Eddie Romanelli’s closed up shop in Leland, officials with the restaurant’s ownership group announced Friday.
 
LM Restaurants Inc. decided not to renew the lease for the Italian restaurant at 503 Olde Waterford Way, effective immediately, according to a news release. 
 
“The decision to let the lease go was tough,” Lou Moshakos, president and owner of LM Restaurants, said in the release. “We have chosen to focus our attention to the growth of our family of restaurants.”
 
The company is still expected to open a restaurant in a building it owns in downtown Wilmington at 155 N. Front St., a former Bank of America location, said Mindy Stroupe, LM brands manager.

The downtown restaurant is still in the planning stages, Stroupe said, but will likely be a second location of LM Restaurants' Hops Supply Co. The first is at 5400 Oleander Drive. 

In addition to Hops, LM Restaurants group also includes Wilmington-area restaurants Carolina Ale House, Bluewater, Henry’s and Oceanic.
 
The 50 workers at Eddie Romanelli’s were told about the decision and offered jobs at other LM Restaurants, the release stated.

"We look forward to transferring our Leland employees to positions at our sister restaurants," said Scott Weikert, district manager of LM Restaurants. "The busy season is upon us and being able to recruit from within is great."

Eddie Romanelli's opened at the Olde Waterford Way address almost exactly 10 years ago, Stroupe said.

Based in Raleigh, LM Restaurants has restaurants across the Southeastern U.S., including Carolina Ale Houses in Virginia and Tennessee, along with licensees in Georgia, Florida and Texas, Stroupe said.