Ridge, Maryland · Est. 1979

Fresh from the
Bay to your
table.

Tommy fished the Potomac every morning. Julie cooked it with love every afternoon. That's still the whole story — for over 45 years.

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Daily fresh catch
As featured in
Maryland Life
The Washington Post
Coastal Living
Southern Living
Our Story

A waterman's
restaurant

Tommy Courtney came home from Vietnam, went back to school, earned a biology degree — and then did exactly what his soul told him to do. He got back on the water. He's been fishing the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac ever since, hauling in rockfish, crabs, oysters, and whatever else the Bay offered up that morning.

Julie ran the kitchen. Kathy runs the floor. The walls are covered in photographs — locals, dignitaries, Willie Nelson — along with memorials to service members and the Apollo 13 astronauts. This is a place with real history, real people, and real food.

Coastal Living called it one of the Best Local Dives on the Water. That's about right. Just don't let the word "dive" fool you — the food is extraordinary.

1893 U.S. Coast Survey nautical chart of the Chesapeake Bay
Since 1979
Maryland Farm & Harvest · MPT

Tommy
on the water

Maryland Public Television followed Tommy out to his pound nets on the Potomac — the same nets he built by hand, the same waters he fished every morning for over 45 years. This is where your dinner came from.

Rockfish is Maryland's official state fish. Tommy knew it better than anyone.

Featured on Maryland Public Television's Maryland Farm & Harvest series.

What People Say

46 years of
loyal customers

Courtney's has the kick-off-your-shoes feel of a friend's living room, which makes it easy to relax with a paper over one of Julie's dishes, and to trade a to-do list for lingering and listening to the locals' boisterous fish tales.

Maryland Life Magazine

The rockfish stuffed with crab is the very best seafood dish in the entire Washington region. That morning fresh as always — the best seafood to be had, prepared simply but oh, so beautifully.

John Tanner's Food Blog

One of the last real deal seafood houses. They're serving fish they catch in the water right near the restaurant. Well worth the drive. Definitely get dessert.

Google Reviews, 4.3 ★
In memoriam

Thomas
Leonard
Courtney

Tommy Courtney, waterman
November 20, 1945 – March 2, 2025

Tommy started fishing at two years old. He was drafted into the Army at nineteen, served with honor in Vietnam, and came home to St. Mary's County to spend the rest of his life doing what he loved — on the water, before sunrise, catching the fish he'd serve his neighbors by afternoon.

He fished the same pound nets in Jutland Creek where his grandfather had fished before him. And he kept meticulous journals — recording temperature, weather, species, and poundage every single day on the water. The Smithsonian Institution's curator of maritime history noted there were perhaps only two other watermen in the entire region who kept records like his.

He built Courtney's from scratch with Julie, and for over 45 years there was no gap between what swam in the Potomac and what landed on your plate. That was Tommy's promise, and he kept it every single day.

He loved the sunrises going out and the sunsets coming home. He is deeply missed.

Vietnam Veteran National Defense Medal Vietnam Service Medal Good Conduct Medal

Tommy in his own words — watch him talk about his life on the water, the pound nets, and what it means to fish the Potomac every day for 45 years.

"He had great respect and admiration for nature, and enjoyed the beautiful sunrises as he went out to work, and the sunsets that ended his day."

— Family remembrance
Come See Us

At the end of
Wynne Road

We're at the end of the road, on the water, exactly where you'd expect a place like this to be. Drive down, park anywhere, walk in.

Get Directions
Hours
Open Daily
9:00 am – 8:30 pm
Phone
(301) 872-4403
Address
48290 Wynne Rd
Ridge, MD 20680
Service
Dine-In · Takeout
Curbside · Delivery