This Seafood Chain Used To Have Almost 150 Locations, Now It's Down To Less Than 20

Do you have that one chain restaurant in your town that's been there for so long that it feels like a vital part of the local community? Maybe it's an Italian pizzeria or perhaps it's a backyard barbecue joint that you've been going to every Saturday afternoon for trivia or every Tuesday night for karaoke for as long as you can remember. Now, imagine that beloved restaurant had secretly been closing locations across the country for the past decade, and yours is the next to go. That's been the reality for many patrons of Joe's Crab Shack around the U.S., with their go-to seafood spot making a silent departure without any official explanation.

During its prime in the early 2010s, Joe's Crab Shack had close to 150 locations spanning from coast to coast. Fans flocked to the restaurant for specialties like seafood boils, fried fish sandwiches, and surf and turf. But in less than a decade, that number has dwindled to less than 20 active restaurants. Several states were wiped out of their Joe's Crab Shack entirely, while others were whittled down from multiple locations across the state to just one, despite certain eateries existing for decades. 

The outcome is looking rather bleak for Joe's Crab Shack as similar chains are shutting down and filing for bankruptcy left and right for the same reasons, including Red Lobster, which didn't actually go bankrupt over the endless shrimp campaign.

Joe's Crab Shack began to struggle in the mid-2010s due to increasing costs of seafood and decreasing sales in restaurants, which has only continued to worsen as U.S. tariffs have elevated costs. Given that we rated it one of the worst seafood chain restaurants, it's not entirely surprising to hear about the lack of sales. However, lease expiration is another big explanation for the closure of locations, given the increasing cost of rent and decline in foot traffic. As a result, by June of 2017, there were about 112 Joe's Crab Shacks left, but in August of the same year, that number was down to about 70 locations. This figure kept dwindling until there were only about 30 left in 2024. As of the time of this article, the company's website only shows 15 active restaurants.

For some background, the seafood chain was founded in 1991 by Chris King in Houston, Texas. In 1994, it was sold to Landry's Inc., where it remained until it was purchased by JCS Holdings LLC (which eventually became Ignite Restaurant Group) in 2006. In 2017, its parent company (Ignite Restaurant Group) was struggling to keep up with demands and filed for bankruptcy protection, putting Joe's Crab Shack back up for grabs until it was swooped back up by Landry's, yet again. But, unlike how Captain D's could be swimming towards a comeback, not even a change in ownership may be enough to save this seafood chain, as the number of Joe's Crab Shack locations continue to diminish by the year.