Joe’s Crab Shack, once a beach-party staple with nearly 150 locations nationwide, is now down to just 18 restaurants left standing.
Parent company Landry’s Restaurant Group has been steadily closing Joe’s locations across the U.S., alongside its other seafood brands McCormick & Schmick’s and Oceanaire Seafood Room. The latest round of shutdowns includes restaurants in California, Florida, and Texas, some replaced by newer Landry’s concepts like Dos Caminos and Mastro Ocean Club.
Landry’s, which owns more than 500 restaurants, including Morton’s The Steakhouse and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., hasn’t disclosed how many closures it has made in total. But company executive Karim Tamir said in a statement that closures are part of “strategic decisions” tied to shifting markets and customer patterns.
“As a company with over 500-plus locations, some of which have been open for over 20 years, we make the strategic decision to close certain locations given traffic patterns and new developments,” Tamir said.
Industry analysts say this is less about bad management and more about changing dining habits. The casual seafood category has been losing traction for years, squeezed by higher costs, competition, and consumer fatigue.
“Red Lobster seems to epitomize the seafood category — highly competitive, expensive protein, high prices, and some consumers just don’t like seafood,” said Darren Tristano, CEO of consulting firm FoodserviceResults. “You can get good fish at most steakhouses and upscale restaurants now. There’s less reason to go somewhere that only serves seafood.”
Joe’s Crab Shack, founded in 1991, has long struggled to find its footing. After years of sales declines and ownership changes, Landry’s first acquired the brand, sold it, then reacquired it out of bankruptcy in 2017 when its previous parent company, Ignite, collapsed.
Since then, Joe’s has limped along, closing stores as leases expired or sales fell. Consulting veteran John Gordon put it bluntly: “Joe’s Crab Shack has been a dying brand for over 15 years.”
And it’s not just Joe’s feeling the pinch. Landry’s closed its final McCormick & Schmick’s in Oregon this year, along with Oceanaire locations in Atlanta. Those spots are already being reborn under other Landry’s banners, which was a clear sign the company is shifting toward concepts with broader appeal and higher margins.
Meanwhile, the broader restaurant landscape is dealing with its own headwinds. Rising tariffs and a nearly 5% increase in wholesale food costs have added pressure on operators already working with razor-thin margins.
“Operating a restaurant is becoming increasingly difficult,” said Michelle Korsmo, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. “These new tariffs on food and beverage items will exacerbate the situation.”
For seafood chains in particular, price volatility makes consistency nearly impossible. Menu favorites like crab, shrimp, and lobster are tied to fluctuating global supply chains, and “market price” is a tough sell when customers are watching their budgets.
Still, not all signs point down. Fine dining, surprisingly, is growing again. Wealthier households, those earning over $100,000 a year, now account for the majority of restaurant spending, according to federal data. That’s good news for Landry’s higher-end brands like Morton’s and Mastro’s, even as its casual seafood spots fade out.
In other words, the tide hasn’t turned against seafood, just the old-school way of selling it.
For Joe’s Crab Shack, that might mean the party’s finally over. But for Landry’s, it looks more like a cleanup operation before the next big catch.
Source: Seafoodsource