Joe's Crab Shack window washer.jpg

An employee washes the windows as Joe's Crab Shack gets ready to open.

(Tom De Poto/The Star-Ledger)

By 11 a.m. this morning, Joe’s Crab Shack is expected to have a line of customers outside the door and up the block at 860 Broad St. in Newark. Some will be there for the excitement that accompanies a grand opening. Others will be there for the chance to win free crabs.

The first 100 customers will be rewarded with free crab buckets for a year, according to the company. And everyone who enters today will be eligible to win free meals for a year.

The Newark location in the Courtyard Marriott hotel marks the third time in the past two years the company has targeted an urban environment.

“We looked at Newark and we were excited,” said Jim Mazany, Joe’s Crab Shack president. “We saw the revitalization that was going on around the Prudential Center and thought that was a great mix for Joe’s.”

It’s is the fifth Joe’s Crab Shack to open in New Jersey in the past few years. “We’re committed to the tri-state area, especially New Jersey. We feel good about this market,” Mazany said.

Joe’s opened a location in Harlem in July, the first in New York.

In addition to the chance to win free food. Joe’s Crab Shack is partnering with Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry charitable program. Customers who make a donation will receive a coupon for an appetizer or a meal.

The company donated about $2.4 million to the charity last year.

“We’ll also be be very actively involved on a local basis with fundraisers for schools and teachers,” Mazany said. “We want want to be a part of the community. We’re really good neighbors.”

The 5,400-square-foot Southern-style seafood restaurant will employ 140 full-time workers, many of whom are from in and around Newark, Mazany said.

The Courtyard Marriott opened in November 2012. It is the first new hotel in the city’s downtown in more than 40 years.

Adam Moschin, vice president of leasing for Tucker Development, which owns the building, said the the hotel “is performing above expectations.”

He said Tucker Development is in discussions with other restaurants and retail shops for the remaining 8,600 square feet.

“We’ve been talking to Joe’s for a long time,” he said. “And we’re taking that same approach with other possible tenants.”

He said Joe’s “sees the big picture, the direction Newark is headed in. We’re talking to operators that feel the same way.”

Tucker Development is also in discussions with potential tenants for its project on Springfield Ave. in Newark, which will be anchored by a Shop-Rite.

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