From Mignon Pho + Grill to Lucky Crab to Mignon Pho + Seafood in three weeks:
I usually stop by Nijiya a couple of times a week. Once for shopping and once or twice to pick up a bento rush for lunch.
Imagine my surprise when I found that Mignon Pho + Grill had become something called "Lucky Crab"?
So, yet another one of these Cajun/Creole Crawfish/Seafood places?
Not so fast Kemosabe........two days later I'm at Nijiya again, and it's no more crabs?
Now it's sort of back to Mignon Pho....minus the "grill" plus "seafood"...... How's that for commitment to a "brand"?
This might set the record for most name changes in 2 weeks?
At least they just had to buy 7 letters for the last name change.
Still owned by the same folks.......
Restaurant name this week
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Taisho is closed until Sunday April 5th:
So no Taisho stop for us this week. The Missus is having withdrawals.....
Yakitori Taisho
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Makes you wonder what the owner is doing with all that signage, is it sitting in his garage? Although if you ever had a desire to open a restaurant named Lucky Crab, I know where you can find some signage and I bet it's available!
Posted by: Jason | Wednesday, 01 April 2015 at 08:04 PM
Those signs....fickle much?
Posted by: caninecologne | Wednesday, 01 April 2015 at 08:52 PM
Talk about an identity crisis! It's not as if it was a banner that they were swapping out.
Posted by: Sandy | Wednesday, 01 April 2015 at 10:20 PM
I'm actually quite surprised they are still doing well. About a year ago, I thought it was average but had generous portions if you ordered a "large" size - also the filet mignon was not bad.
However in recent months they did away with the large size portion and the regular size has shrunk further - about 70% of the size of a regular pho at other places for $9, which is wayyy too expensive. Soup quality has also gone from bad to worse. Wonder what they are going to come up with now.
Posted by: Daryl | Wednesday, 01 April 2015 at 11:28 PM
I'm surprised that the Minions still exist... Went there several years ago and found the Pho way overpriced for what you get.
Posted by: R | Thursday, 02 April 2015 at 12:00 AM
oh no! no yakitori, hope they open up again soon!
Posted by: kat | Thursday, 02 April 2015 at 01:22 AM
LOL Jason! Brings to mind the "Neon Museum" in Las Vegas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Museum
Hi CC - Can you imagine how long it muct take them answer "paper or plastic"?
Hi Sandy - It kind of shows how much commitment they have to their "concept".
Hi Daryl - I think the name change(s) show that maybe they are not doing that well.
Hi R - Not my favorite place for pho.
Hi Kat - I think they are on vacation. So we'll check back next week!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 02 April 2015 at 06:35 AM
I had heard about Lucky Crab and was excited to see their new concept (I visited the new LC website just last week or so and the owner wrote a nice intro about why they were converting). So I was surprised after reading your mignon + seafood update. Nijiya trips are even better when you discover something new (un grocery related).
Posted by: Faye | Thursday, 02 April 2015 at 04:21 PM
Yes they are Faye! That flip-flopping of names was kind of strange.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 03 April 2015 at 06:09 AM