Port Orchard is now without not one — but three — fine dining establishments on Bay Street.

Amy’s On The Bay, a favorite of diners with a view of Sinclair Inlet and an outdoor deck usually packed on summer days, served its final customers on Dec. 31 after business owner Amy Creed and her husband decided to close its doors.

The business failed to find a buyer after being on the market since September 2017.

Creed also had its adjoining restaurant, Sidelines, for sale in combination with the larger restaurant for $550,000. But despite ongoing inquiries — some from local parties — and a few serious bidders expressing interest, nothing ever materialized. The asking price posted by Creed didn’t include ownership of the building, which is held by El Dorado Hills Co.

Rumors that the restaurants were to be closing populated the Port Orchard group pages on Facebook late in December. Creed later confirmed that the rumors were true just before the last day of the year.

On Facebook, Creed wrote: “My husband and I made the decision that December 31st was going to be our last day. It’s been quite a week of closing things up and settling into our new routine. I want to thank the Amy’s and Sidelines staff for all their hard work, dedication and work ethic. You guys put your heart and soul into making both establishments the neighborhood gathering place for almost 13 years.

“It has been an incredible journey and we reached milestones we did not think was possible …”

Creed, who is married and has a small child, earlier said she would be transitioning to other work nearby in the food industry. She remains active in the community and is a board member for a number of business and nonprofit service organizations.

After placing her restaurants on the market, Creed said her intention was to devote more of her time to family interests. Running two restaurant businesses kept her at Bay Street too many hours, she said, and away from her husband and daughter, who is almost 3. Creed opened Amy’s in 2006.

Cheers also shuttered

Cheers, a bar and grill that took over space previously housing the Lighthouse Restaurant in September 2016, also quietly closed its doors earlier this month.

Prior to its current identity, the location had been locally famous for its rooftop turret symbolic of a New England lighthouse and was owned by Tim Tweten’s 429 Bay Street LLC. The ownership then sold the building to Ali Kashi, owner of the Cheers Bar and Grill restaurant chain based in Tacoma. Konig, who owned and operated the Lighthouse business, subsequently was unable to come to terms with on new lease terms.

After a few months of decor changes that included removal of the turret, the Port Orchard Cheers chain opened in the location to considerable criticism from the community over its food and service. Since its opening, the Cheers restaurant has anecdotally seen a drop-off in the number of customers who have shown up to eat there, based on the number of vehicles routinely occupying its lot on weekend nights.

Kashi hasn’t returned phone calls for comment this week and so far has offered no clues about the future of the space.