Just two years after opening, the Northern Waters Restaurant at Mount Royal Shopping Center will close. A news release from owners Eric and Lynn Goerdt indicates the business has been sold and a new restaurant will replace it in early 2018.

“This has been such a rewarding and creative process,” Eric Goerdt said in the release. “We didn’t come to this decision lightly, as staff and customers are like family.”

Information about the new proprietor and restaurant replacing Northern Waters was not disclosed.

In the news release the Goerdt’s cited expansion opportunities with Northern Waters Smokehaus, a small but renowned deli in Canal Park’s DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace that inspired the Northern Waters Restaurant.

“We’re continuing to grow at the Smokehaus with our expanding delivery service, catering and mail order,” the news release noted. “Last December, we sent to every state in the country — it’s clear this needs our full attention to represent the region well.”

Goerdt informed staff of the closing last night. The restuarant will remain open until Dec. 31. Gift certificates will be honored at Northern Waters Smokehaus.