Two new restaurants will fill the rum-soaked void left by Pusser’s Caribbean Grille in Annapolis after it closes this fall.
A tequila bar called Armada and an Italian chophouse, Marmo, will replace Pusser’s, a destination on the Annapolis waterfront that’s slated to shut down in November after three decades in business.
Baltimore-based Atlas Restaurant Group will operate both new restaurants inside the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel as part of a deal that also turned operations of the hotel’s catering and room service over to the hospitality group.
Friday, Atlas shared renderings and new details about the planned restaurants, which are expected to open in late summer 2025. The Pusser’s space will be expanded during a round of renovations and then divided into two 5,000-square-foot parcels — one for each restaurant — Atlas spokesman Joe Sweeney said.
Marmo will seat 350 people, including 150 outdoors, and will serve a menu of steaks, chops, seafood and housemade pastas as well as a long list of Italian wines. The restaurant will have two bars, one on the ground floor and another on the second floor terrace where diners can take in panoramic views. This will be the second location for the chophouse, which also has a dining room in Houston.
Armada will take over part of the dock space at Pusser’s with a menu focused on tacos, burritos, quesadillas and other Mexican fare. The bar selection will be heavy on tequila and agave spirits. The restaurant will seat 200 people: 100 outdoors and another 100 inside.
Both restaurants will be designed by Patrick Sutton, an interior designer who frequently collaborates with Atlas.
The restaurant group’s CEO, Alex Smith, said he wants to “create a regional dining destination along Annapolis’ City Dock” with the two new restaurants, as well as The Choptank, another Atlas eatery that opened on Ego Alley in 2022.
Smith and his brother Eric Smith, a co-owner of Atlas Restaurant Group, are nephews of Baltimore Sun owner David D. Smith, who is an investor in Atlas restaurants.
Atlas, which operates Baltimore spots like Tagliata, Azumi and The Bygone, has recently made a push to expand into the surrounding counties, where the restaurant group has a sturdy customer base (Smith said in 2020 that about 80% of the company’s diners are local, “predominantly coming from the surrounding counties.”)
In addition to the Choptank in Annapolis, Atlas operates Cunningham’s Cafe & Bakery, Perennial, The Oregon Grille and The Valley Inn in Baltimore County.
In Baltimore, the company has plans in the works for a Tokyo-style izakaya slated to open later this year in the E.J. Codd Company building at 700 S. Caroline St., which will also be home to a 120-seat “moderately priced” Atlas restaurant expected to open in late 2024.
At the Village of Cross Keys in North Baltimore, the restaurant group is working on a Chinese restaurant concept that’s likely to open in 2025.