Pusser’s Caribbean Grille, known for its tropical rum-blended drinks and lively dockside atmosphere, is celebrating its last summer in downtown Annapolis. It is slated to close Oct. 31 when its lease with the adjoining Annapolis Waterfront Hotel is up.

“We’re going to miss working with people in the community,” said Chris Townsend, Pusser’s co-owner and director of food and beverage. “We’re more like a family than a business, and that’s something we pride ourselves in.”

Marking its third decade in business this year, the owners held a reunion for former and current employees, staff, family, friends and longtime customers at the restaurant’s dockside bar June 19. More than 100 people attended to toast the restaurant’s legacy with its signature drink, the Painkiller.

“We find reasons to come back to Pusser’s. There’s this really great sense of community it’s built, not just from people that have worked there, but also patrons that have come in,” said Jenny Moore, a former server.

Serving at the restaurant was one of Moore’s first jobs when she started in the summer of 2002, where she met her husband, Joe. The two worked there together for three summers before they married and held their wedding at Pusser’s in 2011.

“You would just meet people and make friendships,” Moore said. “That was what made you come back. It was truly a family and everyone was truly there for each other.”

The landmark institution was established on its world-famous rum, the same rum that was rationed to sailors of the British Royal Navy for more than 300 years. In 1979, entrepreneur Charles Tobias obtained the rights and recipe to the Navy’s Pusser’s Rum, which was named for the “purser” who was in charge of issuing the rum on the ships.

Tobias opened the first Pusser’s pub in Road Town, British Virgin Islands in 1982 and 12 years later, unveiled its Annapolis restaurant, the first of its kind in the U.S. It’s still filled with Tobias’ relics and decorations, including the original custom-made bartop from Wales. Today, all Pusser’s locations continue to use the original Pusser’s Rum, and a percentage of every bottle sold is given back to the Royal Navy.

“It was fun working there because if you worked at the front of the restaurant, you had to know British naval history and the [history] of the specialty drinks,” said Kevin Lebling, who worked at three Pusser’s locations in the states and the British Virgin Islands.

“It’s sad to see it go, but at the same time I was really thrilled to have the opportunity to reminisce with people at the reunion,” he added.

The restaurant has left an impression on more than just the employees. For years, locals in Annapolis have made Pusser’s a part of their routine.

Mike Jones and John Baghdadlian have been coming to the restaurant on Ego Alley since before it was Pusser’s. And for the last 10-plus years, they’ve spent their Friday afternoons in the summer meeting up with friends for drinks at the dockside bar.

“We’re going to miss the Painkillers and the friends we made,” said Baghdadlian, adding it’s “bittersweet but a new chapter.”

With its official closing date just a few months away, Townsend said the events they have through the end of October will continue as planned, including a party tied to the annual Annapolis Boat Show and a closing one in the restaurant’s final week.

He said they are actively looking for another location nearby, but it’s unlikely it will be in downtown Annapolis.

“The turnout we had [at the reunion] is really a testament to the restaurant,” said Townsend. “It moved me how much people care about this place and how it’s impacted them over the last thirty years.”

Pusser’s has one other U.S. location in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and five locations in the British Virgin Islands. The Annapolis location is set to be replaced with two restaurants owned by the Baltimore-based restaurant group, Atlas.