After less than three months in operation Tony and James Restaurant in Kentlands Downtown has been sold to Parham Feiz, according to former co-owner James Lloyd.
Feiz is the restaurant’s former general manager, said Lloyd.
The name of the restaurant will change sometime in the next month and will focus on a sports bar theme. A new menu will be in place next week. Entrees will be priced under $17.
Place never got sold … a bunch of BS really. Oh yeah, the owner doesn’t pay people and tries to sleep with all the females on staff. Truly a disgrace … even has a dirty cop named Rob watch the place. It would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.
I have worked in restaurants for almost 4 years in the front of house, mostly serving and bar tending. This summer I was in need of a new job and was subsequently hired at Tony and James. As a person who has worked in restaurants that do very well and ones that are now put out of business, I can tell you conclusively that Tony and James was the biggest sham of an operation I have ever been a part of. The training manager thought she was the hottest expert on service training ever when in reality she was rude and honestly the worst human resources/management person I have ever met. The staff hand their hands tied due to the stupid service methods, they opened the doors too early before they had a competent staff and completely crumbled during the opening weekend, ruining first impressions for the restaurant within the entire community and giving the kiss of death to the place. I also agree with the post above me which stated that Massenburg and Lloyd are probably silent partners, I don’t see them settling a 15 year lease (btw good call on that lease guys…psych) within 3 months of opening the place. The place is cursed, terrible location, no bathrooms downstairs. I had to quit during training, the place was empty and the managers were incompetent. The meals and drinks had the highest price point in Kentlands (higher than Bonefish, which in turn is a fantastic place), for instance they sold $14 burgers when 5 Guys IS LITERALLY 30 FEET AWAY. I wish the place the best tho (everyone except that incompetent service manager who clearly had a huge hand in ruining the place looking at the service reviews), if they can turn the place into a sports bar (as planned), put a bathroom downstairs, cut out that stupid dance floor upstairs and make it a 2 story place with tables upstairs along the 2nd story looking down into the sports bar, and lower the price point by HALF, then they might have a chance
Bonefish is awesome. Tony & James was terrible. End of comment.
I don’t think this is true. It would make no sense to buy this restaurant. I am sure the restaurant is in debt and who would want to take over a 15 year lease. I believe Tony and James will still own and are trying to re image the place. They are probably tired of people constantly asking for them to complain. If it truly is sold there will be a giant orange sign on the front door requesting a transfer of Liq License.
There is more to this story. Please keep digging and share the details. I beleive questionable business practices were involved.
Why does it have to be “questionable business practices”?
Did you ever think they sold it and made a profit on it and are walking away from it just because they chose to.
I wish more Kentlands residents were more like myself and didn’t thrive on negativity. The world is full of hate and people who want to think others are doing bad and not succeeding in life and I will pray for you all.
There were questionable business practices involved. Anyone in the know, worked in the kentlands in that area, or worked at that restaurant can attest to it (it wasn’t that uncommon to hear some of the stories about that place from some of the employees that were let go and at times firsthand when seeing how the manager talked to the employees while customers were in the restaurant).
It’s safe to say that what goes around, came right back around. The only thing that suprised me was how fast it came back around.
Nancy when you have worked for them and they wouldn’t pay you, I would consider that poor business practices. Trust me, they are reading the reviews. Any good review was written by them. The food was terrible! Their attitude was terrible, and they treated their employees terrible. I guarantee they still own the business, but are putting it in a different name.I would ask for proof they are not still envolved with the ownership.karma.
Well, they did get served by the department of labor for not paying any of there employees. That is a fact.
Wow that’s crazy. I heard stories of them not paying people but actually having the department of labor serve you only shows how shady they were.
By the way, zodiac was owned by Indians.
Epic fail. Again.
Succeeding with a restaurant is hard. I get that and I can’t say I can guarantee 100% how to make a place successful. But I am 100% sure of how to make a place fail and T&J really fast-tracked that.
I’m glad there’s hope of change. So here’s what has to happen:
1. Make the place inclusive, not exclusive. Have a real, viable kids menu; invite people in who want a to try a snack, not a meal; be willing to cater to those who may not drink alcohol. If you lose any clientel at all, lose the fickle 21 yr old late night crowd in favor of, honestly, everyone else. A sports-themed bar/grill could work here.
2. Do a few things well and consistently. An extensive menu isn’t impressive if an order comes out botched. Five guys across the street is an extreme example of this – doesn’t have to be that extreme, but do it right or don’t do it at all.
3. Under promise, over deliver. A “T&J express” isn’t needed until a clientel is built that enjoys the food in-house and later wants to get take out. Earn the core, then expand by building on that core. This is kind of a Springsteen theory – impress people, let their word-of-mouth invite others, and when they come, impress them. Find ways to make them leave impressed instead of finding ways to make them leave having spent a few extra $$. If they leave impressed, they’ll come back and spend more next time.
4. Do the same with the employees – make them fans too. Money spent on decor doesn’t impress when the employees are apologizing, don’t have ‘air cover’ and worse, aren’t treated and paid properly. Like with menu items, it is better to have a few employees that are part of the solution than many who are not.
In the genre, the Green Turtle is a model of the kind of place that could succeed here, and maybe better if this place isn’t a chain like the GT. Family friendly, low-to-medium price range, etc. While the neighborhood has money it is primarily residential and the expense-report travel-per-diem business diners are, by and large, elsewhere. My wife and I will spend money for a good meal. We won’t buy $35 steaks just to impress each other but we will buy $50 dishes if the value is there.
The space is wonderful but success is not guaranteed. In fact it may be tougher to overcome due to the history, and I hope the new owner realizes the importance of overcoming the significant failures that occurred while he was the GM.
Its sad two men spent their hard earned money to open up a business for us in the Kentlands and had to be trashed in the media, the community and on the internet. It truly would not have happened if these were two white proprietors with no professional sport affiliation.
As a white 42-year old male, all the things I have read about the restaurant and witnessed on two occasions when at Tony & James Restaurant shows me that racism still runs deep amongst some people. If they weren’t two African American proprietors the community would have never been as hard on these men.
The company I work for and my family dines at Bonefish at least two times a week. I have never had a meal that was cooked properly, never received good service, and just last week I had to send a hamburger back three times because it was cooked improperly. The Town Courier reached out to Larry Goldman, a food and beverage industry expert in this article http://www.towncourier.com/2010/07/07/patron-feedback-prompts-changes-for-tony-and-james/, why can’t they do that for Bonefish? Obviously Bonefish doesn’t have it down either and they have been open for 5 years.
Again, I am embarrassed to be a resident in the Kentlands if this is how we claim we support local businesses. I am sure they will not be missed by some but I wish Tony and James much luck and success in their future endeavors.
Wow, that’s a stretch. I wanted Tony and James’ to work. We went in there a handful of times and were disappointed in some way every time. It was either the food or the service, or the fact that the bathroom situation was unacceptable (difficult to access, dirty) I think they did a nice job of PR’ing the place, but never got the hang of running it. Look around the neighborhood, we have many examples of minorities running successful businesses. The press on the place as it was opening was overwhelmingly positive. T and J bailed pretty quickly too. Its their right. I hope they didn’t lose much money, but to blame it on racism? Wow again.
I’m not sure what will work there, although I have some thoughts. One thing for sure, I don’t give a damn about what color, creed or ethnicity the owners are. Give me a good dining experience, and I’ll patronize the place.
That is truly a stretch to say that they were discriminated against due to their race. With all of the businesses in the Kentlands, they had as much of as a chance as anyone to succeed. While there were some shady business practices involved, I can admit that they possibly had a bad light shined upon them from some of the undesirables that frequented the Zodiac lounge on the weekends (a result of unprofessional promoters and lackadaisical owners.) As stated previously, the owners had a fair chance to succeed, however some of their choices were not so wise such as staffing choices, menu prices, lack of professionalism, and hiring practices.
As a person who has a good understanding of how businesses are supposed to be run, I can only hope that the owners learned a valuable lesson within the short time that they were open. With the future owners, I can only hope that they can bring something of value to the Kentlands. The decor of the first floor of the restaurant was a definite improvement from what it looked like with the previous restaurant (even though upstairs appeared as if nothing changed).
I wish Tony&James luck in their future.
Agree that discrimination was not the reason, and to say so is an insult to the neighborhood. Zodiac failed for many of the same reasons, as did Last Mango – who’s owner was so Irish has we was practically translucent.
I believe in all 3 cases they focused on the bar at the expense of the rest of the operation. The Star Diner and Wine Harvest do the opposite – they insist on making you feel welcome and provide value first, then hope to also sell you some alcohol. I get that there’s not really a 21 year old crowd in Kentlands, and that’s the point – appealing to such a narrow “club” crowd by using promoters and such just won’t work here as a long term strategy.
Maybe I’m wrong. I’d really love to see success in that space, by any owner. A sports place might work, as might a bookstore/cafe or a family oriented Irish pub. Regardless, it needs to show value, as is true with most any place that isn’t a tourist trap.
I hope Tony and James don’t feel that their demise was race related, or that selling to the GM is a way to test that theory. I believe they started well but any restaurant plan should include that it will take at least 6 months to build a clientel and reputation – and during that 6 months, light attendance can be an advantage where each diner is given extra attention. Then build on the success. Earn the tables and the franchises will come.
Here Is a hint for you Marc if it so awful at Bonefish DON’T go back! Also Bonefish is NOT hurting for your business they are on a wait every night of the week. Go find another restaurant in Kentlands to complain about.
Agree…. go Complain about Chipotle or your own mothers cooking.
I find the suggestion that there was some sort of racial prejudice going on here to be absolutely ludicrous. The fact is that the food was abysmal, the whole concept was convoluted and neither of the two owners seemed to give a damn about the welfare of their guests or their employees. Businesses fail for lots of reasons, but to try to foist the reason for this one failing on to the community is just asinine. And as for the comparison to Bonefish Grill, I have to wonder why anyone would return twice a week, every week if that was an accurate description of the experience they were having. I dine there frequently and have never had such an experience, but you can bet that if I did, they would be quick to remedy it.Which is probably why they’re thriving after five years, while Tony and James circles in the drain.
I think our good neighbors were being too kind when they said your comments were a stretch. I think they were wrong and completely ignorant. I know for a fact we (including the “white people”) went out of our way to support this place. Race never entered the picture one way or the other. Wasn’t Zodiac owned by white people and they met the same fate? I think you should apologize to our community because we don’t deserve this sort of criticism when it is so far from the truth. You should also let us know your last name because any poor “Marc” with a “c” in the community will now be suspect. As for Tony and James, thank you for investing in our community… we wish you the best in your future endeavors.
uh, excuse me, I understand where you are coming from, but as someone who knows the in’s and out’s of this business endeavor, it’s all a scam. It has nothing to do with race. trust me, i know. Let’s just say I am not white and live in kentlands and I KNOW THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE. TONY AND JAMES SUCKS> END OF STORY
It had zero to do with race. I ate there 2x before even knowing who owned it. Bad food and service are bad food and service. When you dine at TGIF at Lakeforest you sort of expect it to be mediocre but these guys were charging WAY more than they should have been.
I don’t care if they are white, black or purple they didn’t do their homework and they clearly do not know what it takes to put a restaurant in the Kentlands.
I cannot even believe a couple of you would even think of blaming a community of residents for the failure of a bad restaurant. Pitiful.
How about taking responsibility for a poorly run corp? BTW… when I was in there every manager/bar tender and most waiters were white. How dare you insult the intelligence or racial tolerance of “the Kentlands” in general. Think next time.
I think those accusations are absurd. The prices were ridiculously high and the service was very hit or miss. I don’t think people cared for even a second who owned it, just that they were not doing a suitable job.
I also firmly believe you are not being entirely (or even slightly) honest here since you claim you go to Bonefish twice a week yet have never had a properly cooked meal. That seems impossible to not have them cook something right in that time and totally unbelievable that you would continue to go TWICE A WEEK if you were unhappy with the service.
Under current ownership there has been a concerted effort to correct wrongs and turn the place into a viable business. It’s hard to do when Tony and James damaged the name so thoroughly in the space of 3 months.
Oh please, if they did not want to be trashed, they should not have paid their employees, showed some respect people and conducted their business in a professional manner. As for the race thing, well you (tony or joe) you looking to blame others for you bad business conduct, stop writing reviews and sell the place to someone who cares about the business and comunity.
The fickle 21 crowd? There isn’t one in the kentlands… Besides the money making Tiki which has been around for a while with no issues keeping all the residence in the kentlands happy. The Zodiac was great before the owners gave reign to the trashy promoters which brought it down hill in a minute. I would know since I was always there for Karaoke nights.
Tony and James didn’t last because they were rude to the regulars in the kentlands. I sit at the Wine Harvest and the Tiki bar on an every week basis. They walked around promoting their new venue. It turned into a nightmare disposing of kitchen staff and friendly waiters/waitresses that gave them helpful suggestions. I for one got into it with the GM when I had made the helpful hint that the two toilets upstairs weren’t enough for women and they should install some in the “Tony and James Express” part of the building. He laughed it off. I for one couldn’t be happier that they sold it. I just hope they keep their new bartender. He is a brilliant one.
Take it from someone who worked with this new owner previously at T&J’s, he’s just as bad at running a restaurant as James was. The only difference is he’s twenty one and lacks experience. I Hope he doesn’t lose all of daddies money!