Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just wandering if anybody else has been back to Kemps seafood rest. since they reopened. We have eaten there and loved it for the past year, at least twice a month. Good food, fair prices and a nice set down experience. They had been closed for the last one month or more for remodeling, so of course we were excited to try it out after all that wait. Boy what a dissapointment! They have changed the whole place into what I would call a fast food experience. You walk in and place your order at the counter and then wait for your number to be called. Everything is served in take out boxes and it is full self service and on top of it all the prices are still the same, they could have at least dropped the prices since there is no wait staff anymore. There were several suprised and dissapointed families there tonight. Needless to say we wont be back. If we have to pay Red Lobster prices then we will go to Red Lobster and get full service!
That place is huge, can't imagine it being take-out style.
But if it is that place; it's terrible. I was really hoping for something great when I saw how crowded it was. This was back when we first moved down here, January.
I got 2 kinds of fish, neither was particularly good nor well prepared. My wife got BBQ shrimp skewers - decent, but nothing I wouldn't expect to see at TJIFridays, Chili's or Ruby Tuesday's.
Prices were high too. That was my last time for that place.
Yep same place. I didnt mind the prices so much because it was full service and we had always gotten good food and nice service. yeah I know, it is huge and it really looks weird inside now with all that open space and people just standing around waiting for their number to be called. What a waist of space. And whats more is that the lobby used to be full of people just waiting for a table and tonight there were plenty of empty tables. Looks like a big business blunder if you ask me. I just feel bad for all those elderly people, it was quite the spot for them but not so much anymore. We are quite friendly with the managers but I just didnt have the heart to complain to them, besides there were already enough people doing it already.
Been there once and it was bad. The changes you describe seem pretty odd and foolish.
I found these on citysearch.
Quote:
My wife and I were regulars at Kemp's. They do calibash well. Up until they closed for 5 weeks. See Kemp's had the best service, great sweet tea, and homemade ranch dressing. After Kemp's reopened it's like going to a Captain D's or something. You stand in line to place your order, wait for your number to be called over an intercom and pick up your food in styrofoam. I don't want to criticize fast food, but it's not what Kemp's was. The ranch dressing is now a packet of "Ken's Steakhouse" and drinks are served from soda machines that you see in other fast food restaurants. The materials haven't changed. The salad was still fresh cut but packet dressing is weak for a former restaurant. When we finished out salads we started our main meal which had hush puppies included in the styrofoam container, only problem is they had been steaming for 5 minutes so they were soggy...and of course we are eating out of styrofoam instead of a plate. I think the owner has missed the mark here. He basically now operates a fast food place with ample seating. People came to kemps because your drink was never empty, the food was good, and it had a beach feel. Well, I guess the service still is good, considering you get your own drinks and food. I would avoid them until they come back to their senses and run a real restaurant.
Quote:
I used to love going to Kemp's....what a disappointment now...I wanted some really good seafood a couple weeks ago and went to Kemp's only to discover they were closed for remodeling. I called today and they are open again, but what a disaster. It is now a fast food restaurant with high prices and a serve yourself staff. You order your food at a counter, pay and receive a paper cup for your drink. I paid an extra $.99 for a baked potato instead of fries!!! You then wait for your NUMBER to be called and you go retrieve your meal in a styrofoam take out container (they did upgrade to black containers). You get your napkins from a dispenser in the common area along with other condiment items, but you have to go back to the counter for butter and sour cream for your potato. The service was great considering I refilled my own drink and got any additional items for myself. I was so good I gave myself a tip and here is the same one for you...don't go. Save your money and go to Captain D's! At least there, you get what you pay for....
We went there last night. Being a newbie, I had never been, but my friend was shocked.
He said the food is the same, but they went from complete sit down to more take out. I guess it cuts down on their overhead. The entire inside had been changed around, too.
He's still on the fence - not sure if we're going back.
Before the development of Brier Creek, Kemps was the only decent restaurant for a fair few miles. In the early days it was so successful that the building was extended. Now there's such a lot of competition within a 2 mile radius.
Very sad to read they're offering cheap ingredients, soda machines instead of the wonderful portions and fresh salad dressings that used to be on offer. Grilled Mahi Mahi and raspberry dressing was always fabulous.
Maybe the management got greedy and felt that," We're so busy anyway, we can make more money by cutting quality and increasing turnover". Shame on them.
Apparently, they were struggling and attributed the problem to excessive prices.
They could have reduced the portion sizes, (which were excessive) trimmed the prices a bit and kept some of their customers.
Instead, it sounds like the owners did what ever they could to maintain their profit margins. That place was always busy, they must have been making money hand-over-fist (until the price of gas hit $3.)
Hey Grawburg
I happen to like Red Lobster, I was refering to the service equivalent to the price you pay. Kemps is still charging full service sit down prices but it is definately now a fast food place. I'm just saying I dont mind paying for a good meal and good service. They have also removed the Mahi Mahi and White fish from the menu and now to get a baked potato it is .99 extra. So on some things they have actually raised the prices. They also own the Seafood rest at the Farmers market which has always been a fast food style. I think they saw the profits they were making there and got greedy. Not to mention the huge wait staff they had, all those people are now out a job.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Kemps
