O'Donnell's Sea Grill Celebrates 90th Anniversary

Four locations and nine decades later, O'Donnell's Sea Grill is still booming.

The Gaithersburg-based restaurant is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2012. 

"We are proud to have served the DC area for 90 years and look forward to another 90!” Bill Edelblut, grandson of founder Tom O’Donnell and president of O’Donnell’s Sea Grill, said in an announcement.

The O’Donnell’s story began when Tom O’Donnell opened his first restaurant, the “Sea Grill,” in downtown Washington, DC, at 1207 E Street, NW, in 1922.

In 1941, the grill opened at 1221 E Street and on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda in 1956.

The Gaithersburg location was opened in the Kentlands in 1997, long after the closure of both DC locations. O'Donnell's Bethesda location would close in 2001.

O’Donnell’s will commemorate its 90th anniversary with the creation of a new website and a presence on Facebook, Foursquare and other social media.

“We’re not standing still and want to communicate with our customers in new ways to let them know what’s going on at O’Donnell’s,” said Ashlee Edelblut, Bill Edelblut’s daughter and next generation in the O’Donnell’s legacy.