A Chain Quietly Left Maryland Entirely, and Dozens of Employees Are Left Wondering What Comes Next

J. Alexander’s has closed its restaurant at Annapolis Town Center in Annapolis, Maryland, and a state filing says 45 workers were affected. The location at 1906 Towne Center Blvd., Suite 155, was the chain’s only Maryland restaurant identified in available reporting and public listings.

What closed in Annapolis

The closure involves J. Alexander’s at Annapolis Town Center, a shopping center in Annapolis. Maryland’s Department of Labor lists a WARN notice from J. Alexander’s Restaurant, LLC dated October 23, 2026, for 1906 Towne Center Blvd., Suite 155, Annapolis, MD 21401, in Anne Arundel County. The state log lists 45 affected workers, an effective date of October 26, 2026, and classifies the action as a plant closure.

Eye On Annapolis reported that the restaurant had permanently closed at that address. The local outlet also reported that the Annapolis J. Alexander’s opened on October 2, 2023, replacing Gordon Biersch, another restaurant operated by the same parent company. The available source material does not include a public statement from the company giving a detailed reason for the shutdown.

For diners, the immediate change is simple. One more steak-and-seafood option is gone from the Town Center lineup, and Maryland no longer appears to have a J. Alexander’s location in the company’s current directory, based on the reporting and public listings reviewed for this article.

What the filings and reports say

The most concrete public record is the Maryland WARN listing. It names J. Alexander’s Restaurant, LLC, the Annapolis address, 45 workers, and an effective date of October 26, 2026. The public state log available online identifies the event as a closure, not a temporary reduction.

Local reporting also tied the restaurant’s final days to a fire incident earlier in the fall. Eye On Annapolis reported an exhaust-system fire on September 25, then said the restaurant reopened soon after and continued operating for several weeks before the closure. Based on the sources reviewed, that fire was reported before the shutdown, but no official document in the sourced material says it caused the closing.

The Baltimore Banner reported that J. Alexander’s said it closed the Annapolis restaurant to support the long-term success of the brand. That adds a company explanation to the public record, though the available reporting reviewed here does not provide more operational detail about staffing transfers, severance, or what may replace the restaurant in the space.

What it means for Maryland diners and workers

For Maryland customers, the closure appears to remove the brand’s only in-state restaurant from regular service. Eye On Annapolis and the NewsBreak source both describe the Annapolis site as the only Maryland location. The company directory cited in those reports no longer included the restaurant after the closure, even though some online traces of the location remained visible for a time.

For workers, the state notice is the key document because it provides the exact count and timing. The filing says 45 workers were affected, and the effective date for layoffs was October 26, 2026. The public Maryland labor records reviewed for this article do not indicate that the notice was conditional.

At Annapolis Town Center, the closure adds to ongoing tenant turnover noted in local coverage. What happens next to the restaurant space has not been publicly confirmed in the source material. For home cooks and local diners, the practical impact is more modest but still real, one less nearby place for a steakhouse-style meal, and one more sign of how quickly restaurant options can change in a shopping center.