All in the family at Barn 34 in Ocean City

For the first time in more than 30 years, Mary Anne Lawson isn’t in the kitchen cooking this summer.

Lawson, along with her husband, Mike, son Mike Jr. and daughter Courtney, own and operate Barn 34 in Ocean City after formerly owning Pirate’s Den for nearly 20 years and managing Castle in the Sand before that.

But before Mary Anne and her husband went ahead with construction on Barn 34 four years ago when Pirate’s Den was being demolished, they wanted to make sure their son was fully on-board.

These days, it’s a good thing he is. Because as far as family restaurants go, it doesn’t get much more family-oriented than Barn 34, the breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks hangout at 34th Street and Coastal Highway.

During the summer months, Mary Anne, 62, and her husband live behind the restaurant.

These days, though, she’s not making the short walk into the restaurant too often. Six weeks ago, after a heart murmur led to aortic stenosis, Mary Anne had open heart surgery at Washington Hospital Center.

A staple in the kitchen during the daytime hours, it only made sense learning she’d worked through pain all the way through a Sunday breakfast service before going to the hospital that night and going under the knife the next day.

“They say a year, maybe even two years until I feel back to normal,” Mary Anne said. “But I’m feeling good.”

Good enough that she’s making that short walk a little more than she should.

“She’s still in there and telling us what we’re not doing right,” Mike Jr. said. “She always tries to go in the kitchen.”

There, Courtney has assumed her mother’s role. Mike Jr. said he’s not much of a morning guy, so he’s happy his sister is the one waking up at 4:30 a.m. and taking care of the mornings.

"I don't know what I would have done without her," Mike Jr. said.

With the Lawson parents taking a step back, their children have stepped up.

“Everyone always asks me what my role is,” Mike Jr. said. “I don’t really have one. We all kind of do everything. I go from writing checks to washing dishes to waiting tables, bussing tables, washing dishes, bartending. Whatever needs to be done. Dad doesn’t like giving out roles to people because he doesn’t like having people think that they’re above other people.”

“I don’t think anyone would believe how this restaurant runs,” Mary Anne said with a laugh. “I’m so proud of these guys because they just took it over.”

Whatever they’re doing, it’s working. The restaurant, known most for its breakfast (the Captain Crunch French Toast is a favorite), was on a wait Monday morning at 10:30 on a beautiful, sunny day. On Sundays, the restaurant does about 700 breakfasts.

But when the family made the move over to the restaurant (just down the road from where Pirate’s Den was located by the Ocean Voyager hotel, now the La Quinta Inn), they took over the old Christmas Spirit building, which had a unique design.

Taking advantage of the new space, they put an emphasis on expanding the lunch and dinner service, as well as the bar. Baltimore Magazine recently named Barn 34 among the top places to drink this summer in Ocean City.

Mike Jr. said dinner favorites include bacon-wrapped scallops, littleneck clams in butter wine garlic sauce and fish tacos that are done with a little Puerto Rican flair, a nod to the place the family would spend a lot of time during the off-seasons when Pirate’s Den would close.

Barn 34 only closes for six weeks in January and early February, so they spend a little less time there these days.

In January, Mike Jr. got married to his wife, Christina, in Puerto Rico. Christina owns ish Boutique, a few storefronts down from Barn 34, alongside Jenny Carven, wife of TJ Carven, who along with Johnny Collins made construction of Barn 34 possible.

Carven and Collins are teaming up again to help build a second-level outdoor seating area on the south side of Barn 34. The hope is the project will be done before the year is over.

Asked about other new features on the way, the youngest Lawson talked about different riffs on the Captain Crunch French Toast and other things they might try.

“I thought I was supposed to settle down on adding specials,” Mary Anne said to her son.

“Well … you know,” Mike replied, knowing quite well that his mother wants nothing more than to be in the kitchen.