Joe’s Crab Shack has done some questionable things throughout its history. No tipping?
Awkward dance moves? Serving alcohol to minors? Keep watching to find out more!
Just a few years ago, there were Joe's Crab Shack locations everywhere. In fact,
according to FSR Magazine, there were almost 140 locations operating in 2014.
However, that kind of widespread success apparently wasn't sustainable.
In 2017, the chain abruptly closed 41 locations all around the country.
The brand left Indiana and Michigan, with no locations left in those states at the time.
However, this news didn't come as a total shock to those who knew what was happening.
The brand's parent company, Ignite,
was already struggling — they ended up filing for bankruptcy before the new owners took over.
With the tide turning against large, national sit-down chains,
we don't see Joe's Crab Shack making a major comeback anytime soon. Like many restaurants,
it too suffered from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple stores closed
in places like Cincinnati and Vancouver. We can't say we're totally surprised,
but we're sure the people who live there are going to miss their buckets of crab legs.
This incident was a particularly shocking error on the part of Joe's Crab Shack.
According to Eater, in 2016, the company came under fire for using a racist and violent photo as
interior decoration at a location in the Minneapolis area. The photo depicted a
lynching of a Black man by a white mob, and the deeply insensitive and crass caption read,
"All I said was that I didn't like the gumbo."
Two customers, Tyrone Williams and Chauntyll Allen, noticed the photo and did some research.
They discovered that it was an actual photo of a lynching that took place in 1896.
When they brought it to the manager's attention, they received an apology,
but nothing was done to rectify the situation.
The company did apologize, according to U.S.A. Today, but that really doesn't excuse them from
the fact that they allowed this décor to be placed in their restaurants. Many felt like this casual
portrayal of racial violence in what was supposed to be a family-friendly restaurant underscored the
fact that racism is still a problem that this country has not yet reckoned with.
If you've worked in the restaurant industry before, then you know that tipping can be
a major problem. At most establishments, servers are paid far below minimum wage.
In fact, the minimum wage for tipped workers is only $2.13. Basically,
by the time they're done paying their taxes, they aren't making any money from the pay itself.
Instead, tipped workers are essentially paid with tips only.
On a good night at a good restaurant, this means that a server can leave with a significant sum of
cash. However, more often than not, servers get tables who tip very little or don't tip at all.
In some cases, a customer not leaving a tip could even cost a server money.
Therefore, it makes sense why companies would want to get rid of their tipping policy.
That's exactly what Joe's Crab Shack attempted to do in 2015, according to CNN.
Customers were no longer expected to tip at 18 Joe's Crab Shack locations,
but prices on the menu were raised by 12 to 15 percent — less than what you should be tipping,
by the way. It was the first major chain to drop tipping, and it didn't go too well.
By 2016, the no-tipping idea had proved to be a bust, according to The New York Times.
Patrons didn't spend as much money at the restaurant, and customers felt like they
got worse service without using the tip as an incentive. It's too bad it didn't work out.
"Joe's Crab Shack: case closed."
In the U.S., the drinking age is 21. Say what you want about that law, but restaurants must
abide by it if they want to stay in business. At some restaurants, servers have to check people's
IDs to make sure that college kids who are under 21 aren't trying to order alcohol.
But while it may be easy to mistake a 19-year-old for a 21-year-old,
it's a bit harder to accidentally serve alcohol to a two-year-old. Alas,
that's what happened at a Joe's Crab Shack in Colorado Springs, according to Grub Street.
One family took six children ages 2 to 8 to a local Joe's Crab Shack, where they ordered
a drink referred to as "Shark Nibbles." It was supposed to be a non-alcoholic, fruity
drink that came with a shark toy. Instead, they were accidentally served Shark Bites, which is
a similar version of the same drink, but it comes loaded with booze. The two-year-old had finished
their drink by the time the staff realized what had happened. Paramedics were then called.
Everyone makes mistakes, but this one was a major mishap. The employee who served
the drinks to the family was fired by the restaurant, according to Business Insider.
If you've never been to Joe's Crab Shack before, then you may not know what the vibe
is all about. Overall, it's a pretty high-energy restaurant.
It's a family establishment, after all. But even compared to most other family restaurants,
Joe's Crab Shack is a little over the top. Every once in a while,
a song will come on the speakers and blast through the eatery. That's when servers take to the aisles
and start performing a dance. You can find videos of these dances all over the internet.
For those who love to dance, we can imagine that this job would be a lot of fun. However,
we can see how it would get old, too; you're just trying to do your job, and then you have to stop
taking care of your tables just to do a dance. And as a customer, it's kind of annoying to watch your
server do the Cha-Cha Slide when you're patiently waiting on your drink to come out to the table.
There has been a lot of controversy over fat and trans fats over the past few decades,
but researchers seem to agree now: Trans fat is not good for you, and it's something that you
want to avoid whenever possible. That's why restaurants don't exactly want to advertise
that they're using trans fats in their dishes. However, Joe's Crab Shack came under fire a few
years ago because, despite their claims that they didn't use trans fats in their foods,
many of the restaurant's dishes were actually packed with trans fat, according to Today.
In 2014, the Center for Science in the Public Interest reported that the chain was using
extremely high quantities of trans fats in their foods.
Former executive director of the CSPI said of the restaurant's claims,
"It's simply dishonest. There is lots of trans fats in some of their products."
And not only did these products contain trans fats,
but some dishes even had as much as a week's worth of trans fats in one meal.
It's important that restaurants are honest about what kinds of food they're serving
their patrons so that those customers can make informed decisions about their health.
This behavior definitely raises eyebrows about
what other shady business practices are going on within the company.
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