On December 5, Joe’s Crab Shack at 3555 Long Beach Rd. in Oceanside, N.Y., will hold a grand reopening party after undergoing repairs to the damage caused by Super Storm Sandy. In celebration of the reopening, the first 100 patrons in line at 11 a.m. on grand opening day will win free crab for a year.
The restaurant will also hold a two-week-long donation drive for non-perishable food items and toys to benefit neighbors in need.
“Our staff experienced the same hardships felt by the entire area after the storm, but they really pulled together to help each other and their neighbors,” says Oceanside general manager Mike Vercillo. “Our local team members opened up their homes to those who were hardest hit, and everyone supported the community by volunteering.”
While construction crews kept busy repairing the 8,000-square-foot restaurant’s flooring, walls and interior decor, Joe’s parent company, Ignite Restaurant Group, continuedpaying its employees. During that time, 25 Joe’s team members volunteered to prepare 3,500 meals to donate to area homeowners and volunteers, and many also helped FEMA stack boxes and collect and distribute clothing donations.
“We had to temporarily close eight Joe’s locations due to Sandy,” says chief operating officer Jim Mazany. “Many of our team members suffered in the storm’s aftermath, and the entire Joe’s family throughout the nation did whatever they could to help those of us here on the East Coast.”
Joe’s locations as far away as Lauderhill and Daytona Beach, Florida and Houston and Galveston, Texas held fundraisers and collection drives to benefit the employees and residents of Oceanside as well as Eatontown, N.J., which was also hit hard by Sandy.
At Joe’s locations in New Jersey, New York and the Philadelphia area, Joe’s is thanking diners who are part of the relief efforts, including government relief workers, trades, Red Cross volunteers, and others, with a 10 percent discount. A flyer is required and is being distributed throughout the community and is available by emailing community@joescs.com.
Most businesses adjacent to Joe’s in the Sands shopping center have reopened, but many businesses in the area have chosen to shutter permanently.
“It’s a slow recovery process, but our team is so grateful that we can get back to the business of providing our customers with a fun environment that offers a little escape,” Vercillo says.
