Claim Jumper sold again?

ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2694
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 289 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: February 3rd, 2023, 11:18 pm
ClownLoach wrote: February 3rd, 2023, 7:12 pm Apparently South Coast Plaza location is under new ownership as its own restaurant, but it will still be called Claim Jumper. The change of ownership and new DBA paperwork is posted in the window. Owner is (number is incorrect) 14567 Costa Mesa Inc. whoever that is.
14567 Costa Mesa Inc. is still Michael Kelly.
Must be a financial game since the application is for sale to a new owner, not stock change. It's so busy still I imagine it carries that whole Kelly company one disappointed customer at a time.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: February 4th, 2023, 7:15 pm

Must be a financial game since the application is for sale to a new owner, not stock change. It's so busy still I imagine it carries that whole Kelly company one disappointed customer at a time.
Maybe it is being separated from the restaurant group.

I wonder why it is so busy? Lack of competition or does the location somehow do a better job?

Seems like the type of location that could easily be replaced by a different concept.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2694
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 289 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: February 4th, 2023, 8:10 pm
ClownLoach wrote: February 4th, 2023, 7:15 pm

Must be a financial game since the application is for sale to a new owner, not stock change. It's so busy still I imagine it carries that whole Kelly company one disappointed customer at a time.
Maybe it is being separated from the restaurant group.

I wonder why it is so busy? Lack of competition or does the location somehow do a better job?

Seems like the type of location that could easily be replaced by a different concept.
Location, location, location. It is at the end of the pedestrian bridge to two different performing arts centers. Segerstrom Hall hosts "A level" Broadway shows on tour. Last night they had Frozen, the Broadway Musical showing in a sold out show. I think back when Claim Jumper was a quality establishment it was the perfect spot for what it had evolved to early: slightly modernized, more on trend, not as Gigantic portions, no salad bars. It was the first location with the Rocky Mountain lodge architecture. It can't be ultra high end (they already have Capital Grill, Mortons and Water Grill within walking distance), but a solid quality high end American steakhouse restaurant would kill it there. The local chains that evolved out of the collapse of CJ (Nick's and South of Nick's) would kill it there. Another one that would probably be great in that spot would be Cheesecake Factory although they are a level below the potential of that spot.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: February 4th, 2023, 10:23 pm

Location, location, location. It is at the end of the pedestrian bridge to two different performing arts centers. Segerstrom Hall hosts "A level" Broadway shows on tour. Last night they had Frozen, the Broadway Musical showing in a sold out show. I think back when Claim Jumper was a quality establishment it was the perfect spot for what it had evolved to early: slightly modernized, more on trend, not as Gigantic portions, no salad bars. It was the first location with the Rocky Mountain lodge architecture. It can't be ultra high end (they already have Capital Grill, Mortons and Water Grill within walking distance), but a solid quality high end American steakhouse restaurant would kill it there. The local chains that evolved out of the collapse of CJ (Nick's and South of Nick's) would kill it there. Another one that would probably be great in that spot would be Cheesecake Factory although they are a level below the potential of that spot.
Cheesecake Factory doesn't have a great reputation in Reno and has done just okay. Not sure if it is a bad franchise or what but the location is just okay. Claim Jumper's food at the end seemed pretty similar to it to me to what Cheesecake Factory puts out in Reno, but was perhaps more expensive.

Before Cheesecake Factory opened in Reno, I went to them out of town multiple times and always enjoyed it. I didn't think it was off the charts great but I enjoyed it and found it above average. Once the Reno one opened and I tried it a few times, with marginal results, I never went to an out of town location again either. Funny how that works. For that level of chain and oversized menu concept, BJ's covers it the best in Reno.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2694
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 289 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: February 5th, 2023, 10:48 am
ClownLoach wrote: February 4th, 2023, 10:23 pm

Location, location, location. It is at the end of the pedestrian bridge to two different performing arts centers. Segerstrom Hall hosts "A level" Broadway shows on tour. Last night they had Frozen, the Broadway Musical showing in a sold out show. I think back when Claim Jumper was a quality establishment it was the perfect spot for what it had evolved to early: slightly modernized, more on trend, not as Gigantic portions, no salad bars. It was the first location with the Rocky Mountain lodge architecture. It can't be ultra high end (they already have Capital Grill, Mortons and Water Grill within walking distance), but a solid quality high end American steakhouse restaurant would kill it there. The local chains that evolved out of the collapse of CJ (Nick's and South of Nick's) would kill it there. Another one that would probably be great in that spot would be Cheesecake Factory although they are a level below the potential of that spot.
Cheesecake Factory doesn't have a great reputation in Reno and has done just okay. Not sure if it is a bad franchise or what but the location is just okay. Claim Jumper's food at the end seemed pretty similar to it to me to what Cheesecake Factory puts out in Reno, but was perhaps more expensive.

Before Cheesecake Factory opened in Reno, I went to them out of town multiple times and always enjoyed it. I didn't think it was off the charts great but I enjoyed it and found it above average. Once the Reno one opened and I tried it a few times, with marginal results, I never went to an out of town location again either. Funny how that works. For that level of chain and oversized menu concept, BJ's covers it the best in Reno.
Which is odd since BJs is absolutely disgusting these days in SoCal where they are headquartered. Nasty food, dirty restaurants, Long waits for a table in an empty restaurant. Obviously frozen and commissary prepped foods all over the menu except for the pizza itself. And prices have never been higher. Used to be great now it's gross.

Cheesecake Factory I would imagine does poorly if they are struggling with labor. Their food prep is 100% done in house and all sauces are made from scratch in each restaurant daily. No commissary. If they were short staffed I would expect problems. It sounds like Reno is very staffing challenged based on your other posts. Cheesecake Factory must have a very high volume of business to be able to make their labor intensive process work.

Only thing that arrives prepared ironically is the cheesecake itself which is frozen. They don't franchise but do sell their (frozen) baked goods to others.
jamcool
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1019
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 10:27 pm
Been thanked: 50 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by jamcool »

It sounds like nobody wants to work in Reno (or California).
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: February 6th, 2023, 8:47 pm

Which is odd since BJs is absolutely disgusting these days in SoCal where they are headquartered. Nasty food, dirty restaurants, Long waits for a table in an empty restaurant. Obviously frozen and commissary prepped foods all over the menu except for the pizza itself. And prices have never been higher. Used to be great now it's gross.

Cheesecake Factory I would imagine does poorly if they are struggling with labor. Their food prep is 100% done in house and all sauces are made from scratch in each restaurant daily. No commissary. If they were short staffed I would expect problems. It sounds like Reno is very staffing challenged based on your other posts. Cheesecake Factory must have a very high volume of business to be able to make their labor intensive process work.

Only thing that arrives prepared ironically is the cheesecake itself which is frozen. They don't franchise but do sell their (frozen) baked goods to others.
BJ's has had ups and downs in Reno since COVID but I've had good luck. The Reno BJ's has a large brewing facility and makes most of the beer they pour in CA. I think the location may have more attention since it is important for their company.

The Reno Cheesecake Factory may be size challenged to make some of these programs work. It is a mall restaurant space. It may have opened as a Ruby Tuesday in the late 70's, then was multiple other things; was some chain called Spinakker's for a while which I thought was good but it was always dead; then was multiple independent restaurants before Cheesecake Factory.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2694
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 289 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: February 7th, 2023, 12:19 am
ClownLoach wrote: February 6th, 2023, 8:47 pm

Which is odd since BJs is absolutely disgusting these days in SoCal where they are headquartered. Nasty food, dirty restaurants, Long waits for a table in an empty restaurant. Obviously frozen and commissary prepped foods all over the menu except for the pizza itself. And prices have never been higher. Used to be great now it's gross.

Cheesecake Factory I would imagine does poorly if they are struggling with labor. Their food prep is 100% done in house and all sauces are made from scratch in each restaurant daily. No commissary. If they were short staffed I would expect problems. It sounds like Reno is very staffing challenged based on your other posts. Cheesecake Factory must have a very high volume of business to be able to make their labor intensive process work.

Only thing that arrives prepared ironically is the cheesecake itself which is frozen. They don't franchise but do sell their (frozen) baked goods to others.
BJ's has had ups and downs in Reno since COVID but I've had good luck. The Reno BJ's has a large brewing facility and makes most of the beer they pour in CA. I think the location may have more attention since it is important for their company.

The Reno Cheesecake Factory may be size challenged to make some of these programs work. It is a mall restaurant space. It may have opened as a Ruby Tuesday in the late 70's, then was multiple other things; was some chain called Spinakker's for a while which I thought was good but it was always dead; then was multiple independent restaurants before Cheesecake Factory.
There are quite a few BJs that have all the brewing equipment but it has been mothballed. They only brew in 7 locations total now and the only one that steers the ship is Boulder, Colorado. All recipes and formulas originate at the Boulder location only. It used to be that BJs actually brewed beer at every location where you see equipment and there were local flavors/varieties from each brewmaster. Those days are over. The fact that Reno is one of the few remaining actual brew locations might be why it is better than chain average. Reviewing their website appears that the only live brew locations left are Reno, Boulder, West Covina, Brea, Chandler, Huntington Beach, and Temple. The last time Huntington Beach won an award for brewing was 2010, I am almost sure that they no longer use that location for brewing. But locations like Tustin/Irvine and Laguna Hills with massive brew facilities are for decoration only now. Laguna Hills was a Gordon Biersch at one point in time and is a long, skinny restaurant with an entire wall of brew equipment that is sitting there idle. Tustin/Irvine appeared to be using the most visible tank room up front for random storage, making it as obvious as possible that they stopped using the brewing equipment. I wish someone would take over some of these locations and start brewing real beer again.

BJs was testing a new concept with a reduced menu in Anaheim Hills, the sign said BJ's GRILL and they were mainly pizzas, burgers, etc with a streamlined menu they could actually execute at a higher level of quality. Last I saw it had reverted to the same chain menu of way too many items with commissary prepared bottled sauces, pre-cut produce, water bath warmed pre-cooked meat, and frozen vegetables.

If they don't cut back their overgrown menu they're going to go down the same road as Claim Jumper and countless other restaurants that tried to be something for everyone which meant they became mediocre at everything.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2694
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 289 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

ClownLoach wrote: February 4th, 2023, 10:23 pm
storewanderer wrote: February 4th, 2023, 8:10 pm
ClownLoach wrote: February 4th, 2023, 7:15 pm

Must be a financial game since the application is for sale to a new owner, not stock change. It's so busy still I imagine it carries that whole Kelly company one disappointed customer at a time.
Maybe it is being separated from the restaurant group.

I wonder why it is so busy? Lack of competition or does the location somehow do a better job?

Seems like the type of location that could easily be replaced by a different concept.
Location, location, location. It is at the end of the pedestrian bridge to two different performing arts centers. Segerstrom Hall hosts "A level" Broadway shows on tour. Last night they had Frozen, the Broadway Musical showing in a sold out show. I think back when Claim Jumper was a quality establishment it was the perfect spot for what it had evolved to early: slightly modernized, more on trend, not as Gigantic portions, no salad bars. It was the first location with the Rocky Mountain lodge architecture. It can't be ultra high end (they already have Capital Grill, Mortons and Water Grill within walking distance), but a solid quality high end American steakhouse restaurant would kill it there. The local chains that evolved out of the collapse of CJ (Nick's and South of Nick's) would kill it there. Another one that would probably be great in that spot would be Cheesecake Factory although they are a level below the potential of that spot.
I should explain further why I said Cheesecake Factory in a spot that anyone from Smith & Wollensky to Del Frisco's Double Eagle could probably do business in: due to the fact that the location feeds into the two performing arts centers there are a lot of families in attendance. Many schools buy blocks of tickets for shows like Frozen, or the Nutcracker at Christmas. So the restaurant in this location must be family and child friendly. There are enough ultra premium steak and seafood houses within walking distance, Water Grill spent an incredible $12 MILLION building their restaurant across the street, and Din Tai Fung is just inside the doors of the mall commanding 3 hour wait times despite recently doubling the size of the restaurant. Cheesecake Factory or the CJ of the past would fit the bill perfectly. Right now CJ is staying afloat due to the captive audience, not because anyone is actively seeking out the location. When CJ was still good and this location was new they also had 90+ minute waits on a regular basis for dinner seating. I believe it was the last CJ to open in OC before they starting going downhill.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: February 7th, 2023, 12:21 pm
There are quite a few BJs that have all the brewing equipment but it has been mothballed. They only brew in 7 locations total now and the only one that steers the ship is Boulder, Colorado. All recipes and formulas originate at the Boulder location only. It used to be that BJs actually brewed beer at every location where you see equipment and there were local flavors/varieties from each brewmaster. Those days are over. The fact that Reno is one of the few remaining actual brew locations might be why it is better than chain average. Reviewing their website appears that the only live brew locations left are Reno, Boulder, West Covina, Brea, Chandler, Huntington Beach, and Temple. The last time Huntington Beach won an award for brewing was 2010, I am almost sure that they no longer use that location for brewing. But locations like Tustin/Irvine and Laguna Hills with massive brew facilities are for decoration only now. Laguna Hills was a Gordon Biersch at one point in time and is a long, skinny restaurant with an entire wall of brew equipment that is sitting there idle. Tustin/Irvine appeared to be using the most visible tank room up front for random storage, making it as obvious as possible that they stopped using the brewing equipment. I wish someone would take over some of these locations and start brewing real beer again.

BJs was testing a new concept with a reduced menu in Anaheim Hills, the sign said BJ's GRILL and they were mainly pizzas, burgers, etc with a streamlined menu they could actually execute at a higher level of quality. Last I saw it had reverted to the same chain menu of way too many items with commissary prepared bottled sauces, pre-cut produce, water bath warmed pre-cooked meat, and frozen vegetables.

If they don't cut back their overgrown menu they're going to go down the same road as Claim Jumper and countless other restaurants that tried to be something for everyone which meant they became mediocre at everything.
It seemed like during COVID BJs made some pretty severe menu cuts but has restored most/all of what they cut more recently.

The Reno location is definitely still brewing, and at a high volume. I should take a picture of all the pallets of I guess kegs or barrels behind/beside the location. Google shows it at the back of the restaurant in street view but there are way more now.
At one time Reno was BJs largest brew facility but I think Temple is now the largest. At some point in the distant past I got a tour of their facility in Reno. There was some distinct reason why they built the large brewing facility in Reno. There was some kind of issue in California. I don't know what it was.
Post Reply