, March 13.

A Reddit post on r/baltimore alleged that a longstanding feud between Landry's and Atlas over Loch Bar drove the decision to close, and that Atlas would take over the space. Both claims conflict with what The Banner reported: Atlas's own spokesperson denied any plans to acquire the location, and Landry's has offered no public explanation for the closure.

With 13 days left on the clock, the future of the Aliceanna Street space is the most pressing open question for the neighborhood.