Trader Vic’s is now Shrimpy
Nibaq tweeted the other day that he heard Trader Vic’s on the Gulf Road got turned into Shrimpy. I thought that was a joke (and a funny one) but turns out it’s true. I just passed by it on my way to work and the signs are already up, Trader Vic’s has shutdown and Shrimpy is there instead. This can’t be good for Don Mario’s and Letter Damour whom are now going to be located right behind Shrimpy.
Update: It seems Don Mario’s and Letter Damour have also closed down. I tried Don Mario’s once and didn’t like it but a lot of people I know used to say good things about.
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Sep 15, 2009
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42 Comments, add your own...
1. ON | September 15th, 2009 at 10:16 am
heeheehe very nice
2. Moustapha | September 15th, 2009 at 10:17 am
I think both Don Mario’s and Lettre D’amour are also gone. When I passed last week all the names were removed from the front of the restaurants and then they put Shrimpy while the 2 others are still without a name. It is a pity because I was a Trader Vic’s fan. They had a very fine cuisine. Primitive !!!
3. aaa | September 15th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Shrimpy is king. Trader Vics was never gonna make it in Kuwait. local businesses all the way.
4. Mathai | September 15th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Trader Vic’s can never survive without their cocktails and drinks, :)
5. HKR | September 15th, 2009 at 10:24 am
bema enna sakkar fa el 3aib akeed bekoon eb so’a el edara or mashakel edaryaa.. le’anna mako ma63am yafsheel blq8 o kho9o9aan etha kaan metheel Trader Vic’s
6. dalal arch | September 15th, 2009 at 10:37 am
even Letter Damour is going to turn into a Persian restaurant
7. vampire | September 15th, 2009 at 10:40 am
hope the other two will turn to Wendy’s and Arby’s
8. Eli | September 15th, 2009 at 11:31 am
heh I don’t find it strange at all if Trader Vic’s is shut down. I was a big fan and made sure to visit the restaurant wherever I go except in Kuwait, I never went!! Honestly what were they thinking at first to open it here without their amazing cocktails menu >> http://www.tradervicslondon.com/pdf/cocktail_list.pdf and without their Live band & ppl dancing on the bar every day!! Definitely I did not expect to see Shrimpy instead!!
9. noman | September 15th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Letter demon is closing too.
Apparantly they are opening some Indian restaurant
10. Holla | September 15th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
FUCKKKKKKKK, we had a few good times there with the skewers and the duck meat joints. wtfffff man one of the few restaurants in this goddamn cuntry i actually enjoyed 3airy bishrimby :(
11. crooger | September 15th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
well they deserved that , if you ask me . i wanted to try them out (trice) when the restaurant was open , didn’t let me dine in saying only invites! and when atlast i got in , AST’3FER ALLAH 3ALA ALN3MA,
12. Hazem | September 15th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Well all I can say Shrimpy is back in it’s rightfull place!!!
13. Imona | September 15th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Big fan of Shrimpy! Trader vice Kuwait sucks big time khososan il waiters and the cold main dish they served
hope the other 2 turn to be fast food chains ;p
14. Patrick | September 15th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
…
Shrimpy still exists?
15. Daddy's Girl | September 15th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Kololololooooooloooooooolooooooooooosh
The worst WORST dining experience i have ever had in q8 was in that Trader’s Vics!
The place smells like a butchers place, the interior was suffocatingly tacky, the food was horrible, and the bill was too expensive!
O la when i reviewed it o said it was tacky… some girl attacked me by saying i was the tacky one… that was so classy!
As our egyptians friends would say… bel salama o neksar warak 10000 2olla! Walla a waste of space!
My lovely experience http://danderma.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/trader-vics/
16. Rashisha | September 15th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
lettre damour is gone… don marios maight follow soon if things dont get better…..
Don marios has some really good food BTW
17. Sfsa78 | September 15th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Nearly everything in Kuwait turns to shit.
18. Anony | September 15th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Has signor sassi gulf road opened?
what kind of soft opening is it? limited timing? limited menu? do they have a number?
19. Anonymous | September 15th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
WHAT THE LOL!!!!
20. gunsmoke | September 15th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Pretty funny if you ask me. Shrimpys is great though, I loved that place growing up.
21. Mark | September 15th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Patrick hell yes. Before I stopped fried food it was one of my favorite places. They always have great offers. This is their current one
http://www.shrimpy.com/images/Promotions/2s.jpg
22. Mohi | September 15th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
It was moronic to open traders in kuwait to begin with!
23. jewaira | September 15th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
good riddance to it and to all the horrid chains defacing the waterfront…stop the cultural invasion and replace with good quality local cuisine and support local small businesses instead
24. m | September 15th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
its way to big even for a shrimpy, maybe they should make it into an ice skating rink
25. Realist | September 15th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Well that pretty much killed any chance of doing anything upscale in the other two spots. People in this country just want to franchise crap. Create something local and have some passion in it dammit.
Shamam kabab there would do wonders.
26. crooger | September 15th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Sfsa78
“Nearly everything in Kuwait turns to shit.”
aren’t you being too pessimistic ? 8> q8
27. Desert Girl | September 15th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
You know what should be turned into a Burger King? The Fish Market on the other side of the Towers. HORRIBLE dining experience. Stale fish, wait staff that don’t know what to do; management that doesn’t manage; and at prices that rival The Sheraton. AWFUL.
Go ahead – bring on more Egyptian management. Same results.
I’m with Jewaira – more local food!
28. zaydoun | September 15th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I’m with Jewaira… and the stupid owners had no business importing a franchise known solely for its alcoholic cocktails into a country where alcohol is banned. Nobody goes to the Trader Vics around the world for the food
That said, I don’t think Shrimpy is a better alternative
Anon… Signor Sassi is due to open at 360 mall, and it will no doubt go through the usual predictable cycle:
1. Import a restaurant beloved by a few Kuwaitis who go to London a lot and hope the name means something to people beyond that demographic
2. Choose an inappropriate location. In this case, fine dining inside a mall
3. Hire highly paid Italian chef from London
4. Said Italian chef will leave a few months after “training” the locally hired staff of various nationalities, and after suffering from soul-destroying loneliness and not serving any wine with his creations
5. Cuisine will take a dip in quality the minute he leaves which won’t matter much to the masses who only want their Penne Arrabiata.
6. It will then become just another generic/bland Italian restaurant in a mall
7. Signor Sassi HQ in London will get upset at the tarnishing of their brand and end their relationship with the local partner
8. A “new” restaurant replaces Signor Sassi, most likely Lebanese food since that’s what sells
DOESN’T ANYONE DO ANY MARKET RESEARCH BEFORE THEY SINK THEIR MONEY INTO THESE VENTURES??!!!
29. F. | September 15th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Zaydoun, EXACTLY my thoughts!!
30. SWOS | September 15th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
kaaak trader vics sucked money nuts in kuwait, how would it survive without it’s famous cocktails? SHRIMPY RULES
31. bumo | September 15th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I gotta try Shrimpy’s new marag simach/ribyan.
32. AJ | September 15th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
zaydoun well said . totally agree.
trader vics without the cocktails was doomed right from day one.
33. Lucky_Boy | September 15th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
It was a mistake that they shutdown the old shrimpy, glad to know they are correcting it.
34. Apprehensive | September 15th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
A7san! My experience was very annoying; unfriendly waiting and a snob for a head chef? That was new to me! I never knew a restaurant could be this weird until I went there. Food sucked; quiet environment; and prices shot uo high! Good riddance
35. hilaliya | September 15th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
You guys remember ‘Captains D’s’ from before the invasion?
36. Mark | September 15th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Was that in Salmiya, Baghdad street?
37. DeReD | September 16th, 2009 at 2:21 am
You can’t be Trader Vics without Tikki Pukka!!
It was only a matter of time till it closed down.
Tikki Pukka Tikki Pukka Tikki Pukka!
38. Magnolia | September 16th, 2009 at 3:42 am
Traders Vics was closed, because the mother branch didn’t renew the franchising contract, and thats because all Traders Vics branchs should have the same theme. Which the Kuwaiti Branch couldn’t satisfy.
Hard Luck to them =)
39. Sami | September 16th, 2009 at 6:19 am
I am with you guys for the local food, but its sad that Trader fails
I totally agree with you guys who said, Trader cannot survive without the cocktails, music and dancing!!! they are like the golden couples but to bad we don’t have that in Kuwait…
Zaydoun You are a God sent, totally agree.
And DeRed there aynt no Trader Vics without the Pukka Pukka
40. passing by | September 16th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
to whoever remember Hungry Bunny,
did you like? do you miss it?
well, you will feel the same about Shrimpy if it’s gone, so enjoy it while you can.
“it is wise to find out who we are, before we copy someone else”
41. hilaliya | September 17th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Yes Mark, from Salmiya, there was also one in Bibi AlSalem complex.
A running joke among my NES friends at the time: “Captain D’s for Diarrhea.”
I guess it was the Shrimpy of its time.
42. lensman | September 19th, 2009 at 12:51 am
HAHAHA!!!
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