OXON HILL, Md. — Editor's Note: The video above is from Nov. 4, 2021.
An iconic Southwest, D.C. business is getting new life -- and a new address. After shocking the community with its sudden disappearance from the Wharf in November, it looks like Captain White Seafood City will reopen in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
According to realtor Marcus Daniels, the seafood market will reopen in a space near National Harbor, previously occupied by a sports bar; Daniels represented the seller (Pizza Italia and Franks Sports Bar) in the deal, while Captain White was represented by Steve Catalano.
"The iconic D.C. seafood hub Captain White’s Seafood has pulled up its anchor at the Wharf, capping a half-century of selling cooked and raw seafood there, and will now call Oxon Hill near National Harbor in Prince George’s County its new home," Daniels wrote in a Facebook post. "Captain White’s Seafood has acquired the historic Pizza Italia and Franks Sports Bar location and plans to open later this year."
No exact opening date has been announced.
Captain White's served as the anchor of the Wharf's Municipal Fish Market since 1972.
“I felt like a piece of my childhood just left," local Tim Hall said when he learned Captain White's barge was no longer at the Wharf. "I used to come here for years getting fish with the family.”
One employee who showed up to work the day it closed even told WUSA9 he was shocked to see it gone and that he was not informed it would be happening ahead of time.
But owners of this local staple had been tied up in a legal dispute with the Wharf developers for several years.
Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, developers of the Wharf, told WUSA9 in November that the owners of Captain White's Seafood had decided to leave after losing a lawsuit against the District of Columbia and the Wharf developers.
Captain White had previously claimed that the developers were trying to permanently push Municipal Fish Wharf tenants out of their market space.
"And now we have people who want to take it away from us," the business’ longtime owner – Billy White – told WUSA9 in an interview before he died in July 2020.
Billy White opened the Southwest fish market with his brother, Sunny. The two developed a loyal following from customers, many of whom were willing to brave hell or high water -- literally -- to secure crab dip.
"The Wharf is underwater but it won't stop me from getting my crabs," longtime customer Donna Henderson told WUSA9 during a particularly bad flood in late October 2021. "I'm willing to swim over there for those good crabs."
WUSA9 has reached out to Captain White's Seafood, but at the time of publication has not heard back.