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tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Captain
D's Seafood My first Captain D's experience was in St. Joseph, MO. It was awesome. The fried fish had a thin coat batter surrounding a thick white tender piece of fish that could be served in any full-service seafood restaurant. It was simply fabulous. Everything there was great and always arrived freshly cooked whenver I visited. The problem is that no other Captain D's I've been to since (and I've been to about a half dozen in three states) could replicate it. The food at the others tasted warmed over and wasn't very good at all. The worst-case scenario by my experience was a St Louis area location where the fish may as well have been reheated Long John Silvers. It was as if somebody had run to a nearby Long John Silver's, bought a bunch of fish, brought it to Captain D's, and reheated it for sale throughout the day. It was THAT BAD. And now St. Joseph has closed. That sucks. Captain D's started out life as "Mr D's" in Donelson, Tennessee, in 1969. The name change came in 1974. They were somehow tied in with Shoney's for awhile, and were the healthier end of the relationship. A couple of buyout groups later, the Nashville-based chain appears to be slipping. Sagittarius Brands, who purchased Captain D's in 2006, later purchased Del Taco and tried co-branding. The co-branded stores aren't anymore, and Sagittarius sold Captain D's to Sun Capital Partners in 2010. From what I see online, people as a whole are terribly positive towards the brand. The dining room decor is typical fast food seafood faux-nautical. Pilot lamps for sconces. Fake port holes. Whites and blues. Others are done up to look like wharf shacks, I suppose. Your mileage may vary. Captain D's is using the slogan "Sit down food at fast food prices" today. The traditional core fried fish and chicken menu has been expanded to include a ridiculously extensive menu of grilled fish, pastas, and 13...yes, 13...sides. They've even comparing themselves to Red Lobster in advertising. Isn't this how Skipper's failed? Captain D's has some generic after-thought chicken strips. For about ten minutes once, they tried offering chicken battered in the same stuff they batter the fish in. THAT was awesome. Can't understand why that didn't continue. Captain D's features some menu items regionally, so if you find oysters at one location, you might not find them a state or two over. I don't know...I would think Captain D's could work if the employees would just put some effort into getting people food freshly cooked and they smiled once in awhile. Then again, St Joseph did...and look what happened to them. Click here to return to tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption |
