Its softshell crab sandwiches, Norfolk-style seafood, and baked stuffed shrimp are vestiges of a bygone era of seafood dining. Its pale blue cinderblock interior, horseshoe-shaped wood counter, tchotchke-lined shelves, and fluorescent overhead lights have remained charmingly unchanged for decades.
Now, Crisfield Seafood is closing for good. The Landis family, which has owned the place for three generations, made the announcement yesterday on Facebook: after 79 years in business, Crisfield’s last day of service will be December 22.
John Landis, who co-owns Crisfield with several of his siblings and cousins, says the fourth generation of the Landis family has grown less interested in continuing the family seafood business.
“It’s a mixed feeling,” Landis says. “In family businesses, each successive generation gets harder because the generations also have other things they want to do. Now, with our fourth generation, they’re far and wide.”
The decision to close had been brewing for some time. But it was hastened this year, when the Landises, who have been renting the space for eight decades, were told by their landlord they had to commit to a year-long lease for 2025.
Henry and Lillian Landis founded Crisfield in 1945, buying the space from restaurateur Preston White. Lillian operated the restaurant until her death in 1999, and it’s still run by her grandchildren and their cousins.
As Silver Spring has sprouted from a small suburban town into a high-rise business district, many of Crisfield’s contemporaries have closed over the years. But Crisfield has stuck around, like a living museum to the way DC-area diners ate their seafood during the Truman administration.
John Landis, his siblings and cousins all grew up close to Crisfield, treating it like an extra room in their home. “We cut our teeth on the restaurant,” he says. “My brothers and I started working there when we were seven and eight.”
In the ‘80s, the Landis family tried expanding, opening a second location further up Georgia Avenue at Colesville Road. But although it was shinier, newer, and in a busier spot in the neighborhood, it failed to generate business. Diners preferred the more divey ambiance of the original.
In April, Crisfield was included by the New York Times on its list of the 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, DC. It was an unexpected honor. But Landis says his family was already considering shutting down.
“In my generation, we all went to college, and yet for us, we came home, because the restaurant was home,” Landis says. “Certainly no fault of our kids, but they want to do other things.”
