The Obrycki’s crab house building on East Pratt Street is up for sale.
Daniel J. Sernovitz
Staff Reporter
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Venerable Baltimore seafood restaurant Obrycki’s Crab House
has put its longtime Pratt Street restaurant on the market as it prepares to serve up its last platter of steamed crabs this November.
In doing so, one of Baltimore’s most recognizable names in the crab business could open the door to new opportunities at its soon-to-be-former building at 1727 E. Pratt St.
Obrycki’s has retained brokerage Sierra Realty Advisors to sell the 23,627-square-foot building, complete with wall photographs and fixtures customers have known and come to love since Obrycki’s opened there in 1986. The building is listed for sale at $1.9 million.
Sierra broker Margaret Meginniss said she has received interest from several developers interested in converting the building to apartments and potentially a new restaurant to replace Obrycki’s.
Obrycki’s plans to close the restaurant Nov. 5, a date co-owner Robert M. Cernak said was chosen to coincide with the time of year when customers start to buy restaurant gift cards for the holidays. Cernak wanted to avoid that and to make sure crab enthusiasts have plenty of time to crack their last claws before they put down their mallets at the downtown location.
“I do realize that a lot of customers have an emotional attachment to the restaurant,” Cernak said. “We’ve very proud of what we’ve done and what we’ve accomplished.”
The restaurant opened in what was formerly Goodwill’s downtown facility, most of which has gone unused since it closed and Obrycki’s opened, Meginniss said. Obrycki’s liquor license is not part of the asking sale price but could be sold separately. Included is a 68-space parking lot adjacent to the building.
Cernak, who operates the business with his two sisters, said running the city restaurant “gave us exposure, it put us on the map.” But Cernak said steaming crabs takes up a lot of room, even more time, and required talent that just wasn’t willing to work on a seasonal basis instead of year-round. That’s why Obrycki’s opened a smaller restaurant at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and has since opened another one at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Those restaurants don’t serve steamed crabs, but Cernak noted they do serve crab cakes. They are also open year-round. It’s a model that has worked so well that Obrycki’s is planning to open another airport restaurant at BWI’s Concourse A next month.
Daniel J. Sernovitz covers Real Estate, Economic Development, Transportation, Retail
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