If you’ve visited Juneau, you’ve probably heard of Tracy’s King Crab Shack — the waterfront restaurant famous for its crab bisque. It’s become the subject of another skirmish in Juneau’s local restaurant wars.
The shack has been around for more than a decade and garnered increased popularity after appearing on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” in 2013.
This will be the famous crab shack’s final season at its current waterfront location.
Michael Tripp is the majority owner of the business that leases the property to the restaurant. He said in an email that their businesses couldn’t reach an agreement on a new lease. It won’t be renewed next year.
Tripp said the property is under contract with another local business, but he wouldn’t say with whom. Tripp said the business relationship with LaBarge was professional and respectful.
LaBarge said in an email that the situation is unfortunate and saddening.
“It was always our intent to purchase the building, and in my last conversation with the current owner, I made a verbal offer to purchase or to renegotiate the current lease. I did not hear back from the building owners regarding my offer, and was surprised to get an email stating they had chosen to deal with another restaurant group.”
In an interview with the Juneau Empire in December, LaBarge recounted how she started the restaurant from scratch after more than 10 years of consideration.
LaBarge said the crab shack will be back “stronger than ever” in a new location next summer. The lease will expire in March 2017.
Tripp and LaBarge agreed to comment only in writing. Their comments were edited for grammar.
