Owners put Rehoboth Irish Eyes up for sale

After 25 years in Rehoboth Beach, Irish Eyes is for sale.

Co-owner Kathy Newcomb said if it doesn’t sell, the owners plan to stay as long as the restaurant’s lease is in place.

“It comes from realizing that ever since our Lewes operation was rebuilt, and that includes catering and banquets, we just seemed to be stretched a little bit thin,” Newcomb said.

Newcomb said the Rehoboth location’s best two years were the two years when the Lewes restaurant was being rebuilt, while the worst two years have come since Lewes was rebuilt. Irish Eyes’ Lewes location has twice been rebuilt after fires. Irish Eyes has a third location in Milton.

“In a nutshell, we’re trying to be able to focus on two locations. I think we will do better that way. It stretches our management thin, and it seems you can never find enough good people to staff three locations,” she said.

While Rehoboth was the first Irish Eyes location, the large Lewes location at the wharf has become the flagship Irish Eyes restaurant. The Rehoboth location is closed for the winter, which Newcomb said would give ownership time to find a buyer.

“We have seven more years on our lease, and so, we thought we would put it for sale and see what happens during the winter when it’s closed anyway. If it doesn’t sell, we’ll be back open again March 1 or sooner,” Newcomb said.

If Rehoboth doesn’t sell, she said Irish Eyes remains committed to staying open over the duration of its lease. Newcomb said increased competition within and outside Rehoboth has concentrated sales volume in Lewes, where there is less competition.

Newcomb said if the restaurant is sold, employees would move to the Lewes location, where they work during the winter anyway. Newcomb said the sale of the Rehoboth location would be bittersweet for her parents, who started the business there in 1985.

If the restaurant is not sold, Newcomb said the Rehoboth location would reopen for the Super Bowl or in late February, early March. The Lewes and Milton locations are open year-round.