What caused the downfall of the fast food seafood restaurants? - Page 2

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What caused the downfall of the fast food seafood restaurants? (Page 2 of 4)

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:33:55 PM EDT

[#1]

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Captain D's - are they still around? I know there's only one Arthur Treacher's left now and HoJo restaurants are finally gone - miss clam night and an orange sherbet afterwards.

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Yes. OH still has Captain D's. There's actually two of them within an hour drive from me.

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:38:29 PM EDT

[#2]

i am extremely picky when it comes to fish. Fresh caught by myself/family or sushi, has to be super fresh or i don't like it.

I have decided it is likely the omega 3 fatty acids in it. They break down very quickly and I think the taste of rancid omega 3s turns me off.

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:40:49 PM EDT

[#3]

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A plank of fish was a thick layer of dip soaked in grease around a small piece of fish….and people got tired of it.

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Exactly this. The 1/8" piece of fish is a joke.

They used to be pretty good. Now you get a basket of fish-flavored flour and corn oil.

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:41:22 PM EDT

[#4]

I used to love me some LJS, the fish and more meal with fries, fish and chicken strips with xtra hush puppies and crunchers.

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:44:01 PM EDT

[#5]

Arthur Treachers was awesome.

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:45:49 PM EDT

[#6]

I liked Capt. D's but the one closest to me shut down.

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:47:33 PM EDT

[#7]

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Health craze? Everything was deep fried ~~except the~~ including the beverages.

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Posted: 7/8/2022 3:50:56 PM EDT

[#8]

constant diarrhea

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:51:39 PM EDT

[#9]

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I think there is still a LJS in Tomah. I hate seafood no matter where it comes from.

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I wish we still had LJS around here. Clams + More, extra hush puppies please.

My counterpart on the other shift actually drove 2 hours away to go to LJS.

I think there is still a LJS in Tomah. I hate seafood no matter where it comes from.

I didn't bother to look closely to see if was open, but the LJS/KFC in Shawano still had signage earlier this week.

Edited to add: just went to their website. Looks like that location is no longer in operation. I also see that the one just this side of Big Lake off Hwy 10 here in MN also looks to be gone.

Have at it for your neck of the woods: https://locations.ljsilvers.com/search

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:55:14 PM EDT

[#10]

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I liked Capt. D's but the one closest to me shut down.

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I got curious and looked them up, still have a location by the Dayton Mall in Kettering. Haven't eaten D's since maybe 10yo, my grandma loved that place.

The spicy fish option on their menu is intriguing.

Posted: 7/8/2022 3:56:43 PM EDT

[#11]

Can't eat it and drive. Everybody's eating while driving

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:03:47 PM EDT

[#12]

Probably neighborhood fish and chicken joints that do it better than those shitty chains.

Now, without exception, every one of these fish and chickens is in the fucking hood so think, plan and pack accordingly. But their catfish fucking slaps.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:05:26 PM EDT

[#13]

Hard to find good employees like Brad.

Attached File

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:09:02 PM EDT

[#14]

Arthur treachers

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:09:55 PM EDT

[#15]

The downfall of fast food seafood restaurants was clearly caused by Putin. C'mon man!

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:10:57 PM EDT

[#16]

I ate at a Long John Silvers last night. They have pretty good fried fish.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:11:09 PM EDT

[#17]

Skippers was awesome, used to go there all the time but I think they've gone extinct.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:12:57 PM EDT

[#18]

Arthur Treacher's was better than Log John Silvers but vanished from my area.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:24:25 PM EDT

[#19]

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Can't eat it and drive. Everybody's eating while driving

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Are you a women? Because I can eat it and drive. Just make sure you have plenty of napkins so the grease doesn't get all over the steering wheel and cause you to crash.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:29:02 PM EDT

[#20]

We have Ivers here. Beats the heck out of all of the national fast seafood places and most sit down seafood restaurants

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:29:52 PM EDT

[#21]

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Lol, I was just thinking about this last night.

However, we have Captain D's around here. Better than LJS.

There should be a less ghetto option. Like Chick-Fil-A to popeyes.

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I use to love Cap'n D's hockey puck chicken.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:30:30 PM EDT

[#22]

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Can't eat it and drive. Everybody's eating while driving

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You are probably right

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:35:38 PM EDT

[#23]

On the topic of Skippers I used to love the place back in the early 90s AMAZING (for fast food). There was a Skippers that opened up a few years ago, and I went there. While I was there I got to meet and talk to the guy that owned the place. I asked him what ever happened and are we going to start seeing more Skippers open back up, and how was the franchise process. I have a friend that's looking into different franchises.

He told me that back in the mid to late 90s Skippers got bought in a leveraged buy our by a investment group, that then went bankrupt. The brand name was then bought by one of the investment bankers that was involved. He said that, if you want to open a Skippers this guys wants a giant cut based off of projected numbers from the books of what sales where back in the 90s rolled forward with population growth. To the point that you just can't do it, in any area that had one in the area. So you have to open little ones in gas stations or in out of the way locations that the banker doesn't have numbers for and then it's a case by case negotiation for how much he's going to get, for you to be able to use the name. It's basically a trade mark that's held hostage and the price to buy it is to high. On top of that, all your are getting is the name, you then have to go out on your own and have everyone custom made to fit the Skippers theme and menu so you stay true to the brand, but you have to sorce it and that's not a easy thing for just a few places to do, what few of them are left work together to get there stuff made. But that really cuts into the bottom line.

So in short, I think they are history. Due to investment shenanigans.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:36:29 PM EDT

[#24]

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Skippers, Long John Silvers, HS Salt? I know KFC bought LJS and I think HS Salt, and ran them into the ground. Seems like an someone would fill the void. Beer battered fish and ship is the bomb!

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I worked at HS Salt as an assistant mgr out of high school, food was okay, but that piece of fish was cut from a frozen block so it looked like a half of a real fish then deep fried in oil.
Everything was fried in oil, after a few months I moved on to a better job.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:37:00 PM EDT

[#25]

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I remember these from when I was a kid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Treacher's

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I miss Arthur Treacher's too.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:37:29 PM EDT

[#26]

1. Cod war between Great Britain and Iceland and the restrictions in the Grand Banks of North America reduced the supply of cod.

2. Health issues with trans-fat.

Coming in at a whopping 1,320 calories, and with more trans fats than you should eat in two weeks, Long John Silver's Big Catch has been declared the "Worst Restaurant Meal in America" by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:39:11 PM EDT

[#27]

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I miss Arthur Treacher's ... there is a Long John Silver's near the Cabela's in Hamburg PA but it's not the same.

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Was going to say I went to that LJS once, ready to relive the 80s-early 90s which is the last time I had LJS, was ok, but was not the hype’d up meal I had in my head.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:40:44 PM EDT

[#28]

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Fortunately for me, around here, every bar serves haddock filet sandwiches on friday, and there's still Doug's Fish Fry.

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Dougs is the best for fast-ish seafood

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:40:47 PM EDT

[#29]

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Skippers was awesome, used to go there all the time but I think they've gone extinct.

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Used to go to one in Bremerton, WA about 35 years ago, IIRC.

Quick search shows that they're still around, mostly in WA. Doesn't show one where memory said I used to go. Memory fail or location gone bust?

https://skippers.com/locations/

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:41:40 PM EDT

[#30]

They're gross.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:46:13 PM EDT

[#31]

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Still all over TN.

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Captain D's - are they still around?

Still all over TN.

I think I've tried at least three around middle TN over the years.

Chicken, shrimp, or fish, you could blind taste test me and I'd swear it's all identical due to how oil soaked and breaded it is.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:46:27 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
Skippers, Long John Silvers, HS Salt? I know KFC bought LJS and I think HS Salt, and ran them into the ground. Seems like an someone would fill the void. Beer battered fish and ship is the bomb!

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I just searched and there are still 12 or so LJS around the valley, but they are now part of either a KFC or a Taco Bell.

We just got a CA Fish Grill by us I have only tried the fish and chips and they were OK.

We still have Pete's Fish and Chip and the strange knock off called Pirate Fish and Chips but I'm not really a fan.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:50:39 PM EDT

[#33]

People don't want a box full of fried shit like they used to

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:50:40 PM EDT

[#34]

We have a couple of Irish restaurants (there is such a thing) around here that make awesome fish 'n' chips. And they both deliver.

When my wife and I move out to the boonies in the next year, our seafood choices will be limited to frozen fish sticks.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:53:47 PM EDT

[#35]

I like fried fish but all the fast fish places started going down hill 25 years ago.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:55:20 PM EDT

[#36]

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The fall of LJS was more than 15 years ago, more like late 1990's. I've often lamented the fall of LJS with a fellow foodie (this guy can afford whatever he wants to eat, and has been that way for decades) who agrees that at its height, it was significantly better than any other fast food now or then. It just slowly became greasier and greasier with thicker batter over the late 1990's and into the early 2000's. It was cost cutting - more batter, less fish/shrimp for the same price. Probably was KFC that did it to them.

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I almost said 20 years ago but was trying to not make myself feel old.

Posted: 7/8/2022 4:55:33 PM EDT

[#37]

I put Culver's fried cod and walleye up against any fish and chips. It's pretty damn good.

Posted: 7/8/2022 5:01:37 PM EDT

[#38]

The effective extinction of Cod.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Atlantic_northwest_cod_fishery

Posted: 7/8/2022 5:28:52 PM EDT

[#39]

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Culvers

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In line for a cod sandwich right now.

Posted: 7/8/2022 5:33:13 PM EDT

[#40]

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I remember these from when I was a kid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Treacher's

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Posted: 7/8/2022 5:34:04 PM EDT

[#41]

When I lived in Mass. I used to enjoy going to "The Clam Box" in Ipswich, best fried seafood by far.

Clam Box

Posted: 7/8/2022 5:34:59 PM EDT

[#42]

because it's disgusting

people who enjoy a filet-o-fish probably have fleas and sleep in rest area parking

Posted: 7/8/2022 5:39:45 PM EDT

[#43]

LJS was done in by poor management at every level. They pay their store managers and assistant managers less than any other chain which means they have trouble getting and retaining good managers and it shows.

The LJS in Sevierville seems to be the one exception that I have found.

Captain Ds has recently had issues sourcing its fish and have resorted to using a lesser quality of fish. It isn't nearly as good as the fish that they have been serving for years.

When the signs went up about their sourcing issues the substitute fish was almost inedible but they quickly replaced it with a slightly better quality of fish. It still isn't as good as it was before the seafood shortage, though.