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tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Captain
D's Seafood 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 charting calm waters. The same group also owns Del Taco now. The dining room decor is typical fast food seafood faux-nautical. Pilot lamps for sconces. Fake port holes. Whites and blues. The first location I visited was a bit dated and had its problems. One booth had a full-size garbage can sitting on a bench catching water dripping from the climate control duct. There were two trash bin/tray returns. One was overflowing with garbage, the other was blocked off. The one blocked off was so because the trash pail that WAS in there was the one catching water. 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 floundered? If you line up and compare Long John Silver's menu to Captain D's, it simply comes down to this...Long John Silver's has better chicken, and Captain D's has better almost everything else. But your mileage may vary. At our first visit, Captain D's 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. Other fried stuff (like shrimp and fries) were also better, albeit less significantly so. Wife #1 claimed Captain D's cole slaw also reigned supreme. But Captain D's chicken was about as boring as watching paint dry. It was later replaced briefly by chicken battered with the same stuff they batter the fish with. THAT was the best. But now they're just using generic chicken tenders. The second visit, at another location in a different region, the shrimp and fries still held up, but the fish didn't. It was EXACTLY Long John Silver's fish, but seemingly warmed over. 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. 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 guess we'll see how this whole menu expansion goes. Imagine trying to keep track of cooking all of those items in a location co-branded with Del Taco, which they're now trying out. They'd better be paying their cooks well. Click here to return to tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption |
