Claim Jumper sold again?

storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

Cannot tell if this bankruptcy involves all of Claim Jumper or only parts of Claim Jumper.
https://cases.stretto.com/claimjumper/c ... petitions/

It also appears to involve some other things Landry sold to Kelly including Joe's Crab Shack Redondo Beach (which closed a few months ago) and some other random Landry locations.
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

Interesting bankruptcy claim here:

They owe Sysco $8.9 million
IRS $5 million
Landrys $1.9 million
CA $1.9 million
Some "class action rep" whatever that is $1.4 million

Various other sales tax authorities and landlords...

I guess this was the way for Landrys to get rid of Claim Jumper. Give it to someone else who would bankrupt it.

Maybe the founding family can try to buy it back again. May be best for the chain to just go as it may go, and others to just move on.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2689
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 288 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: January 5th, 2023, 10:08 pm
ClownLoach wrote: January 5th, 2023, 2:10 pm
We will have to agree to disagree. Landry drastically downgraded the quality of ingredients and changed to their chain wide generics well before they sold it to Kelly. Example - the potato skins appetizer came with a house made sour cream dip that I have yet to be able to replicate. It was spicy and tangy, topped with fresh cut chives. Suddenly one day the sour cream dip had been replaced by generic ranch dressing that tasted like corn syrup was the first ingredient. All the other salad dressings were made in house fresh - again these were all switched to bottled dressings from some generic vendor like Sysco to save labor and increase profit. Those little things were easy profit drivers but customers notice things like that, replacing fresh made guacamole with the stuff in a plastic bag like Wholly Guacamole product. Mashed potatoes used to be made from scratch several times a day, hand mashed red new potatoes from a small farm in Idaho. They were switched to the machine made crap that comes in a giant plastic tube like chub ground beef and gets warmed on a steam table. Tillamook sharp cheese that was sliced "double thick" in house was switched to the Pre sliced generic Sysco cheddar with preservative powder added. The food became generic and the portions reduced. If there was something in the Landrys ordering catalog that was "close enough" then it was to be used going forward in all recipes. Again the customers noticed that the food was not "close enough" to the CJ dishes they loved and as such was not worth the premium price. If it tastes like Dennys, Chili's or Applebee's food why pay CJ pricing? And of course you no longer need a quality Executive Chef in each location when most of your food is coming out of a bottle, pouch, can, bag or freezer.

An even more massive destruction under Landry was the bar program. CJ had an amazing bar book menu with hundreds of unique, large and powerful drinks. That menu updated a couple of times each year after the company wide contests in which bartenders and bar managers could submit their own drinks for inclusion in the next menu. It was fun to see the new drinks and where they came from, especially when you found out that one came from the bartender who was actually serving you that night. They were not cheap - many drinks were pushing $15+ all the way back in early 2000's - but they used quality premium liquors, juices and mixes prepared fresh daily, and again massive quantities. Landry switched over to a minimal bar menu of all generic bottled juices and mixes, no name well liquors and "premium liquors" like Bacardi, Jack Daniels, and Smirnoff - massive downgrades. All the real premium liquors just went to the top shelf to sit there. With a dumbed down low quality cocktail program CJ no longer needed professional bartenders or bar managers and probably cut hundreds of prep hours each week just from the bar. And worst of all if you asked them to make your favorite drink that had been removed from the menu they literally said they were not allowed (probably because so many of the ingredients were no longer stocked).

Kelly took the downgrade to the next level. Prime steaks became commercial grade. Ground sirloin and filet had been downgraded to generic ground beef, but under Kelly became frozen burger patties even though the menu says fresh (you know a frozen burger party when you see it). I suspect all their proteins are frozen. Even the cheap cheddar is too good for Kelly so they downgraded to Burger King quality American, the gummy plasticy type.

What is sad is that restaurants like Cheesecake Factory still to this day are making all of their items from scratch in the restaurant every single day, in restaurants with an even larger menu. (only thing that Cheesecake Factory brings in frozen/pre-made ironically is the cheesecake and bread). Somehow they've figured out how to make dozens of sauces and dressings from scratch and prep all their meats and produce in house without going broke. Their pricing and portions are similar to CJ but the quality is still good (never as great as CJ was in its heyday, but just proves the point that the primary failure of CJ was the destruction of the food quality and service).
I see what you are saying as far as the changes Landry made. I was more of the point that the products Landry was selling at least seemed to be sort of okay at Claim Jumper. Just generic stuff. But Claim Jumper wasn't a restaurant for generic stuff- it was a restaurant for good stuff. So what Landrys did putting it under its group buying was to try and find identical ingredients to someone in Texas analyzing the order book, but not looking at the actual taste of the replacement vs. the better offer Claim Jumper had on its own. Still when I look at what Landry was selling and what Kelly was selling, I think Landry had a lot higher quality food than Kelly.

Also it appears there is some kind of bankruptcy with the Claim Jumper portion that is owned by Kelly. Article is fee.
https://www.bankruptcompanynews.com/cla ... secured-c/
Agreed - the food lost its unique character under Landry but it wasn't "bad" unlike the current Sysco garbage they serve today under Kelly. Funny that they owe Sysco so much money but you don't see any other big food vendors. I recall they had Harris Ranch steaks at one point and a few other vendors specifically named on the menu (Rocky chicken maybe after Zacky went out of business?). But everything they cook with now is generic Sysco junk you can find at any other restaurant, probably all frozen and/or pre-made.

The bankruptcy filing looks like they made individual LLCs for the restaurants they closed or plan to close. Looks like the onetime flagship South Coast Plaza location is going to be shutting its doors soon. It's a pretty large restaurant although I remember when it opened they commented on the smaller size compared to a traditional CJ (they didn't have room for the "Produce Bar" and had a slightly smaller menu). I wonder if they could split it up and maybe Nick's takes half of it?
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: January 7th, 2023, 1:33 pm
Agreed - the food lost its unique character under Landry but it wasn't "bad" unlike the current Sysco garbage they serve today under Kelly. Funny that they owe Sysco so much money but you don't see any other big food vendors. I recall they had Harris Ranch steaks at one point and a few other vendors specifically named on the menu (Rocky chicken maybe after Zacky went out of business?). But everything they cook with now is generic Sysco junk you can find at any other restaurant, probably all frozen and/or pre-made.

The bankruptcy filing looks like they made individual LLCs for the restaurants they closed or plan to close. Looks like the onetime flagship South Coast Plaza location is going to be shutting its doors soon. It's a pretty large restaurant although I remember when it opened they commented on the smaller size compared to a traditional CJ (they didn't have room for the "Produce Bar" and had a slightly smaller menu). I wonder if they could split it up and maybe Nick's takes half of it?
My last visit to the Reno one before it closed, there were no vendor-specific references like that on the menu at all.

One of the people I was with ordered one of the "prime" steaks 1600 degree temperature cook and it came out within about 10 minutes of the order being placed (it was a ribeye), I have no clue how that worked, maybe these were par-cooked frozen steaks and they just finished them off in the location. The cost was like $45 (and no sides were included) and it was described to me pretty good but not $45 good, more like $15 casino special level. At least since we were in NV, we did not get hit with a 3% service fee.

The Reno Claim Jumper never had a Produce Bar either. I don't think the one I ate at in CO back when they were in CO, or Roseville, or Concord had one either. I seem to recall seeing those in SoCal. I think at some point they quit including that feature in their new builds. Did some Claim Jumpers have multiple Produce Bars? Claim Jumper had a separate station to do salads as part of kitchen/prep (it was responsible for the Produce Bar too, but not necessary located near the Produce Bar) so it is possible to maximize efficiency of that station they phased out Produce Bars and just had that station prepare all of the salads.

Landry has a salad bar at Chart House. Not much variety on it.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2689
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 288 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: January 8th, 2023, 12:00 am
ClownLoach wrote: January 7th, 2023, 1:33 pm
Agreed - the food lost its unique character under Landry but it wasn't "bad" unlike the current Sysco garbage they serve today under Kelly. Funny that they owe Sysco so much money but you don't see any other big food vendors. I recall they had Harris Ranch steaks at one point and a few other vendors specifically named on the menu (Rocky chicken maybe after Zacky went out of business?). But everything they cook with now is generic Sysco junk you can find at any other restaurant, probably all frozen and/or pre-made.

The bankruptcy filing looks like they made individual LLCs for the restaurants they closed or plan to close. Looks like the onetime flagship South Coast Plaza location is going to be shutting its doors soon. It's a pretty large restaurant although I remember when it opened they commented on the smaller size compared to a traditional CJ (they didn't have room for the "Produce Bar" and had a slightly smaller menu). I wonder if they could split it up and maybe Nick's takes half of it?
My last visit to the Reno one before it closed, there were no vendor-specific references like that on the menu at all.

One of the people I was with ordered one of the "prime" steaks 1600 degree temperature cook and it came out within about 10 minutes of the order being placed (it was a ribeye), I have no clue how that worked, maybe these were par-cooked frozen steaks and they just finished them off in the location. The cost was like $45 (and no sides were included) and it was described to me pretty good but not $45 good, more like $15 casino special level. At least since we were in NV, we did not get hit with a 3% service fee.

The Reno Claim Jumper never had a Produce Bar either. I don't think the one I ate at in CO back when they were in CO, or Roseville, or Concord had one either. I seem to recall seeing those in SoCal. I think at some point they quit including that feature in their new builds. Did some Claim Jumpers have multiple Produce Bars? Claim Jumper had a separate station to do salads as part of kitchen/prep (it was responsible for the Produce Bar too, but not necessary located near the Produce Bar) so it is possible to maximize efficiency of that station they phased out Produce Bars and just had that station prepare all of the salads.

Landry has a salad bar at Chart House. Not much variety on it.
I should have mentioned that they had specific brands listed, like Harris Ranch, Certified Angus Beef, and Tillamook prior to the Landry takeover.

Funny that I've never seen a Chart House with a salad bar. But most of them around SoCal are gone. Last time I ate there was Valentines Day in Dana Point about ten years ago and it was one of the absolute worst restaurant experiences of my life. Service was horrid, yes it was Valentine's day but good restaurants plan for it and figure out how to run it right. My meal showed up and my wife's didn't for over half an hour after, I had to remind the server three times and when her food did arrive it was cold and clearly had been sitting waiting for a long time. My steak was blasted beyond well done, absolutely inedible and disgusting, was supposed to be medium rare. One of the few times in my life I left no tip because the server was a complete jerk about everything I asked them to fix. Another chain that was destroyed by Landrys. It's strange because it seems like they invest in good service and food in concepts they either started themselves or are interested in. Like I said before I've never had anything but great experiences at Saltgrass in Texas, they seem to run those with pride and they still have unique menu items. But if they don't care about the concept then they are handed the Sysco generic catalog and told to figure out how to replace everything on the menu with pre-made crap.
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: January 9th, 2023, 12:30 pm

I should have mentioned that they had specific brands listed, like Harris Ranch, Certified Angus Beef, and Tillamook prior to the Landry takeover.

Funny that I've never seen a Chart House with a salad bar. But most of them around SoCal are gone. Last time I ate there was Valentines Day in Dana Point about ten years ago and it was one of the absolute worst restaurant experiences of my life. Service was horrid, yes it was Valentine's day but good restaurants plan for it and figure out how to run it right. My meal showed up and my wife's didn't for over half an hour after, I had to remind the server three times and when her food did arrive it was cold and clearly had been sitting waiting for a long time. My steak was blasted beyond well done, absolutely inedible and disgusting, was supposed to be medium rare. One of the few times in my life I left no tip because the server was a complete jerk about everything I asked them to fix. Another chain that was destroyed by Landrys. It's strange because it seems like they invest in good service and food in concepts they either started themselves or are interested in. Like I said before I've never had anything but great experiences at Saltgrass in Texas, they seem to run those with pride and they still have unique menu items. But if they don't care about the concept then they are handed the Sysco generic catalog and told to figure out how to replace everything on the menu with pre-made crap.
I remember many decades ago being taken to a Chart House in Hawaii and it had an expansive salad bar in a big open space and it was perhaps the first time I ate salad. The one at Lake Tahoe has a much smaller salad bar. I thought salad bars were part of the Chart House brand for some reason. The Lake Tahoe Chart House is solid Landry's quality (take the phrase as it comes) food with some great views but the views get worse and worse as the trees keep growing. The restaurant is professionally operated and maintained perfectly. At one time it had a much better lake view. The food and pricing there, while very high priced, is better (and much cheaper) than the food the comparable outlets in the nearby casinos are selling.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2689
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 288 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: January 10th, 2023, 12:52 am
ClownLoach wrote: January 9th, 2023, 12:30 pm

I should have mentioned that they had specific brands listed, like Harris Ranch, Certified Angus Beef, and Tillamook prior to the Landry takeover.

Funny that I've never seen a Chart House with a salad bar. But most of them around SoCal are gone. Last time I ate there was Valentines Day in Dana Point about ten years ago and it was one of the absolute worst restaurant experiences of my life. Service was horrid, yes it was Valentine's day but good restaurants plan for it and figure out how to run it right. My meal showed up and my wife's didn't for over half an hour after, I had to remind the server three times and when her food did arrive it was cold and clearly had been sitting waiting for a long time. My steak was blasted beyond well done, absolutely inedible and disgusting, was supposed to be medium rare. One of the few times in my life I left no tip because the server was a complete jerk about everything I asked them to fix. Another chain that was destroyed by Landrys. It's strange because it seems like they invest in good service and food in concepts they either started themselves or are interested in. Like I said before I've never had anything but great experiences at Saltgrass in Texas, they seem to run those with pride and they still have unique menu items. But if they don't care about the concept then they are handed the Sysco generic catalog and told to figure out how to replace everything on the menu with pre-made crap.
I remember many decades ago being taken to a Chart House in Hawaii and it had an expansive salad bar in a big open space and it was perhaps the first time I ate salad. The one at Lake Tahoe has a much smaller salad bar. I thought salad bars were part of the Chart House brand for some reason. The Lake Tahoe Chart House is solid Landry's quality (take the phrase as it comes) food with some great views but the views get worse and worse as the trees keep growing. The restaurant is professionally operated and maintained perfectly. At one time it had a much better lake view. The food and pricing there, while very high priced, is better (and much cheaper) than the food the comparable outlets in the nearby casinos are selling.
Dana Point is a breathtaking location, the restaurant is almost embedded into the cliffs. It is the type of location for a world class restaurant. Chart House clearly takes advantage of the location bringing people in and gives them just plain horrible service and food quality. I decided to look up their Yelp reviews and it is sitting at 3 stars. The reviews are consistent with my bad experiences. Many reviews talk about how they had especially bad experiences on holidays - which makes no sense considering the implementation of holiday prix fixe menus that are very limited compared to the regular menu. They should be even better on holidays because of the limited focused menu but it sounds like they ruined Christmas for a lot of people just a few weeks ago. I'm sure they own the property which I would imagine is worth a fortune, I would guess worth $25 million or more just for the land. At this point they need to close it, fire everyone associated with it, and start from scratch under a different brand. They have ruined the reputation of this landmark location. Maybe they could convert it to a Del Frisco's?

Being on the West Coast I can think of too many examples of restaurants that have similar beautiful locations with ocean views and floor to ceiling windows, and they take advantage of their customers with mediocre microwaved steaks and frozen seafood. Unfortunately Chart House looks like they went down that route a decade ago and the reviews indicate they have made zero progress or improvements. They cannot continue to serve mediocre food with bad service at high prices without destroying the Chart House brand completely.
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: January 10th, 2023, 1:39 pm

Dana Point is a breathtaking location, the restaurant is almost embedded into the cliffs. It is the type of location for a world class restaurant. Chart House clearly takes advantage of the location bringing people in and gives them just plain horrible service and food quality. I decided to look up their Yelp reviews and it is sitting at 3 stars. The reviews are consistent with my bad experiences. Many reviews talk about how they had especially bad experiences on holidays - which makes no sense considering the implementation of holiday prix fixe menus that are very limited compared to the regular menu. They should be even better on holidays because of the limited focused menu but it sounds like they ruined Christmas for a lot of people just a few weeks ago. I'm sure they own the property which I would imagine is worth a fortune, I would guess worth $25 million or more just for the land. At this point they need to close it, fire everyone associated with it, and start from scratch under a different brand. They have ruined the reputation of this landmark location. Maybe they could convert it to a Del Frisco's?

Being on the West Coast I can think of too many examples of restaurants that have similar beautiful locations with ocean views and floor to ceiling windows, and they take advantage of their customers with mediocre microwaved steaks and frozen seafood. Unfortunately Chart House looks like they went down that route a decade ago and the reviews indicate they have made zero progress or improvements. They cannot continue to serve mediocre food with bad service at high prices without destroying the Chart House brand completely.
I have been surprised they have continued to execute the Lake Tahoe Chart House as well as they have over the years. Tahoe is extremely difficult to staff and operate.

That Dana Point unit sounds like it needs to be refreshed into a different brand.

You are right about how many places take advantage of a breathtaking location and charge a fortune for not great food. As long as there are enough tourists around, it keeps working.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2689
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 288 times
Status: Offline

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by ClownLoach »

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.
storewanderer
Posts: 14378
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: Claim Jumper sold again?

Post by storewanderer »

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.
Post Reply