Rockafeller’s Restaurant will close on Nov. 2 after serving its final meal.
The Virginia Beach mainstay has served seafood favorites — crabcakes, Oysters Rockafeller and she-crab soup — on Rudee Inlet since 1989.
Frank Baumann opened the beloved restaurant, and his wife, Elizabeth “BJ” Baumann, took over the business after he died in 1999.
“It has been a great run and business is still strong, but it’s time to move on from owning and operating a high-volume restaurant,” she said in a news release.
Baumann, 67, plans to dedicate time to her three grandchildren and civic interests. She previously chaired the city’s Resort Advisory Commission and served as president of the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association.
Forty staff members, many who worked there for decades, were informed of her decision. The restaurant announced the impending closure on its website and social media.
Baumann thanked customers for their loyalty, support and celebrating milestones such as birthdays, retirements and anniversaries at the two-story building with stunning views.
She made it known that no family or employee will assume ownership or management of Rockafeller’s — a name from the former Atlantic Avenue bar.
“I am taking it with me,” Baumann said. “I could end up in another aspect of the food industry. I am old enough to know never to say never.”
Rekaya Gibson, 757-295-8809, rekaya.gibson@virginiamedia.com
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If you go
Where: 308 Mediterranean Ave., Virginia Beach
Hours: 3 to 9 p.m. Monday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday, noon to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, closed for a private event on Oct. 31.
Details: rockafellers.com, 757-422-5654
