Sunday, April 30, 2017

Reality Bites! Benzino's Crab Trap Sleeps With the Fishes in Midtown

Restaurant has short life in Midtown 

Benzino's Crab Trap, which opened this past November in Midtown, has closed. The restaurant reportedly closed a few days ago. Benzino's, named for record producer Raymond “Benzino” Scott, opened in place of Hi-Five Diner. Previously, Hi-Five Diner replaced Villain's, both of which were owned by Alex Brounstein of Grindhouse Killer Burgers.

To say the concept seemed half-baked might be the understatement of the year.  Benzino, who frequently appeared on the VH1 reality show  Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, should have stayed out of the kitchen.  The Boston native "loves to cook seafood" and as snow crabs are big in Boston, apparently figured he'd open a restaurant with that dish as their specialty.  

The first Benzino's Crab Trap opened on Delk Road in Marietta in July of 2015.  The restaurant's opening was attended by a number of high profile celebrities including Honey Boo Boo and her parents, Mama June and Sugar Bear, of the TLC reality show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” 

The Marietta location abruptly closed this past August.

With a total of 46 reviews, the Marietta location had a cumulative 3 star rating on Yelp.com with some reviewers claiming they drove 30+ minutes and even traveled from California only to be disappointed by the restaurant.  

The Midtown location had only received 20 reviews in its short life, but they weren't much better.  Overall, the restaurant had a 2.5 star rating with a few opening line reviews below:

"A Hot Ghetto Mess!"

"This was spectacularly bad"

"I'm sorry to say that this was a dreadful experience."

"Upon walking in it was quite disturbing."

"This was a disappointment."

"If I could give this restaurant no stars, I would!"

"Service was awful!"

Local sources indicate there have been a number of operators that have expressed interest in taking over the space, but that no lease has been signed.  The roughly 2,000 square foot restaurant space is located at the corner of 8th and Peachtree Streets, offering great visibility but extremely limited parking.  

Are you surprised Benzino's Crap Crab Trap closed?  Did you ever eat here and was it as bad as people say? What would you like to see open in its place?  

Please share your thoughts below

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did they stop serving Hi-C Orange Lavaburst?

Anonymous said...

GOOD!

Now...will these rappers and other "talented" people that make their rise through the strip clubs and hustler hip-hop culture please stop trying to open restaurants? Success in one does not portend success in the other. And if you must open what will inevitably become a joke of a restaurant, please do so in the SWATs and let Midtown have eateries that are established by actual foodies and people with training in F&B and customer service.

Hi-Five Diner was a decent concept and I cannot believe they were pushed out for this failed crap.

396 said...

Could we just get Celebrity/Gold Star Bakery back?

I can't believe that so many entertainment industry people refuse to learn from others' mistakes and insist upon opening these restaurants and boutiques that come and go in five minutes.

Just the name of this place was enough to make you immediately think "I wonder what will open here after this goes out of business."

Anonymous said...

this spot is so jinxed ... as is the place two doors down with the Mediterranean concept. That place is actually pretty good. Just not sure you can battle a jinxed location. LOL

Anonymous said...

Well it has been said that to know a success of business , it will have to stay in business at least for 5 or more years and that over 40 percent of businesses fail. Read in the ToNeTo blog and your read about businesses that have opened as well as those that have failed..foodie or not. Benzino's is no different but to say that rappers should only focus on strip joints/clubs is a generalization. There are non-rappers..like the one you describe on here, who are not great foodie's who also deserve to have their doors shut on them.

Ok..Benzino may not be a Wolfgang Puck,but it doesn't mean that rappers can have more than one talent, sort of like going to college to pick and minor and major.

Unknown said...

Me and a friend went there once... it was awful! They served crab but there is no hardware to crack open the 🦀 not even just a wooden mallet.... there was only 4 people in the place and we waited a long time to get our check. I LOVE crab and was excited about a place I could walk to regularly to get some.... so disappointing.

Anonymous said...

Man, I miss Villains.

Anonymous said...

It will work out Benzino keep moving forward, We from the Bean homie we don't lay down, We come back!!
Shit don't work out sometime fuck-it.
Mizzo

Anonymous said...

It will work out Benzino keep moving forward, We from the Bean homie we don't lay down, we come back!!
Mizzo 4 corners

Tijuana J said...

Me and my brother went there to eat during the Super Bowl year before last and I Love the food and the ppl. I had a blast and I’m disappointed the it closed down! We took pics with Benzino and ate a lot of snow crab legs and enjoyed drinks at the bar while watching the game.

Anonymous said...

You sound stupid and jealous, I'm not sure why he can't get his sh! Together but his food is extra good and by now he should have a chain... He needs to leave tv and continue cooking

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering if a lot of post are getting deleted from yelp and other outlets; because there are way Too many negative post. That food is so good. And I don't even eat crab, but I brought. Two crab lovers at two different times and they are so angry it's closed. I ate shrimp and fries with heaven ade was so good. It was unbelievable. So I think either these comments are getting deleted. The positive ones or people are just hating

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