Long John Silver's was founded in 1969 by Jim Patterson in
Lexington, Kentucky. The original location, on 301 Southland Drive, was previously the Cape Codder seafood carry-out restaurant. The original Cape Codder concrete block building was redesigned by architect Druce Henn, who created the New England style of Long John Silver's early chain restaurants. That original location is now a styling salon. Earlier restaurants were known for their
Cape Cod style buildings, blue roofs with square
cupolas, wood benches/tables,
lobster pots, and
ship's wheels. Later, more nautically themed decorations were added such as seats made to look like
nautical flags. The chain arrived in
Singapore in 1983 and has had a continuous presence in the country ever since. It remains one of 30 countries outside of the United States to have Long John Silver's outlets. Early restaurants also featured separate entrance and exit doors, a
corridor-like waiting line area, deep fryers with food heaters that were transparent so customers could view the food to be served, and wrought iron 'sword' door handles. These buildings had dock-like walkways, lined with pilings and thick ropes. Long John Silver's was acquired by Jerrico in 1988. Jerrico was taken private in 1989 through a highly leveraged management buyout, and one year later, the other restaurant concepts were divested to focus on Long John Silver's. After struggling for the next several years under its heavy debt load, Jerrico Inc. filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 1998. In September 1999,
A&W announced to acquire the chain out of bankruptcy. As a result,
Yorkshire Global Restaurants was formed. In 2000, Yorkshire Global Restaurants agreed to test multi-branded locations with
Louisville, Kentucky-based
Tricon Global, owner of the
KFC,
Pizza Hut, and
Taco Bell chains. The parent company of Long John Silver's and A&W, Yorkshire was acquired by Tricon Global and Tricon was renamed Yum! Brands, Inc in May 2002. By January 2011, Yum! announced it was seeking a buyer for its Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants divisions, citing poor sales and a desire to shift its focus to international expansion. In September 2011, Yum! announced the impending sale of Long John Silver's to LJS Partners – a group consisting of franchisees and other private investors. In July 2013, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition and health policy watchdog group, named Long John Silver's "Big Catch" meal the worst restaurant meal in America, noting that it contained 33 grams of trans fat, 19 grams of saturated fat, 1,320 calories, and almost 3,700 milligrams of sodium. The company announced that it had eliminated trans fats from its menu by January 2014. In March 2015, James O'Reilly, who had previously worked for KFC (another Yum! Brands holding), was appointed as the CEO. He stated that he expected the chain to maintain its 1,132 stores, refocus its marketing following negative press about the fat and sodium content of the menu, and looked to the possibility of future expansion. On May 22, 2018, Long John Silver's announced the acquisition of 76 franchised restaurants, primarily owned and renovated by ServUS, located primarily in Indiana. On October 19, 2019, Warren W. Rosenthal, former president of Jerrico and developer of 1,350 Long John Silver's restaurants, died, aged 96. On January 18, 2021, Long John Silver's announced Blain Shortreed to take over as CEO. File:Co-branded Long John Silver's and A&W in Gillette, Wyoming.jpg|A co-branded LJS and
A&W restaurant in
Gillette, Wyoming, in 2018 File:Kfc-longjohnsilvers.jpg|A co-branded
KFC and LJS restaurant in
Lafayette, Tennessee, in 2006 File:LongJohnTacoBell.JPG|A former co-branded LJS and
Taco Bell restaurant in
Kent, Ohio, in 2006 before the location became entirely a Taco Bell premise ==Locations==