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Chaps Pit Beef north of Rehoboth Beach closes doors

Desch brothers opened Delaware’s first franchise in 2018
January 24, 2024

Story Location:
Chaps Pit Beef
19815 Coastal Highway
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
United States

Roughly five years after opening in early 2019, the first Chaps Pit Beef in Delaware has closed.

Located north of Rehoboth Beach in Coastal Station on Route 1 next to Iron Hill Brewery, the Baltimore-based franchise was brought to the area by co-owners and brothers Chris and Gary Desch.

The restaurant announced its upcoming closing Jan. 15 on its Facebook page.

“After nearly 6 years of BBQ'n for our beloved community, Famous Chaps Pit Beef of Rehoboth will serve its last customer on Sunday 1/21. This week, we hope all the amazing people we've become friends with over the years will join us for one last drink and laugh together. We want to go out on a happy note,” the post says.

It’s unclear what’s next for the commercial space, but something appears to be in the works.

For a couple of weeks now, the Cape Gazette has been running a public notice from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner announcing that Chaps Pit Beef has applied for a 13-foot extension to the bar, plus an additional seven bar seats. The notice says the applicants are doing business as The Local.

Neither of the Desch brothers could be reached for further comment.

Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. Additionally, Flood moonlights as the company’s circulation manager, which primarily means fixing boxes that are jammed with coins during daylight hours, but sometimes means delivering papers in the middle of the night. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.