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Will Landry's Ever Come to the Northeast?

I keep hearing great things about this restaurant chain. Why aren't they in the Northeast yet?

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  1. You might want to check and see if they have a website and send them an email with that question.They may do so,but not right now for whatever reason.

    1. They used to have a crab house at Chelsea Piers in NYC. Not sure if it is still there, but it was a replica of one here in the Houston area. Landry's is very agressive in Texas and has received a bit of negative publcity. They seem to buy good established restaurants and cookie cutter them for the masses. The result is generally a mediocre dining experience. That said, they're making $$$.

      1. They have a few locations in the Northeast, but you have to dig into their huge mishmash of chain names. In the Boston area there are two: Chart House on Long Wharf, and a Rainforest Cafe up in Burlington (yeah, that's them too).

        Look up more names and locations here http://www.landrysrestaurants.com/

        My main experience with them was Joe's Crab Shack, which I visited a few times while it was under their direction, but it appears they have since divested that one. Was, well, mediocre, not much to recommend it over something like Red Lobster, even.

        2 Replies
        1. re: CrazyOne

          Chart House and Rainforest Cafe, huh? In that case, I'm glad Landry's doesn't have more of a presence up in the Northeast. There are enough mediocre chains here as it is.

          1. re: pbergen

            I don't like the Rainforest Cafe, either, but I've heard that Landry's is really good from several different folks. Definitely two completely different types of restaurants....

        2. I've eaten at the Joe's Crab Shack in the Alamo Quarry Marketplace in San Antonio,and have not had any bad experiences there.Every time I have gone,it's been good.

          1 Reply
          1. re: HollyDolly

            My one and only experience with Joe's was that same one in SAT. One of the worst dining experiences in my life. I had not heard of the chain when my Cajun colleague dragged me in swearing it was great. Imagine my disappointment to find that there was no local seafood. We're talking south Texas here. Where's the fresh shrimp? All the seafood was all frozen/fried Mrs. Paul's quality. And the waitstaff was too busy doing their standing-on-the-tables singing to bother to bring us our food when it was ready, so it arrived cold. But at least the prices were high. It's especially galling to know that there were at the time a couple of great local restos in the same Quarry center that I could have eaten at instead. Admittedly, that was years ago, but it was such a bad experience I vowed (and have kept my vow) to never go back.

          2. I have dined at a Landry's in Tampa. Staggeringly mediocre, completely unmemorable. The food registered as flavorless fuel, only consumed because it was lunchtime and I was hungry. All of the eateries in this group trade in dull food.

            3 Replies
            1. re: rjw_lgb_ca

              Hm. On second thought, maybe we're lucky not to have the place up here in New England!

              1. re: hiddenboston

                There must be good local seafood places in the Boston area, right? I'd hate to think there weren't!

                I've been up there a couple times but staying with family and oddly some of them don't really care for seafood! So I don't get to sample much. I'm not averse to chains on principle or anything, but I doubt you're missing much by not having Landry's namesake brand there, even if it is better than some of their other "concepts".

                1. re: CrazyOne

                  There aren't as many as you might think. There are some good clam shacks in the area, though most are a good distance outside of the city. And Legal's, which used to be a great place for seafood, is average at best now, IMO.