One word can sum up Bill Larney and Steven Litrenta’s sentiments about the opening of their new bar on the Essex waterfront: finally.
“It’s been long enough,” Larney said Tuesday, as he surveyed a freshly built dining room, three new bars and a patio overlooking Hopkins Creek.
Larney and Litrenta have found themselves peppered with questions since announcing plans to open LoonAsea, a waterside spinoff of their popular Looney’s Pub chain.
“Are you open yet?” people inquire when they see the men at one of their bars, on the street, or in the aisles of the grocery store. The longtime business partners considered ditching the Looney’s shirts they often wear, so that they could fly more easily under the radar.
Thursday at noon, the long-awaited bar and restaurant will finally open to the public, 16 months after it was announced. Litrenta and Larney hope diners will feel the wait was worth it.
“We didn’t want to rush it,” Larney said. “Once you walk into the place, you’ll understand.”
LoonAsea, which takes over the former River Watch Restaurant & Marina at 207 Nanticoke Road, is a complete remake of the long-standing restaurant. The space has seating for 493 people and two stages — one indoors and one outdoors — for daily performances.
Litrenta and Larney expanded the indoor dining room by building walls around a covered deck. Indoor seating is key to their goal of making LoonAsea a year-round destination rather than a seasonal one.
When the weather is warm, retractable walls and large screened windows bring the outdoors in. Like any good waterfront bar, there are also plenty of patio seats with views of the boats passing by.
Though the average Looney’s bar has 100 TVs, there are only 30 at LoonAsea. “That’s because that’s the event, right there,” said Litrenta, gesturing toward the water.
The restaurant’s menu will expand upon Looney’s pub staples with a raw bar and seafood dishes like crabcakes, stuffed rockfish and fried lobster tail gazpacho. Larney and Litrenta are partial to the Key West conch fritters, a nod to one of their favorite vacation spots.
The two have been in business together for more than 30 years: They opened the original Looney’s on O’Donnell Square in Canton in 1993, back when the square was populated by small corner bars. “We were bartending every night and living on our tips,” Litrenta said of those early days.
Four more locations of the sports bar followed, in Perry Hall, Bel Air, Maple Lawn and College Park. They sold the Canton Looney’s in 2022 to restaurateur Dominic Lascola, who has rebranded the building into a bar and restaurant called The Worthington.
The idea for a waterfront Looney’s had been brewing for some time. Litrenta and Larney considered buying property in Ocean City, but decided the market was too seasonal for their liking. Then they met with River Watch owners Traci and Mark Sullivan, who were looking to sell.
They initially hoped to open by Labor Day weekend last year. Then they pushed back the date to St. Patrick’s Day weekend 2024, then to May, before landing on the June 20 opening. Infrastructure issues were behind the delay: They needed to upgrade the 100-year-old water and sewer system in addition to all the construction work.
Even after opening, they have more ideas for improvement, with plans for an eventual rooftop deck and renovations to the marina that houses more than 100 boat slips. After getting its sea legs, LoonAsea will establish a small kitchen to prepare food specifically for day boaters and residents of the marina.
For now, though, getting the bar open is enough.
“We’re ready,” Larney said. “It’s been a long, long process.”
