The Crazy Tuna Bar & Grille is set to close after Saturday, the Essex restaurant announced Thursday on social media.

The waterfront restaurant is known for its beachy atmosphere, complete with sand beneath the picnic tables; seafood dishes; and live music that could be heard from boats docked nearby. The Crazy Tuna wrote that there isn’t “just one reason” for the decision to close and advocated the community for the hiring of staff who must now find other jobs.

“Essex is truly losing a gem here,” said manager Ashley Schap, who’s worked at The Crazy Tuna for eight years.

She said staff heard the news last week and that she’d been expecting to work there for at least six more years, through the end of the restaurant’s lease. “This is my livelihood,” Schap said.

Before she became an employee, she celebrated her baby shower there and then her daughter’s first birthday. Her daughter, now 8, frequently spends time there, too. “This is another home for her,” Schap said.

“Hopkins Creek, Middleborough, Essex, and all the surrounding community is just full of amazing residents and patrons,” the Nanticoke Road business wrote in the announcement. “The relationships that have been formed at The Crazy Tuna are very special!”

The Facebook post prompted almost 300 comments and almost 500 shares in about two hours.

“I’m expecting a crowd,” Schap said of the night’s service on Thursday.

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