Barnacle Bill's eateries close doors

Melissa S. Monroe and Express-News Business Writers San Antonio-based Barnacle Bill's Seafood restaurants have closed, leaving customers and employees wondering what happened.

[Jennifer]

I cannot believe this happened! It's so strange! I worked at Barnacle Bill's for about 2 years (1998-2000) when I was still in high school. I left San Antonio (and Barnacle Bill's) in 2000 to move to Corpus Christi for college and have been here since. But, I have always remembered my employment at BB. I enjoyed all of my co-workers and I enjoyed chatting with Paul, Jeff, and Scott. They were always such nice people and I am baffled they would do this. The company paid WAY above minimum wage and I NEVER felt mistreated when I was there. Yes, I know that was 7 years ago, but I don't understand how it could have all changed in any drastic way to now be ready about "rumors the employees were mistreated". This is so confusing! I wish the best for all the employees and I'm sorry this happened to y'all. I really hope some light is shed on this situation SOON.

[Jennifer]

I don't know where McFaddin, TX is, but that is not where I am! I just thought that was strange. I am in Corpus, like it says in my comment.

[Velasquez]

What Paul and Jeff Vance did is irreprehensible they disappointed alot of people. Especially the Director of Operations who moved here to San Antonio from Houston specifically for this job. All the management staff was sorely disappointed also and to the least the employees.
Their days as restauranteurs are tainted in San Antonio, they are very weak men.

[Garcia Martinez]

Very well said Velasquez. I can't even believe I was able to find this site where you posted this comment. As someone who worked with the company for the beginning years of my adulthood and someone who moved thru the ranks from crew member to having my own store with the company...I would have to say, I'm extremely disappointed. I was one of the people who defended Paul and Jeff, not only to my crew who worked for me, but also to my family ( I met my future husband and the father of my child working there). Now I look back and ask myself exactly what did I get to see and no one else? And I realized, eventhough they could be nice and decent human beings most of the time to me...not everyone saw that side of Paul and Jeff. Especially the members of thier crew. I wouldn't say crew members were mistreated, but there was a hell of a lot of room for improvement. Just tell me, exactly what kind of people shut thier doors in the faces of the people who help them become a success? Trust me, as anyone who has ever worked in a restaraunt especially Barnacle Bill's knows it's a team effort. And in the end, they were the ones who didn't put in that extra effort that they so much asked for...As far as the Director of Operations, my heart goes out to him and his family, although, last time I spoke with him...he said he has many things to look foward to...along with everyone else who used to work there. Think about it...you won't have to go home with that god-awful smell on you anymore...you know what I' talkin about!

[Nancy]

I bought my mother a gift card to Barnacle Bills for Mother's Day. Then they close the next day! We called the main office and they said they will get back with us. no call back!

[smorgasborg]

welcome to the Nutts And Bolts of San Antonio"s Future

[Don]

Any ideas as to what went wrong?

[JRG]

I say we boycott all the Bill Miller Bar-BQ restaurants. The family ran the same operations at Barnacle Bill's

[Richard A]

OMG, that smell...BB was my first job when the first store opened on the southside. All three owners appeared OK up front. The Vance's always seemed to have a hidden side. Miller was the only one that appeared honest to me. They should at least have the guts to explain what happened and why they left all their supporters who made them SOOOO much money high and dry. Maybe they finally caught the fish they were looking for, gutted it, and left.

[Richard A]

Another site says that the owners just got tired of it and closed it. F I S H Y.
You want really good fish? Go to Neptunes on Goliad road. It's family owned and has been around longer than BB.

[SanAntonioRose]

This makes me sad... I loved their food!

[PJT]

So does anyone know exactly WHY they closed. That is one of my favorite restaurants - not fancy, but the fish was the best - better than Sea Island in my opinion. I just want to know why?????

[Austin Dvorak]

They ran out of fish.

[Mike]

Yeah their fish sandwich was good(fish version of the poorboy plus lunch special), but you know, if you own a place and want to close it, you close it. Business is business.

However, to just shut the doors is suspect.

[Ken]

I was told that Bill Miller's had sold this company to someone else, and they were the
ones that closed it. Is this true or not?
It's hard for me to belive that the Miller's
would do this to the people of San Antonio.
And I don't think they did.

[alan]

Velasquez wrote:

What Paul and Jeff Vance did is irreprehensible they disappointed alot of people. Especially the Director of Operations who moved here to San Antonio from Houston specifically for this job. All the management staff was sorely disappointed also and to the least the employees.
Their days as restauranteurs are tainted in San Antonio, they are very weak men.

i don't know what you hope to gain by publicly slandering the former owners of the restaurant. In Texas employees have the right to quit at any time for any reason or for no reason, and employers have the same right to terminate an employee at any time for any reason. there were no laws broken, except for the libel you're publishing against them.

did you think that they are (or were) obligated to keep funding your life in exchange for your time ? well, think again.

[Mary]

Does anybody know a good fish place in san antonio. We went to Carlos Kelly's this weekend in China Grove and it was very good..but not the same as having a local place to go to.

[Mike]

"La Playa" on west ave just a few blocks inside the loop, its more my parents place but I went with them and it was pretty good, serving size etc. They also have cuisines from Honduras and Equidor(I believe). The fish and chips plate I had could have served 2 people easy.

Try it once.

[christine]

alan wrote:

<quoted text>
i don't know what you hope to gain by publicly slandering the former owners of the restaurant. In Texas employees have the right to quit at any time for any reason or for no reason, and employers have the same right to terminate an employee at any time for any reason. there were no laws broken, except for the libel you're publishing against them.
did you think that they are (or were) obligated to keep funding your life in exchange for your time ? well, think again.

Slander is when you make false statements about someone, and convey them as fact. In this case, Velasquez was stating an opinion (that the brothers were weak men), and an actual fact (that the employees were disappointed). The fact is that Texas IS an employment at will state, but that doesn't mean that locking the doors on your employees with no notice is the right thing to do. Legal yes, ethical, no. Employers who go around treating employees this way are not ethical people, and what goes around does indeed come around, eventually.

[Crit O]

All of the sites are owned by Brazos de Santos. The general partner of Brazos is the Miller family, according to Balous Miller, a partner in the noted, family-owned restaurant venture Bill Miller Bar-B-Q, and son of the late Bill Miller -- the family patriarch and founder of the barbecue chain.

Barnacle Bill's was founded in 1993 by Paul and Jeff Vance and Scott Miller. They are the grandsons of Bill Miller.

Answers to why the decision was made to close the restaurants, however, remain hard to come by. Business Journal