Gunning’s - Great Seafood for Generations!

The history of the Gunning’s family restaurant endeavors are a reflection of Baltimore and its surrounding areas. It is truly an evolution.

It’s unpretentious start came in 1969, when Andrew E. Gunning, grandfather of current proprietor, Ed Gunning , Jr., opened a hole-in-the-wall stag bar in South Baltimore. Offering only beer and shots of whiskey it became a favorite place for the blue collar workers of the Brooklyn neighborhood.

In 1970, Gunning’s son, Edward, a Baltimore policeman, decide it might be nice to offer the regulars something to munch on while they drank. He brought in five bushels of Baltimore tradition, steamed Chesapeake Bay Blue crabs, and laid them out for nine dollars a dozen. Gunning’s Bar became Gunning’s Crab House.

Over the next few years, the restaurant expanded along with the menu. Ed Gunning’s mother-in-law, Louise Costin, brought traditional family recipes out of the kitchen to the table. The result put Gunning’s on the map, making it one of the best crab houses in Baltimore and the place for out-of-towners to experience a true Baltimore on pleasure in a truly relaxed setting - “a Baltimore ‘Hon’ Crab House.”

With more family members involved in the business, Gunning expanded to Ocean City - again following a Baltimore tradition. That business thrived until a fire closed it in 1989. Regrouping from that loss and a growing, more sophisticated metropolitan area, the Gunning’s sold their city location and migrated south to its current location in Hanover.

Reflecting its evolution, the family named its new establishment Gunning’s Seafood Restaurant. Other than its name and location, little has changed. The restaurant is still owned and run by the family. Today, Ed Gunning, Jr. overseas the third generation of closely guarded Gunning secret family recipes - the same fresh ingredients created over thirty years ago. As a matter of fact, the food is still only prepared by Gunning family members. The atmosphere is still relaxed even in its more upscale surroundings.

We invite you to enjoy a dining experience with our family. Like the Baltimore area, we’ve come a long way, hon. We haven’t forgotten our roots and traditions.

Our family recipes are not just handed down through the generations - they are to be enjoyed as a Baltimore tradition for generations to come.