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When you combine these closures with those of McCormick and Schmick's and Austin Grill at the very beginning of the year, it seems to make for a frightening trend. You might have heard of potential restaurant closures in other locations; however, The Bent Fork is not a rumor nor a gossip blog, so we deal only in facts here.
So that's the thing with Hell Point Seafood -- the facts right now are sketchy because getting hold of management isn't easy. There's a possibility that we haven't seen the last of Hell Point, but we can't say either way.
So, here we are at the end of Fe uary, and we've seen four big Annapolis restaurants close. Troubling news when some of us might have thought the economy was on the uptick, isn't it?
Well, January and Fe uary are tough months for restaurants, particularly in Annapolis when people tend to flock to restaurants when they can really enjoy a water view and nice weather. It's the time of year when restaurants have to make tough decisions about whether they can make it through to the summer months, and if that's enough to last the full calendar year. My hope is that once we get through these tough months, we'll see fewer closures and more openings.
I also want to point out that, in terms of ratios, last year was relatively good for Annapolis and Anne Arundel County eateries. In our December buzz round-up of 2011's openings and closures, there was 14 new restaurants (unfortunately, though, one of the was the Annnapolis Grill) and only 8 closures. In an ideal world, the ratio would be spread even further, but the reality is that it's tough these days for a restaurant to succeed.
For right now, we're going to cross our fingers that Hell Point Seafood finds its way back to life at City Dock, and that this "trend" of restaurant closings has reached its end ... at least for a few months.
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