Hooters has had enough, but its former landlord wants more.

In a counterclaim filed this summer, the owner of Harborplace says Hooters still owes nearly $500,000 in unpaid rent and fees after its abrupt exit earlier this year.

MCB Real Estate said Hooters had been violating its lease agreement for several months before its decision to shut down. The legal filing says MCB was in the process of “reestablish[ing] Harborplace as a vibrant downtown retail hub” when Hooters decided to slash its operating hours.

According to MCB, that reduction in hours was a violation of the lease and triggered additional rent payments and fees totaling $483,900.

MCB and Hooters did not respond to requests for comment. A jury trial is scheduled for March.

Hooters had been the longest-tenured restaurant at the waterfront pavilions in downtown Baltimore. The Atlanta-based restaurant chain, which features chicken wings and beer served by waitresses in tight clothing, caused a stir when it opened in 1990.

While some enjoyed Hooters, others felt it clashed with the family-friendly environment and marked the beginning of the end of Baltimore’s festival marketplace. But Hooters proved remarkably resilient, outlasting other stores and restaurants as Harborplace changed hands and fell into disrepair.

By 2023, a fifth of the gross rent generated at Harborplace came from Hooters, financial records show, and the once-maligned restaurant took its turn lamenting the decline of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. That year, Hooters sued the former and current ownership of the pavilions, calling them “unkempt, dirty and poorly maintained.”

Hooters claimed the disrepair at Harborplace — hanging wires, cracked floors and ceilings, dripping air ducts, burnt-out light bulbs and much more — harmed its business and was a violation of its lease agreement.

The lawsuit primarily targeted New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., which bought Harborplace in 2012, oversaw its decline for seven years, then defaulted on its debt in 2019. Hooters also sued MCB Real Estate, which purchased the pavilions last year for nearly $83 million.

MCB plans to raze the pavilions and build five buildings along the waterfront as part of major redevelopment of the Inner Harbor, though much of the plan could hinge on Tuesday’s election. Voters are being asked whether to amend the city charter to allow the construction of two residential towers where the Light Street Pavilion currently sits.

It was unclear how Hooters — which had a long-term lease agreement to stay at the pavilions — might have fit into the newly reimagined Harborplace.

Then in June, Hooters shuttered its restaurant in Baltimore and at more than 40 other locations across the country. Pressure from “current market conditions” led the Atlanta-based chain to close multiple “underperforming” restaurants across the country, according to a statement from the company this summer.