Baltimore's Fells Point says goodbye to another long-time restaurant

Baltimore's Fells Point community is losing another long-time restaurant, as One-Eyed Mike's announced its closing. 

According to a social media post, the restaurant will close at the end of April after more than 20 years in business. 

One-Eyed Mike's, located on S. Bond Street, is known for its crabcakes and mussels. It's located among several other taverns and restaurants in the heart of Fells Point. The community is known for its nightlife and food scene. 

The restaurant was established in 2003 as a Grand Mariner bottle club, which has now grown to a community of 3,500 members. Each of the bottles in the restaurant belongs to an individual club member. 

According to the restaurant's website, the membership costs $50 every three months. It is currently unclear how membership fees will be handled during the closure. 

One-Eyed Mike's is owned by French-trained Chef Akbar Vaiya, a Washington, D.C. native. 

Vaiya purchased the restaurant from the late owner in 2016. In 2023, he put the restaurant up for auction with the intention of selling. However, the sale was called off months later when bidding prices did not reach what Vaiya wanted, according to our partners at the Baltimore Banner.

This is not the first restaurant to close in Baltimore's vibrant Fells Point community. 

In January 2025, the seafood restaurant, Riptide, closed its doors after six years in business. The owners told WJZ that the closure came as the business struggled to bounce back after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The pandemic kind of changed everything," Co-owner Justin Brockmeyer said. "It changed the way people go out. It changed what people do nowadays. How much they drink kind of went downhill a little bit, and it changed the reputation for Fells Point."

According to Brockmeyer, crime also deterred people from visiting the area on the weekends. 

Also in January 2025, Bondhouse Kitchen, an American and Southern brunch hotspot, closed after four years in business, the Baltimore Banner reported. 

In February, The Black Olive, a Fells Point staple that opened in 1997, filed for bankruptcy to prevent the foreclosure sale of its building. 

The owner said the restaurant was open and "operating at full strength" despite the Chapter 13 filing, which was part of an effort to dispute a loan issue.