Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, which is owned by Paula Deen has abruptly closed today. Uncle Bubba's was named after Paula's brother, and some actions in that restaurant helped trigger the deposition of Paula Deen and her eventual downfall. WTOC in Georgia is reporting:"UNCLE BUBBA'S CLOSED SUDDENLY! The official Facebook page for Uncle Bubba's Seafood & Oyster House, Savannah GA is thanking everyone for 10 years of service and they are now closed. Workers are in a meeting right now. I have been told there is a barricade of cops in front of the restaurant not letting anyone in besides the employees for a meeting. The sign upfront is gone. Stay tuned..."The Uncle Bubba's website and Facebook page has a very descriptive and heartfelt message that says, "Thank you for 10 great years. Uncle Bubba's is now closed."
If more develops about the reason behind the closing, I will update this post.
UPDATE - WTOC has received a statement from Uncle Bubba's that says:
"Since its opening in 2004, Uncle Bubba's Oyster House has been a destination for residents and tourists in Savannah, offering the region's freshest seafood and oysters. However, the restaurant's owner and operator, Bubba Heirs, has made the decision to close the restaurant in order to explore development options for the waterfront property on which the restaurant is located. At this point, no specific plans have been announced and a range of uses are under consideration in order realize the highest and best use for the property.
The closing is effective today, Thursday, April 3, 2014. Employees will be provided with severance based on position and tenure with the restaurant. All effort will be made to find employees comparable employment with other Savannah restaurant organizations.
Jaret T. Keller
Key Group Worldwide"
I hope it's okay to share this while the FB page for Uncle Bubba's is still taking comments. Here is one: "I've lost a lot of respect for the Deen family. I understand needing to close your doors but you could have handled this differently with your employees/staff. My mother put in some hard work for years with you & she finds out when she shows up for work this morning to be escorted by a police officer to get her belonging. I have supported your family through some unreasonable things & will no longer do so."
ReplyDeleteAnother: "Not just the people that lost their jobs but the fact that they was running a huge Groupon campaign for gift certificates, which we are now all sol. Very unprofessional."
They are all sad, people that have been hurt by this, but this has to be one of the worst: "My mother worked there for over 8 years and no one called her!!! My fiance also worked there no one call him, in fact a UB manager called him LAST NIGHT to get his availability for next week! Its s shame how the employees of UB were treated!! I am now left to pick up double shifts at work to make ends meet and I'm six months pregnant. I hope Paula enjoys that 75 million she just signed on while all employees of UB are left frantically searching for a job."
It almost sounds to me like this decision was made literally overnight. Monday their FB had a post advertising a special event on 4/5/14 that would benefit victims of domestic violence. There was even a post yesterday. Strange.
ReplyDeleteMakes it sound like it my not have been a decision by the restaurant. Maybe they had unpaid taxes or something and were shut down?
ReplyDeletePolice there??? This does not pass the smell test. Something fishy. Legal or tax problems? It will all come out in due time.
ReplyDeleteNO CLASS, but what can anyone expect from anything Paula-Deen related. No compassion or loyalty to long-term employees, just a slap in the face "We're Closed" sign when showing up for work.
ReplyDeleteSick of Paula and the entire Deen Clan.
And I hope her endorsers of that $75 million deal see her true colors and find an escape clause.
ReplyDeleteIm coming to loathe this overblown, hypocritical bigot more and more each day. To fire loyal employees with no forethought is horrid. I hope she finally goes down in flames.
ReplyDeleteWasn't one of the Restaurant Impossible restaurants closed due to tax issues and wasn't there an official revenue department notice saying such?
ReplyDeleteI guess the main reason they closed is because they didn't serve dark meat.
ReplyDeleteAre you thinking of Ducky's?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foodnetworkgossip.com/2013/12/duckys-from-restaurant-impossible-has.html#.Uz-IR1cvBIQ
Yeah, its probably that or The Shed that he is thinking of:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foodnetworkgossip.com/2013/08/the-shed-closes-mobile-location-leaving.html
It was Ducky's, but The Shed is a good example too.
ReplyDeleteYeah i found that weird too, i've worked for companies that went Chapter 7(Liquidation) and no police escorts..it was just..the company is going out of business..time to look for another job
ReplyDeleteI know Duncan Macleod of the clan Macleod also despise them
ReplyDeleteI predict this one will be closed within the year.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty sad that there are two examples of this. This is why I don't go out to eat anymore.
ReplyDeleteThere can be only one.
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with LOSERS and DOUCHEBAGS who come on to a free website, and then complain about answering one question, in order to help pay the writer for his or her work?
ReplyDeleteI honestly would not be surprised if Mr. CPA had a bad coke habit and was laundering money through that crappy restaurant for some of his drug dealers.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, about half of the things that they do for these restaurants is actually nice, and long-term, and the rest of the fixes are literally right out of the junkyard, and they look trashy when they are brand new, and I can imagine that they start aging badly almost immediately.
ReplyDeletePaula Deen is just a phony Southern scumbag. It would not surprise me if it turned out she was a German national who came up from Argentina, and whose real name is Paula Von Kregelweiner.
ReplyDeleteNice racist, bigoted comment made towards Germans. That would make you a just a plain phony scumbag, not to mention a hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteI see we have a racist joke telling hypocrite among us.
ReplyDeleteDude, if you're going to troll, at least pick a less obvious name. 1/10
ReplyDeleteWhat does Paula Dean and the Uber-Germans have in common? Racism.
ReplyDeleteYah Vohl, Herr Kommissar!! Let's round up all the hypocrites, and take them back to Germany, with Paula Dean as the Queen.
ReplyDeleteAgree about the restaurant's name. I too read it as Graffiti, and even if it were spelled the normal way—Gratify—I'm not sure I'd find the name attractive.
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered why the restaurant hadn't been closed down by the health department first, just seems weird especially with the obvious filth.
ReplyDeleteSince we don't know what really happened, Judy, we shouldn't make judgments. When people do that, they are usually wrong. Don't forget, this is not PAULA'S restaurant, it was her brother's restaurant. There may have been reasons since the police were there. Tax reasons, legal judgments, etc., that can be a reason for a business being shut down without warning. This is not PAULA'S call since this is her brother's business. Since you don't actually KNOW Paula and are only reacting to what you have heard (gossip), you don't know if she has class or not. Maybe someone should look at your post and make a judgment that you are mean and have no class either.....Not very fair, is it?
ReplyDeleteI see we have a jerk among us. In the end, it won't be Paula Deen who will be having to answer to God for being a bigot and a jerk. I feel sorry for you because you don't have any class and haven't grown a bit since you were in diapers.
ReplyDeleteEspecially since here in DC we have Mike Isabella's very successful Graffiato.
ReplyDeleteBubba used to whack off in the chowder....
ReplyDeleteAs an ex employee, it should have been shut down and stayed down. He will continue to do business the same way until someone steps in and forces him to make changes.
ReplyDelete