The Oceanaire Seafood Room plans to close at the end of March

One of the largest restaurant and hospitality group operators in the country is shuttering its Baltimore fine-dining seafood location.

Landry’s Restaurants Inc., which operates The Oceanaire Seafood Room in Harbor East, plans to close the restaurant by the end of the month, according to employees who spoke to The Banner.

Michael Goldscher, who spent five years working as a server and training servers at Oceanaire, said the closure is bittersweet. He believes Harbor East will be losing a restaurant that helped jump-start the neighborhood when it opened in 2005.

“I’ve had people giving me hugs,” he said of the last few weeks.

His coworker Tory Stader agreed, describing the eatery as “the fine-dining version of Cheers.”

Their last day is March 26.

Over the years, Baltimore’s Oceanaire gained attention for its upscale seafood, including oysters, lobsters and crab cakes. The business was a veteran in the fast-developing Harbor East neighborhood, where in 2017 the eatery underwent a $300,000 interior renovation to stick out among new competition. Red leather booths reminiscent of a 1930s liner were torn out for cerulean banquettes and mosaic tiles, according to Baltimore Business Journal.

It’s unclear what will become of Oceanaire’s space, though some believe another business is in talks to take it over. The growing Atlas Hospitality Group, which operates 11 concepts within Harbor East’s 12 blocks, will not be taking over, according to Atlas spokespeson Erin Black. The Oceanaire restaurant is one of the few in the neighborhood not operated by the hospitality group

The 801 Aliceanna St. location opened as the eighth installment of The Oceanaire Seafood Room concept — a restaurant chain that once spanned 16 locations across the country under a Minneapolis-based parent company. Landry’s, which owns more than 600 restaurants, purchased the remaining 12 Oceanaire eateries for just under $24 million at a 2010 bankruptcy auction.

In the last nine months, Landry’s has shuttered two of its Oceanaire Seafood Rooms. In June it closed the Atlanta location, and in December the company stopped operating its nearly 20-year-old Houston eatery. Multiple locations still exist in Boston, Dallas, Orlando, Minneapolis and Washington.

A spokesperson for Landry’s did not respond to multiple requests for comment.