September 11, 2008
A short-lived steak and seafood eatery
After nearly a year in business, T-Bone Jacks Steak & Seafood in Salem has closed. Yesterday was the last day in business for this eatery, located off Electric Road at the Ridgewood Farms retail center, according to Angel Simurina, who works for Line Management, the restaurant's ownership company. The reasons for T-Bone Jacks closing are unknown.
Jack Winston, who owns Line Management, did not return messages for comment. T-Bone Jacks opened inside a former Western Sizzlin restaurant structure last year.
Line Management has a long history in the restaurant business. It operates Jersey Lily's Roadhouse Grill on Orange Avenue in Roanoke, and it used to own some Texas Steakhouse & Saloons in Virginia and West Virginia.
Comments
[September 11, 2008 9:40 AM]
johnI visited this restaurant once shortly after it opened. The service was average and the food was overpriced for what you got. I think it is clearly a victim of people being much more selective on how they spend their money on eating out right now.
[September 11, 2008 11:39 AM]
MarkI think the reasons for the closing are probably fairly simple. Whenever I went in there the dining area was nearly empty. Now maybe I wasn't in there at the right times, but I got the sense that they weren't doing nearly as much business as the Sizzlin' used to...
[September 11, 2008 1:10 PM]
RichJersey Lily is a model I'd like to see more of. I think it would do great regionally. I've never had a bad meal or experience there.
For what you pay, its a great place to eat.
[September 11, 2008 1:38 PM]
DebiI agree with John. I live fairly close and went there a couple of times. Each time, the service was only fair and the food was greatly overpriced. I suppose that's why they are closed. I'm actually surprised they made it this long.
[September 11, 2008 10:52 PM]
Mike DWell there is another post somewhere that gives a good ides why they didn't make it. Almost all responses were negative. Same thing that it here about being over price and small portions. Have heard the same by word of mouth. Everyone I heard talk about them said not to eat there. Also heard the service was fair too poor. Should have left it a Western Sizzlin or done what they did to the franklin rd location. Another over priced poorly run place bites the dust. But I say this by what I heard as I never ate there.
[September 12, 2008 10:34 PM]
JenI think that it was a great place and I am really sad to see it go. I do not think that it was over priced, I just think that people are too cheap now a days to want to eat at a nice place. As far as the service goes, why don't some of you try waiting on horrible customers who just complain and complain all day long about stuff most people don't care about.
[September 14, 2008 8:53 AM]
Percy KutionIf you can sell 25 cents worth of hog slop for $18-20 a pop, you don't NEED to be open but a year.
[September 15, 2008 12:59 PM]
DennisWe went there for lunch several times, and always had decent service, sometimes really good service. There were certain items on the menu that weren't priced too high. And they had pretty good lunch specials and also good food specials in the bar. On Sunday's in the bar the pizzas were half price. And, believe it or not, they had really good pizza! The "house" sirloin steak was good and a good value, on the lunch menu anyway. But, oh, well, "another one bites the dust." Gone like Krystal and Dickie's BBQ.
[September 15, 2008 10:56 PM]
AdowntownbusinessI think a big part of the problem in restaurants failing is that they do not advertise over the longhaul. "We rely on word of mouth," they say, but if that word is bad, that could be trouble. How often have you told someone about a restaurant that "sucked" verses a good one?
I rarely go out 419 and was not that familiar with T-Bone Jacks. These guys evidently did not compete for my top-of-mind awareness since there are new competitors opening all the time.
If there are indeed so many restaurants in Roanoke, how can they maintain "TOMA" with diners?
Think about a list of all the restaurants here... several hundred? Name ten that come to mind first without thinking about them. I'll bet that half the list you come up with is in common with others, and that doesn't leave room for many additional places at the table.
[September 16, 2008 9:33 AM]
MarkI'll agree that T-Bone's bar was nice; all but one of the times I went there, it was for the bar. But even then it was mostly because it was close, not because it was the best in town.
I also think that being a former Western Sizzlin' location hurt them, as they suffered by the comparison. Sizzlin' customers were put off by the higher prices, and upscale steakhouse patrons were put off by the mental association with a low-end steak chain...
[September 16, 2008 9:37 AM]
Hurley EadesIt all comes down to the food. If it's good, people will come. I routinely drive to Martinsville when I'm in the mood for good Barbecue. Need I say more?
[September 17, 2008 10:07 PM]
JennyHurley,
Martinsville's a decent drive from the Roanoke Valley, if that is your starting point. What's your favorite barbecue restaurant there?