Captain D's is an American

fast casual restaurant A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate conce ...

chain that specializes in seafood and is headquartered in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. The chain was founded as Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers by Raymond L. Danner Sr. on August 15, 1969, in

Donelson, Tennessee Donelson is a neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee about 6 mi (10 km) east of downtown Nashville along U.S. Route 70. It is named in honor of John Donelson, co-founder of Nashville and father-in-law of Andrew Jackson, Nashvillian and ...

. The chain is currently owned by

private-equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...

Sentinel Capital Partners Sentinel Capital Partners, L.L.C. is an American private-equity firm focusing on mid-market companies. The company is headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1994 by David Lobel and John McCormack after working together at Salomon Smith ...

. Captain D's has more than 500 locations in the United States.

History

Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers opened in 1969 after entrepreneur, owner of Danner Foods and KFC franchisee Raymond L. Danner Sr. was unable to expand the territory of his Shoney's

Big Boy Restaurants Big Boy Restaurant Group, LLC is an American restaurant chain store, chain headquartered in Warren, Michigan, Warren, Michigan. Frisch's Big Boy Restaurants is a restaurant chain with its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Big Boy name, desi ...

franchise. The franchise was limited to 11 states in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. In 1971, Danner and his

Shoney's Shoney's is an American restaurant chain headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It operates restaurants in 17 states, primarily in the South with additional locations in the Midwest and lower Mid-Atlantic states. Founder Alex Schoenbaum opene ...

co-founder

Alex Schoenbaum Alex Schoenbaum (August 8, 1915 – December 6, 1996) was an American collegiate football player and businessman in the hospitality industry, eventually operating a chain of restaurants and later, motels. He is best remembered for developing t ...

completed a merger between Shoney's and Danner Foods and named their new company Shoney’s Big Boy Enterprises. In 1975, Danner was president of the company, which announced the renaming of Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers as "Captain D's" and the launch of a national franchising program. By this time, Captain D's menu was edited to focus on seafood and side dishes, and the chain had expanded to 32 locations that earned more than $10 million annually. In 1976, Captain D's was held by the rebranded Shoney's Inc., after Danner and Schoenbaum sold the Big Boy

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

Marriott Corporation Marriott Corporation was a hospitality company that operated from 1927 until 1993, founded by J. Willard Marriott and Frank J. Kimball as Hot Shoppes, Inc. In 1957, Marriott Corporation opened its first hotel in Arlington County, Virginia, ...

. Throughout the 1970s, the company grew rapidly and added special programs like the Kids' Birthday Club and children's comic books. During the 1980s and 1990s, the company's logo and building design evolved. On September 13, 2010, Phil Greifeld was appointed CEO of Captain D's. Throughout 2016, Captain D's experienced a surge of franchise and corporate development, with 13 new locations opened, along with numerous development agreements signed to open additional restaurants. This ongoing growth expanded the brand's presence, including in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Racial discrimination lawsuit

In April 1989, the

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Altho ...

filed a class-action lawsuit against Danner and more than 200 other Shoney's Inc. officials for allegedly implementing discriminatory policies against black people who sought employment or were then employed with Shoney's Inc. restaurants—Shoney's, Captain D's,

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken is a casual dining franchise founded in 1965 specializing in chicken, homestyle sides, and biscuits. History After the sale of KFC in 1962, Lee Cummings (the nephew of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders) began dev ...

, Pargo's and the Fifth Quarter. Nine former employees and job applicants of Shoney's Inc. restaurants sought more than $500 million as well as an affirmative action plan authorized by the court to prevent discriminatory policies in the future. In November 1992, Captain D's was involved in the $105 million settlement of the racial discrimination case against then-parent company Shoney's Inc. and Danner agreed to contribute $65 million of the company's stock toward the settlement amount. The settlement was awarded to the more than 40,000 former, then-current and prospective restaurant employees who claimed they were discriminated against or were ordered to engage in discriminatory practices between February 1988 and April 1991.

Acquisitions

In January 2005, Sagittarius Brand, Inc. acquired Captain D's for $150 million. To gain capital, the holding company sold Captain D's to

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" the present equity holders of the target company. A buyout ...

firm

Sun Capital Partners, Inc Sun Capital Partners, Inc., is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. Sun Capital was founded in 1995 by Marc J. Leder and Rodger Krouse, former classmates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and ...

in 2010. After Spectrum Restaurant Group Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006, Captain D's bought its restaurant chain

Grandy's Grandy's Country Cookin' (shortened to Grandy's) is a homestyle cooking and comfort food restaurant chain based in Nashville, Tennessee. History Grandy's was founded in 1972 by Walter E. Johnson and Rex E. Sanders, who became friends while wor ...

as a subsidiary. In 2013, Sun Capital Partners Inc. sold Captain D's to its affiliate, Centre Partners Management. In 2017, Centre Partners sold the chain to

Products

Captain D's offers fried fish, shrimp, lobster, crab and chicken meals, platters and sandwiches. The fish and shrimp options come grilled or fried. The appetizers include fried mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers, clam strips and butterfly shrimp. The side dishes include coleslaw, French fries, green beans, okra, broccoli, baked potato, corn, mac & cheese and hush puppies. The dessert menu includes cheesecake and funnel cake stix. In 2019, PepsiCo announced that it would partner with Captain D's as its only beverage supplier. As of 2021, Captain D's restaurants are sourced by 60 food suppliers.

Operations

In 2020, Captain D's announced its Express prototype, a 960-square-foot building model with drive-thru and walkup windows only. The first Express unit was set to open in

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton and Clayton counties, Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,930. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is part ...

, in 2021. In 2021, Captain D's announced the debut of its double drive-thru in Tupelo, Mississippi.

References