Did Captain Kidd's buffet go out of business?

[Disneyland1084]

I was at DL three weeks ago, and stayed at Park Vue Inn which is right next to Captain Kidd's buffet. It was boarded up but I can't tell if it's gone out of business or if it's being remodeled. I asked a worker at IHOP and they said they didn't know.

 

[Malcon10t]

I hope so.

 

[Disneyland1084]

I hope so.

Was it that horrible? Lol. We ate there five years ago and liked it.

 

[Priory]

Edited: wrong thread.

 

[amyg1975]

When we were there it was being gutted, inside and out. Not sure what is happening with it though.

 

[got2travel]

I certainly hope so. Never understood how they lasted so long. Highly doubt they had any repeat customer.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Looks like it, and BTW anyone who is bored can spend hours entertaining themselves reading all the terrible reviews, open-mouthed in amazement that such a horrible establishment could stay in business as long as it did.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/captain-kidds-family-restaurant-anaheim
7/14/2019
This place is right across the street from Disneyland so we thought it would be good and give it a shot..
First, The food was horrible, way over cooked or way undercooked! I took a bite and just couldn't eat the bland food. The ham was soggy, The meat was so over cooked like reheated way to many times! The floor was so sticky from the time you walk in to our booth I mean I felt like glue.. The table was so sticky and unclean.. Horrible restaurant Should be inspected by health department! I'm sorry but please don go here!

9/26/2018
This place has moldy mac & cheese
Also found black hair in our Mac & cheese
Never again will we eat there they only gave us comp for 1 plate my daughters 20th birthday dinner ruined... Food was disgusting cold & Stale ..
I give this place 1 star only because the waitress was nice

7/3/2019
All I can say is, I believe the universe noticed that there was an abundance of happiness coming from Disneyland, and it decided that there needed to be a balance, so Captain Kidd's buffet of sadness was created to remind us that life is a roller coaster. You can't have the ups without the downs. Captain Kidd's is the part of the roller coaster where you want to puke, and then never ride again.

 

[Malcon10t]

Was it that horrible? Lol. We ate there five years ago and liked it.

Several known cases of food poisonings, always getting dinged by the health department, I never personally ate there, because of the bad reputation. Most people could not figure how it remained in business. I figured with as many people who visited Disneyland, there were enough first timers.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The BW Park Place used to have their breakfast upstairs but not when I stayed a couple weeks ago. The front desk clerk said that Captain Kidds is undergoing renovation.

Attached is a picture I took inside walking past Captain Kidds when I was walking back to my room one night. I figured they probably had to gut it to get rid of all the bacteria that had been in that place for years!

 

[DizMe]

7/3/2019
All I can say is, I believe the universe noticed that there was an abundance of happiness coming from Disneyland, and it decided that there needed to be a balance, so Captain Kidd's buffet of sadness was created to remind us that life is a roller coaster. You can't have the ups without the downs. Captain Kidd's is the part of the roller coaster where you want to puke, and then never ride again.

OMG, What a hilarious review. "Captain Kidd's buffet of sadness" LOL. Thanks for sharing that!

I don't think I could ever go there. I don't care if they gut it, bleach it, scrub it with acid, or whatever--I can't believe you could ever completely remove the traces of what went on (or what might live in the cracks). I've watched way too many murder shows to believe you can completely rid a place of the horrors of the past.

 

[PirateBrigade]

I'm trying to pull the permit (BLD2021-01624), but it was issued in July and it's a $175,000 project for the space by North Bay Development.

Not yet sure if it's coming back as Captain Kidd (I really doubt it), more likely it's the building owner demo/reno-ing the space and then leasing it out for $$$.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Permit #:	BLD2021-01624	Address:	1550 S HARBOR BLVD
Issued:	7/13/2021	Contractor:	NORTH BAY DEVELOPMENT INC
Census:	437	Phone #:	(714) 887-4848
Parcel #:	08221117	Type Of Work:	Tenant Improvement
Valuation:	$175,000.00	Description:	Tenant Improvement: 2800 sq ft interior renovation to existing restaurant including renovation of restroom for ADA compliance. Change Fascade. 420 Sq Ft existing patio renovation (no cover) "Mamas"

 

[GenGen22]

It looks like it closed in April. Good riddens!
We ate here once and this was like one of the first times we went to Disney as adults and didn't know any better. Way before I was here on the DIS obviously. It was the worst! I didn't do that again...lol https://www.resetera.com/threads/attention-disneyland-diehards-captain-kidds-has-fallen.416607/

 

[PirateBrigade]

Okay this is the best I can do, I fell deep into the rabbit hole of this restaurant and property and here's what I coughed up.

The listed owner of the restaurant per public record was Paul D Flowers, he opened "Mom's Breakfast House" later "Mom's Family Restaurant" on this site in 1998 (after it previously being a Chinese restaurant in the 1980s), he converted it to Captain Kidd's in 2003. All of these restaurants were under his corporation "Louis Metro, Inc." In 2018, the business tax certificate listed a change in ownership to "HITPROS, Inc." and this is corroborated by documents filed with the OC Recorder in 2017/2018.

However, I think it's still the same family, because the directors of the HITPROS, Inc. are the same people that were associated with this property in 1994. Of note, Hitpros received a PPP loan for about $78,000 last year.

So I'm at an impasse, I'm stuck and I spent way too much time looking this up, hahah. The best conclusion I can draw is that Paul D Flowers (currently in his 70s) and his wife transferred the family business over in 2017/2018, and they are gutting/renovating this restaurant space and will a) operate their own, new, not $8.99 buffet restaurant (the space easily supports more expensive fare) or b) lease it to a new tenant.



ETA: sources if you want to continue my mini-investigation.

Status: Search for a Tax Certificate (anaheim.net) -- search for 1550 S. Harbor
RecorderWorks (ocgov.com) -- operative terms are Paul D Flowers, HITPROS, Inc., and Louis Metro, Inc.
Business Search - Business Entities - Business Programs | California Secretary of State - Hitpros and Louis Metro under corporation
Building Permit Reports | Anaheim, CA - Official Website -- sort by date, issued 7/13/2021


ETA2: Well, I found out why the company is called HITPROS -- the owner of the company filed an intent-to-use trademark application in the early 00s related to music production on compact discs. USPTO TSDR Case Viewer. That trademark was abandoned after the owner never followed through. From starting a record company to owning the Captain Kidd restaurant in Anaheim... oh, I love it.

 

[Disneyland1084]

Okay this is the best I can do, I fell deep into the rabbit hole of this restaurant and property and here's what I coughed up.

The listed owner of the restaurant per public record was Paul D Flowers, he opened "Mom's Breakfast House" later "Mom's Family Restaurant" on this site in 1998 (after it previously being a Chinese restaurant in the 1980s), he converted it to Captain Kidd's in 2003. All of these restaurants were under his corporation "Louis Metro, Inc." In 2018, the business tax certificate listed a change in ownership to "HITPROS, Inc." and this is corroborated by documents filed with the OC Recorder in 2017/2018.

However, I think it's still the same family, because the directors of the HITPROS, Inc. are the same people that were associated with this property in 1994.

So I'm at an impasse, I'm stuck and I spent way too much time looking this up, hahah. The best conclusion I can draw is that Paul D Flowers (currently in his 70s) and his wife transferred the family business over in 2017/2018, and they are gutting/renovating this restaurant space and will a) operate their own, new, not $8.99 buffet restaurant (the space easily supports more expensive fare) or b) lease it to a new tenant.

Wow, thanks for doing all that research.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I'm trying to pull the permit (BLD2021-01624), but it was issued in July and it's a $175,000 project for the space by North Bay Development.

Not yet sure if it's coming back as Captain Kidd (I really doubt it), more likely it's the building owner demo/reno-ing the space and then leasing it out for $$$.

LOL. You don’t need an MBA to work out that returning as “Captain Kidd’s” (or any variation thereof) would be one of the worst marketing decisions ever. I hope whatever it becomes is a success. There should be a good opportunity for a nice, clean, reasonably priced restaurant, more expensive than Kidd’s but much higher quality, while still being much more reasonably priced than the Disney restaurants.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

This is more than I ever knew I wanted to know about the Kidd saga

I hope they put in a better restaurant but still keep a nice economic price point. You gotta know that their price was just too good to be true.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I thought buffets were a thing of the past. I did have one at a Marriott in San Francisco last week, which really surprised me because they were pretty strict about a lot of other things. At any rate, maybe the new restaurant will not be a buffet.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I thought buffets were a thing of the past. I did have one at a Marriott in San Francisco last week, which really surprised me because they were pretty strict about a lot of other things. At any rate, maybe the new restaurant will not be a buffet.

We ate at Goofy’s Kitchen on its reopening day last week. No characters, but it was a buffet, with things like the PB&J pizza that my kids love.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

Okay this is the best I can do, I fell deep into the rabbit hole of this restaurant and property and here's what I coughed up.

Great research there. From what I know of the restaurant business, sometimes a location will shutdown and change ownership within a family in order to retire debt or start fresh. From what you pulled, the owner did not change so in all likelihood this is a move to wipe the negative yelp reviews and start over. $175k for a renovation is super cheap in CA, and likely does not include kitchen facilities, that's also indicated in the description. ADA compliance for the bathrooms, interior, and exterior facade for $175k? This is going to be really interesting to see what comes out of this!