McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants was founded in 1970 when Bill McCormick purchased Jake’s Famous Crawfish, a 100-year-old restaurant in Portland, Oregon. He hired Douglas Schmick as the manager.
McCormick & Schmick formed Traditional Concepts in 1974. The first McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant opened in 1979 in downtown Portland.
The company went public in 2004, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol MSSR. By 2009 the chain had almost 100 restaurants and catering locations in the U.S. and Canada.
In 2011 the company’s biggest shareholder, Tilman J. Fertitta, made a bid to take the company private. In 2012 he sold McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants to Landry’s Restaurants, which is the owner of several national chain restaurants including Bubba Gump Shrimp and The Rainforest Cafe.
Despite the pandemic of 2020, McCormick and Schmick’s has stayed in business through delivery and to-go orders, including full holiday Christmas meals.
The company maintains a corporate office in Houston, Texas.
McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants was founded in 1970 when Bill McCormick purchased Jake’s Famous Crawfish, a 100-year-old restaurant in Portland, Oregon. He hired Douglas Schmick as the manager.
History
McCormick & Schmick formed Traditional Concepts in 1974. The first McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant opened in 1979 in downtown Portland.
The company went public in 2004, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol MSSR. By 2009 the chain had almost 100 restaurants and catering locations in the U.S. and Canada.
In 2011 the company’s biggest shareholder, Tilman J. Fertitta, made a bid to take the company private. In 2012 he sold McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants to Landry’s Restaurants, which is the owner of several national chain restaurants including Bubba Gump Shrimp and The Rainforest Cafe.
Despite the pandemic of 2020, McCormick and Schmick’s has stayed in business through delivery and to-go orders, including full holiday Christmas meals.
The company maintains a corporate office in Houston, Texas.
Had a birthday celebration for my mom on August 6, 2023.
*The banquet room was very warm. There were two large portable blowers that provided little relief for the number of guest.
*It took an hour for some guest to receive their entree.
*The steak entree was served w/o the shrimp. The shrimp was brought out later.
I understand that things have changed since the pandemic. But if the restaurant could not accommodate, the contract should not have been accepted. Someone definitely dropped the ball for the event. I had visited M&S in the past and really enjoyed the food but this was very disappointing to say the least.
I attended your location in Oak Brook and was very upset that the setting was that of a buffet and we weren’t given the option for nothing else. When I made my reservation it was for the Mothers Day advertisement of Filet & Crab meal. We we’re definitely disappointed!!! Waffles tasted store brought, eggs were mixed with the potatoes, brussel sprouts were shredded & burnt, shrimp was stuck to the ice & not rotated. The mimosas was just orange juice. We tried the strawberry purée which wasn’t a purée at all. Wasn’t worth $20 for drinks let alone $68 for a buffet…..The options for food wasn’t up to M & S standards I am used to. The best part was the young man making omelettes.
Good afternoon,
We went to the M&S in Baltimore.
I normally cook for Christmas, however, because it’s my Birthday on Christmas Day. This year my husband and I decided we were going to go out so I would not have to do all that work and not have fun on my big day. We had a 2:15pm reservation. We got there at 2:pm and got seated at 2:15pm, however, at 3:pm we were still waiting. 3 other parties were seated after us and were served drinks so I finally ask for a manager. It took her 15 minutes to come to our table. When I explain the situation she said, it’s not your fault. We are short staffed and we are having a plumbing problem on top of that. It was Christmas so I say things happen. My food was cold and so I ask the young man that was cleaning the tables to help me to get our server. He ask me “what is her name and I told him I truly did not know” He then said to me , “so how am I supposed to know”? Wow… I was done. We still stayed and when my desert came it was as cold as like they put it into the microwave and did not check it when they took it out. They never even check to see if we were ok after all that.
I was calling to make a complaint and after Waiting on hold for an hour . I started to scroll and start noticing all the comments. This is not how people should do business. I understand that it is not the owner working in the restaurant, however, they need to take care of their employees so that their employees will take care of the customers. I normally visit M&S and this is my first bad experience, however, it was on my birthday so that was not a good thing for me.
We ate at The Cincinnati McCormick and Schmick’s restaurant on Thanksgiving Day. We had to wait 2 hours for our food to be served to us. We spent over $300 for 4 of us. We will not be returning to this restaurant
After traveling 2+ hours for a special night out we chose your restaurant at National Harbor and made a reservation. We arrived 30 minutes early and were seated 10 min early. We waited and waited and waited after 20 minutes flagged someone to say we had not been waited on. And again we waited and waited and after another 15 minutes we got up and left. What a poor way to run a business. To make matters worse there were 3-4 employees at the outside station where we were that never greeted never offered at least water, nothing and I told them after the 20 minutes and all they did was tell a server. Im so disappointed its beyond belief.
Your corporate culture about customer service is a joke. “Our reputation is upheld by our unwavering commitment to customer service and satisfaction.”
I called twice and left a response back in early July 2022. Two and a half months later, no one has ever called back or responded. Even your Yelp response about sending a DM is just to cover up your customer service issues. Will never dine at your M&S locations again.
We went to the Bridgeport location in Tigard Oregon. I got the fish & chips and it was the worst I have ever had, fish sticks would have been better than this fish was. It had a strange flavor to it, the breading was soggy and it was pure mush when you pulled it away from the fish. I received a hand full of fries, I am guessing about 10-15 small fries. I do not get to eat out often and especially not at a more spendy restaurant and I was SO disappointed 🙁
Terrible experience at the National Harbor location. We arrived for our dinner reservation last night a little early, so we checked in with the hostess, then decided to have a drink at the bar until our table was ready. We checked back in 3 more times with the hostess after our table should have been ready and were told each time it still wasn’t ready. Even after we received a text saying it was ready. On the 4th time, we were told our table was given away because we didn’t reply
directly to the text, even though we spoke with the hostess directly……that’s insane. I’ve never heard of that at any restaurant. We went to the hostess in person and said here were are, and were told our table wasn’t ready, multiple times. Then the manager copped an attitude with us when we presented him with the problem. He was a complete jerk with no customer service skills whatsoever. He didn’t even check on us after we finally were seated to see if everything was ok at that point. Truly some of the worst service I’ve ever had.
I am a 55 yo attorney from NY who was turned away from my 9:15pm reservation in Philadelphia because, I was told, I was wearing a sleeveless top, against the “dress code”. It is a beautiful expensive top. The bouncer, a huge man (in some crazy thrown together mess of clothing) commented that my husband, in shorts, was fine, but I had to leave. It’s August. Hot and humid. I don’t have to wear sleeves! What kind of restaurant is this? Orthodox Jewish? My bare arms were somehow arbitrarily offensive, but not my husband’s hairy legs? Of course this was gender and/or age-based bias and there will be a law suit. We went down the street to Capital Grille (which also had some huge “dress code” sign on the street) and had a great meal, no issues.
I had the same similar problem! I would like for you (Elizabeth rose) to contact me if possible. This is utterly ridiculous and they need to be reprimanded for such awful actions!!
Our family had a birthday celebration at the Atlantic City McCormick &Schmidt’s Restaurant. Service was one of the poorest I ever had!!
The waitress gave us drinks and never bothered to ask if we would like to have a refill!
We asked for a second drink and the drink arrived by the time that dessert was served!
Desert was served with dirty dishes on the table , no forks , and this despite the fact that I asked the waitress to clear the dirty dishes from the table.
Once the bill arrived and the tip was automatically put in and I changed it to what I felt was the fair amount for the the service received they had the audacity to change it to the amount that they wanted . This is illegal and shows you about the practices of this restaurant!!!!
“Our reputation is upheld by our unwavering commitment to customer service and satisfaction. This commitment is a promise made to each guest to ensure great food and beverage and courteous service in a fun-filled atmosphere. Our food and beverage is original, not copied. Our locations are carefully selected to provide a great ambiance for our Guests. Our talented, hospitable Team is ready to exceed your expectations.”——- this is your corporate statement.
So, first of all when you drop $230 on meals for two people it should come with exemplary service. We dined at your National Harbor location. Courtney our server was inattentive. She never offered us bread, although every other table had bread. She never cleared cocktail glasses from the table. We ordered a bottle of wine and asked to have it with the meal, she did not deliver it till we were half way done with our meal. She never returned to see how our meals were, and just didn’t seem interested in being there. She obviously had no training in customer service, or how to serve a bottle of wine. Will not be returning to this restaurant. For such a high end restaurant with a great reputation, I was stunned at the poor level of service.
I am currently here with my family arrived for a 7:30 reservation and was seated around 7:20. This is where it went down hill. The waiter I was told was new and I get it but when it was time to take my order he didn’t have a pen or anything to write with. He took our appetizer order NEVER placed it. He never brought water or bread I had to finally get up walk in the kitchen before I was stopped at the door and the hostess coming from the restroom took me back to the table and took our order. The hostess was so nice and apologetic. Poor thing I felt bad for her. The restaurant manager was serving food just trying to stay a float. I noticed the manager would go to different tables and when he would go to the tables he always had food. Our waiter had nothing. Finally the manager came around and said how are y’all doing I’m like what do you mean how are we doing I’m emailing corporate as we speak we have no food no bread and the salad came out before the appetizers. Just to let you know my family and I are still in this restaurant as I type this and it is now 8:24 and they have just taken our food order. So the food just came out in sections and what I mean by that is my son and husband food came out and we are still waiting on our food. This place is pitiful high dollar restaurant with chili’s service. We are still waiting and are only a party of 4. Just think driving for almost an hour to get here in the rain we almost didn’t. Should have followed my first mind. Yep still waiting. It’s now 9pm finally got the main entree for myself and my daughter. Told them to go ahead and bring the check so we can pay and be out of this god awful place by midnight. At the end of the night the restaurant manager Brandt made it right.
While McCormick & Schmick’s has a great reputation for providing quality food, its staffing seems to fall short every time, especially with the Baltimore Inner Harbor location. This is the second time that I’ve visited the Baltimore location to encounter unprofessional staffing. Could it be that M&S no longer values its customers? I would hate to think so. During my last visit on July 30, 2021, my friend and I decided to have drinks and appetizers in Baltimore. We arrived shortly before 5pm to have drinks and appetizers in the bar area. Upon arrival, the hostess, (who I later discovered was a manager), directed us into the bar area. We could see that the bar counter was crowded so we asked the female bar attendant if we could sit at a high-top table or lower table area. She immediately responded, “the bar is full right now”. Again, I asked the same question as I could clearly see that the bar was full. I simply wanted to ensure that if we sat at a high-top table or lower table that we would be served. Her second response was “sit anywhere”. My friend and I sat down at a lower table but it was very difficult to get the bar attendant to come over to our table to take our order. I asked several waiters walking by if they could assist us but they insisted that the bar attendant would be our server. So, again, we waited. Now, I am little frustrated so I walk back to the front hostess stand and mention that no one had served us. The hostess (who, again, I later discovered was a manager) said “didn’t you just get here?”. Well, I did …15 minutes ago! Finally, a second bar attendant comes over to take our drink and food order. Since 15 minutes had already passed, I mentioned that we were on a tight schedule. It took 10 more minutes to get our drinks (really) and another 15 minutes to get our appetizers (by the way were not cooked at the right meat temperature as ordered). At this point, I’m done with the process so we packed the food and asked the manager to ring-out the meal check. While preparing to pay the bill, I noticed that two other sets of guests (that don’t look like me) sat down at nearby lower tables. The bar attendant immediately comes from behind the bar and walks over to both of those tables and provided service. Wow, that made my dining experience even more concerning. Maybe this second visit was a lesson learned. My suggestion is that M&S focus on providing proper training to its staff and managers to ensure that customer service is a top goal for its restaurants. Quality (and fair) service still matters to some customers, especially, me. M&S, you’ve got to do better.
My husband and I dined at the Crystal City location last weekend while visiting DC. We’ve been to the Phila location many times but it’s been while and we were so looking forward to our last night on the town before heading back to NJ where we usually spend our days slaving behind a desk starting at computer screens. We ordered a soup, salad, 2 steaks, one with a lobster tail added on and one side. Sounds good right? It should, though it was far from it. The bisque was exquisite and if I could eat the whole lot of it I would. Their bisque is by far the best I’ve ever had. The Ceasar salad you would think would be hard to mess up, was literally drenched in dressing. So much so, we only ate the croutons on top and just left it there. our waitress didn’t bother to ask if it was OK when she took the barely touched plates. We didn’t complain or even make a comment, we were just anticipating our delicious dinner to come.
Our steaks were brought out (2 filet mignons) mine was to be cooked to medium and his (sad to say) was ordered well done. Both were practically bleeding. Before we cut into our steaks, our server asked if there was anything else and I had said “yes, I ordered the lobster tail add on” and she said oh right. When she came back a min later to tell us the lobster would be right out, we had informed her we would need our steaks cooked a little more. The manager came out to apologize and almost 10 min later she had brought the steaks back with her to again apologize. While we were waiting for our steaks to come back, the server dropped the lobster tail in front of me on a little plate and walked away. She also left our roasted potatoes on the table the whole time. We had no small plates so it was impossible to even attempt to eat the lobster while we waited, so that and the potatoes were cold by the time our steaks came. I ate my tail nethertheless but the potatoes sat untouched the whole meal. When our server came back to take our plates and offer dessert (which I was very unhappy at this point) and declined, she asked if we were done with the potatoes and I simply said they were cold so yes we were done. She said sorry and walked away. When she dropped the check, the potatoes were still on there and there was a charge for $5 for substituting spinach in place of the asparagus with my filet. When I ordered, I asked if I could substitute a different veggie and she said yes and gave me some choices, I was never told this was an upcharge. I’ve worked in fine dining for 15 years while in school and have a pretty high tolerance for mishaps while dining out and always give the benefit of the doubt but this whole experience was very depressing and kinda put a damper on what should have been a relaxing nice last night on vacation for us. Our bill was $166 and we didn’t order alcohol and even after all that, my husband left her a 20% tip and we left without any complaints to the mgr. She had seen the lobster tail and the potatoes sitting there without us even having touched either when she dropped the steaks, so she I guess wasn’t too concerned anyway. Not fine dining etiquette at all. We don’t mind paying those prices but when we pay those prices, we expect to have a warm meal, served at one time.
My friend & I were celebrating our 67th Birthday hers 5/10 /54 & mine 5/12/54 we have been friends since 8th grade we hadn’t had lunch together since the pandemic a year ago ,we both had our second covic 19 shot & choose McCormick &Schmick ‘s to celebrate, when we entered the restaurant there was no one to greet /sit us at a table we waited almost 10 mins waiting on the greeter to show the time was around 3pm on Monday May 10, 2021 at the Plaza location in Kansas City location; after waiting for a few mins with no greeter a chef asked if we had been waited on we said no he replied I will let some one know a min or 2 later a young Blonde girl came ask we we wanted lunch or dinner , we said lunch she showed us a door way told us to go find our own seat just don’t sit where it says reserved , we found a table but it was not clean had to change tables the blonde lady never offered a menu but quickly seated a white couple at a table and given a menu who came in 15 mins after we arrived , at this time we still don’t have a menu, a few mins later a black woman showed up look like she worked in the kitchen from the looks of her apron she gave us 1 menu said she couldn’t find another one, and walked away, no one has asked for a
drink order we sat here another 2 mins and decided to leave and go where we could get better service the restaurant was no way close to being busy No excuse to be treated in that manor it was Very Clear Race played a Big part of this Problem, it very clear the Greeter needs more customer service training I would hate this is normal behavior for your company, This was my first visit Not a Good experience! Went to another restaurant where the service was as Good as the food!
I visited your Arlington va (crystal city) location on May 3RD I had reservations for 8:00pm my whole party was seated on time 7:50pm . Our food didn’t come out until 9:15, our drinks came out at 8:45 then we was told the bar is closed. The waiter was extremely rude the entire time. My brother was celebrating his 26th birthday the food was horrible. The steak was over cooked completely. I’m not sure if the food was rushed because of the closing time because I have been to McCormicks multiple times and never experienced this . When I asked for the manager I was told the manager was busy . The overall time I was there was horrible. I had a party of 12 and everyone has a complaint about the waiter and the food. My contact phone number is 202-971-XXXX if more information is needed
Columbus Ohio location can not find my laptop after accidentally leaving it on a chair.
Managers response: Nope sorry nothing here.
Didn’t even offer or make an effort to checks cameras to see who took it from the table.
Oh…and spent over $700 on dinner!
Me and my partner come to McCormick quite often and are loyalty members we came for happy hour tonight and had a great dinner but didnt realize we were getting dinner and a show .me and my husband we’re apalled and very uncomfortable with the bartender yelling at our waitress Chantell right in front of us could you say it was akward and beyond disrespectful . I brought it to the managers attention noone should be talked to that way! Chantell turned to us and apologize for the incident I informed her it’s not her fault and no man should talk to a woman the way he did to her it was rude and definitely uncalled for. If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything .
Very disappointing anniversary dinner. Waitress was as friendly as a robot. My crab stuffed shrimp was dry & shrimp over cooked. When we told waitress was our anniversary, and asked about a complimentary dessert, she was like ‘I can bring something out but it is only a brownie’ ( in past it was something they offered us’.) and she did not even then congratulate us on our anniversary. When I used restrooms as I was leaving, they were so dirty. KCMO, think it will be the Bristol for me in future. Not worth half of what we paid.
It has now been well over forty-eight hours since I received a phone call from a fellow employee letting me know McCormick and Schmick’s Dayton has closed. I have yet to receive any contact from corporate regarding this.
This is unacceptable. I have been with Landry’s for over four years. I have devoted so much time and energy as well as holidays away from my three young sons to making your company more successful.
The Dayton community and friends ask what we knew and are asking what the company is currently doing. Your comment is below:
Howard Cole, chief operating officer of Landry’s, Inc., the parent company of McCormick & Schmick’s, told this news outlet via email. “We value our employees, their dedication to our company and are working to relocate them.”
Not one employee I have talked to has seen any sign of help from you.
It’s one thing for you to close the doors abruptly with no warning, but it another to let the public think that you value your employees when you don’t. This is probably just another reason why your company keeps going down hill.
An apology would be nice, a phone call, or actually doing something to show you value people. Maybe people wouldn’t spread such negativity taking away business from Landry’s if you did something other than leave everyone in the dark.
There are so many people influenced by how you handled this situation that will never step foot in a Landry’s establishment again. I’m not going to lie when I am asked how this has been handled. People are in complete shock at how such a large company isn’t able to properly handle these types of situations.
After doing a few searches this is nothing new to you. Since Landry’s took over it appears numerous Mccormick and Schmick’s have closed and you continue to fail at handling the situation in a professional way.
I can only hope that from reading this you may try to figure out a way to give the employees let go the respect they deserve.
I am an former employee for McCormick and Schmicks downtown Baltimore inner harbor location. On May 24,2017 I tried to resign from my position the proper way and was treated as if I had stolen something or was irate which was extremely uncomfortable given the fact that I thought by conducting myself in a professional manner I would be treated at least like a valued employee. Let me take time to remind you all that I have yet to be paid, our last pay day was on May 17th 2017 and I haven’t received a penny so quite naturally I was still feeling a way about that since management had not kept me up to date with anything that was going on with my pay. I took it upon myself to contact HR and they then proceeded to transfer me to processing. I had found that the only thing my managers had to do was send them the correct declared amount which they failed to do until I said something to Crystal Ketts and Simon Brown. I was then approached by Mr.Brown with an attitude about a comment I made to Crystal which was “I will not be working Wednesday (5/24/2017) unless I was paid due to the fact that have bills and other payments that needed to be paid by 5/20/2017. I have yet to be compensated. My frustration has grown, not only was I treated like a criminal (Jay’s exact words were “Leave” as if I didn’t have personal belongings in the back) he had Matthew McAfee escort me out of the building causing everyone to wonder what had just transpired between myself and management. All I wanted to do was peacefully put in my two weeks and because Jay was upset with my decision he decided to make my resignation effective immediately which I showed that I had no problem with so I don’t understand why he thought it was ok to be rude and blatantly irritated with my decision. Since I’ve been working in the inner harbor’s location I have witnessed so many rules broken and inappropriate behavior which ultimately lead to me voice my opinion. Naturally I will be leaving a yelp to bring awareness. This location has been one of the most unprofessional locations I have ever worked at. Jay allows his wife to come into our building and work while he is there. I’ve seen my general manager (Simon Brown and my floor manager Crystal Ketts ride home together after work which any employee at the inner harbor location can attest to. I’ve tried to look the other way due to the fact that it was my only source of income at the time and I did not want to be treated differently by my managers. Boy did that back fire on me, this message is not to be spiteful but to bring awareness of what is taking place at your inner harbor location. We’ve had good servers quit because of the atmosphere that management sets. All I want is to receive my pay from May 17,2017, my $97 that I made on May 24, 2017 and my last paycheck which would’ve been on May 31, 2017 but since Jay said my resignation is effective immediately I know that in the state of Md you must issue me any owed payments within 72 hrs of resignation or termination. Not only am I completely disgusted with management but also this company because that location has so much potential but no one there to lead them in the right direction. All you have to do is read our reviews and you will find that the inner harbor needs a facelift. I do want to thank the company for allowing me to work there for the time that I did. It’s unfortunate that things may have to go the legal route because I do know my rights but if that location had people that actually cared about the employees all of this could’ve been avoided. I would advise you guys to do an investigation and you will find that what I am writing to corporate is nothing but the truth. If someone could get back to me in regards of my pay it would be highly appreciated. My name is Taylor Sydnor and you can reach me via email or phone. Thanks for your time
To whom it may concern there is a waitress working at your Fannin location by the name of Renee who smelled of marijuana when she served my food today. I told the manager on duty but I wanted to make sure it was passed on to upper management in case. She just really reaked of it.
My son planned a last minute birthday meal for me at Mccormick and Schmick’s San Diego) using open table.
When we arrived we were greeted and taken to a table in the back in a corner. No one came to say it would be a few miinutes, our waiter is busy. There were empty tables and booth up front. Restaurant was not busy.
We waited about 10 minutes then got up to leave but instead we sat at the bar. It was a very embarrassing experince for us. This is a tourist town and
maybe because I had on tennis and jeans and not dressed like the other patrons we warrant being seated out of sight. I could not tell you about the meal,
I only had the a salad and chowder, because I did not enjoy it. I could not wait to leave but I did not want to hurt my son’s feeling. I am from Houston and we have about 3 of these resturants.
We eat there quite often and never have been treated with such disrespect. I am a frenquent visitor to San Diego, but cannot ever think of eating there again.
I did post on trip advisor.