Joe's Crab Shack

[EMPshockwave82]

I've been sent to Southern California for training for 3 weeks in the dead of winter. I'm so angry they have sent me from the foot of snow that Chicago has received into the warm climates of SOCAL!!!!!!


My co-workers and I are on a fat building quest to eat at 50 different restaurants in the Rancho Cucamonga area in 19 days. We figure that we can build up a good 15 lbs of extra weight and join the next ongoing season of the biggest loser. Anyways.....


Monday night we approach Joe's Crab Shack and find the parking lot mostly empty. We walk in the front door to find the restaurant mostly the same. It's a Monday night so we figure that it's normal Monday night slowdown and say that we'd like a table for 4 (man this must be a hard order to fill). Immediately we are met with the, "that will be 30 minutes until we can seat you" type comment. (note: there are about 20 open tables). The host says that they severely understaffed their servers this particular Monday. No big deal it happens.

Our group ventures out again this evening (Wednesday) and once again thinks that some chain seafood sounds really good. Walk into Joe's Crab Shack (the same one) and see at least 20 open tables. There are two groups sitting in the waiting area at this time so we know something funky is going on. It's a 15 minute wait tonight. (happy happy joy joy). One of the people in the group used to manage a restaurant and asks for the manager on duty for the evening and we are confronted with, "we sent a person home sick tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience." We told him about the Monday night issue and this was the only restaurant we had entered more than once in the 11 days we've been in SOCAL and we had been let down both times.

I know these things happen occasionally. Situations arise that cause restaurants to not be able to seat people right away (even with open tables spread around the restaurant). The issue we have is that these problems should not arise 2 times in 3 days to a point where a 15 minute wait is required with over 1/2 of your restaurant empty. In a management situation if this occurs you need to end yourself or start figuring out what you are doing wrong because something horrible is happening under your leadership.


Cliffs for the lazy bastards:
1. Learn to read
2. ....
3. Profit

 

[MikeMike]

it's a front.

 

[Born2bwire]

As far as chain seafood restaurants go, Joe's is pretty good though.

 

[gorcorps]

Piss poor management is pretty common in the food industry.

 

[SearchMaster]

I've been to Joe's (in Atlanta) once. We had three youngish children with us...they told us it would be a 30 minute wait. After being told "just 30 more minutes" for almost 2.5 hours, we found a little diner nearby.

Never again. Ever.

 

[Fritzo]

The Joe's closed here. It was a terrible place. They tried to make it look "fun" and "unusual", but it came off as dirty, poorly staffed, and the food was overprice and poor quality.

Not the best place to go for seafood.

 

[TwiceOver]

What's their slogan again? "Joe Knows (about having) Crabs?"

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

The Joe's here sucks also. It's a kids playhouse more than anything - they have a huge dirty sandbox and jungle gym.


I think it's more of a place for miserable parents to get drunk while their kids terrorize patrons more than anything else. I've crossed it off my list of acceptable places to eat.

 

[lokiju]

Same shit happened at a Chili's to me and the wife a few weeks ago.

We get in there, the place is all but empty since it's a week night and they make us wait 15 mins to be seated.

They said they were understaffed.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
The Joe's closed here. It was a terrible place. They tried to make it look "fun" and "unusual", but it came off as dirty, poorly staffed, and the food was overprice and poor quality.

Not the best place to go for seafood.

i dunno about dirty, but poorly staffed and overpriced poor quality food are landry's trademarks. they really squeeze those two portions of the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 model of restaurant management. joe's was sold by landry's about a year ago but i would not be surprised if a lot of the management style hasn't been changed for the better.




i'm going to guess that 'understaffed' restaurants will become more common for weekdays. they were already slow to begin with and with economic slowdown the first thing that goes is eating out. so the restaurants will close sections while leaving the lights on.

 

[jiggahertz]

I haven't been to one of these in years when I used to live in MI. Do they still play Will Smith music constantly?

 

[rudder]

SOCAL??? That seafood was probably trucked in fresh frozen from the east coast.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I went there recently with my wife and son and was totally unimpressed. That place sucks IMO. The food is greasy as hell, the seafood tastes fishy (I think they smother it in butter to try to mask that but it doesn't work), the place always looks dingy, and the atmosphere is just annoyingly loud and obnoxious.

I'd rather eat at Chili's or Islands...or better yet, a locally owned and operated 5 star restaurant.

Just out of curiousity, where in SoCal were you?

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
I went there recently with my wife and son and was totally unimpressed. That place sucks IMO. The food is greasy as hell, the seafood tastes fishy (I think they smother it in butter to try to mask that but it doesn't work), the place always looks dingy, and the atmosphere is just annoyingly loud and obnoxious.

I'd rather eat at Chili's or Islands...or better yet, a locally owned and operated 5 star restaurant.

Just out of curiousity, where in SoCal were you?

I'm in Rancho Cucamonga for training for a couple weeks. The Joe's Crab Shack in question here is the one on Foothill and Day Creek.

Joe's food typically isn't terrible to me but it's not amazing either. My biggest complaint was that TWICE in 3 days we got the "understaffed" line. If you are understaffed 66% of the time then why should I ever come back.

 

[Ns1]

you're in SoCal and you're not going to a chinese restaurant for crab? Are you fucking mad?

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Sorry Sir. I will do better next time.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: EMPshockwave82
Sorry Sir. I will do better next time.

Hop on the freeway, go here

Text

Buy crab or lobster. Get it done house special.




Other stuff within driving distance

- Foo Foo Tei (Hacienda Heights) - REAL ramen + japanese curry
- Wonton Forest (Rowland Heights) - Won Ton Noodles

 

[KK]

Same shit happened to us at the one at Station Square in Pittsburgh when we were visiting my mother. We get there, tons of open tables, 20 minute wait. We stuck around for probably 25 minutes then said fuck it. Went over to the hard rock. I think my mother did complain either online or on the phone, I pretty sure it was online, someone called hear back and offered compensation and sent some gift cards to her. I don't know if she ever used them or not.

We have one down here south of Atlanta, Morrow, and never had an issue like that. I don't much care for the food as I don't like seafood, and usually get the cheeseburger when I get forced to go by the wife.

 

[summit]

the waitresses are usually SMOKIN' HOT there.