Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is an American seafood restaurant chain inspired by the 1994 film ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and ...

''. As of October 2022, thirty-four Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurants operate worldwide. Twenty-two of these locations are in the United States, four are in Mexico, three are in Japan, and one each are in the Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Canada and Qatar. The company is based in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas, and has been a division of

Landry's Restaurants Landry's, Inc., is an American, privately owned, multi-brand dining, hospitality, entertainment and gaming corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas. Landry's, Inc. owns and operates more than 600 restaurants, hotels, casinos and entertainmen ...

since 2010. The first Bubba Gump restaurant opened in 1996 in

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

by Rusty Pelican Restaurants in partnership with

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

, the distributor of ''Forrest Gump''. The Bubba Gump restaurant is named after the film's characters Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue and

. In the film, Bubba suggested getting in the shrimping business and, ultimately, Forrest pursued the idea after Bubba's death in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

History

In 1995, entrepreneur Anthony Zolezzi bought the rights to the name “Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.” from Paramount Pictures in an attempt to turn around a financially troubled seafood company, Meridian Products. The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. line of packaged shrimp products were sold in supermarkets across the US and in international markets. Zolezzi was approached by a friend in the seafood restaurant business about licensing the name. Zolezzi consulted with Paramount and the Rusty Pelican restaurant chain to launch the first Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant in

in 1996. Its success led to its franchising on an international scale. In November 2010, Landry's, Inc. acquired Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for an undisclosed amount. The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. purchase also included a lone Rusty Pelican in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

. As a result the restaurant’s headquarters moved from Hollywood, California to

, Texas.

As the name implies, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.'s menu consists mostly of

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

dishes. It serves other seafood, as well as Southern and

Cajun cuisine Cajun cuisine (french: cuisine cadienne , es, cocina acadiense) is a style of cooking developed by the Cajun–Acadians who were deported from Acadia to Louisiana during the 18th century and who incorporated West African, French and Spanish co ...

, as the characters of Forrest and Bubba were from Alabama. The restaurant offers dishes named after characters in the movie, like Jenny's Catch and the restaurant's bestseller Forrest's Seafood Feast. Restaurants display movie memorabilia throughout the restaurant. Guests can play ''Forrest Gump'' movie trivia and can signal their waiter with a “Stop, Forrest, Stop” sign. The mascot of the chain is a shrimp named Shrimp Louie.

Miscellaneous

Employee social media policy

In 2013, a former Bubba Gump employee claimed that the

social media policy A social media policy is a policy which advises representatives of an organization on their use of social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other f ...

in the company's employee handbook had a restrictive effect on employees’ rights by prohibiting them from discussing their jobs online. In 2015, a

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

administrative law judge ruled that Bubba Gump did not violate employees’ rights as they did not explicitly prohibit employees from discussing job-related subjects, but only expected them to do so in a civil manner. There have been many cases in the last few years in which the National Labor Relations Board found companies social media policies to be overboard, and ruled in favor of the employee(s).

Chris Pratt

When actor

Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series ''Everwood'' (2002–2006) an ...

was 19, he was discovered while working as a waiter at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in

Maui, Hawaii The island of Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th largest island in the United S ...

. He waited on the table of actress/director

Rae Dawn Chong Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film ''Stony Island (film), Stony Island'', and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film ''Quest for Fire (film), ...

, who had starred in one of Pratt's favorite films, ''

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'' (1985). Chong offered Pratt a role in a short movie she was directing.

References

External links