The Seafood Chain That Could Be Swimming Towards A Comeback

Stand by to furl sails and ease ahead slow — Captain D's is off the port bow, reeling in the attention of seafood fans across the country with batter-dipped shrimp, fish sandwiches, and fried clam strips galore. Opened in 1969 as "Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers," this seafood-focused fast food joint started life in Tennessee by offering seafood and hamburgers at affordable prices. Throughout the '70s, '80s, and early '90s, Captain D's expanded to hundreds of locations across 20+ states, but by the 2000s the restaurant had fallen on hard times. It may have seemed like the end for good ol' Captain D's, but the seafood chain is in the midst of a comeback.

As of 2025, Captain D's operates over 530 locations across 23 states, with state number 24 on the agenda for this year as part of an expansion plan into more northeastern states. Competitor seafood restaurants may have struggled financially during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Captain D's emerged victorious, "enjoying double-digit sales and double-digit traffic," according to a press release. Thanks to changes in business operations and restaurant layout, Captain D's is on track to expand into the United Kingdom and Canada over the next few years, as well as continuing expansion domestically. Even though we placed Captain D's lobster bisque fairly low on our ranking of 14 fast food soups, it seems that consumers just can't get enough.

While Captain D's expansion was fairly linear in the first few decades of business, things eventually took a turn for the worse. By the 2010s, Captain D's was in major debt due to poor sales (understandable, considering we ranked it last place out of 19 seafood chain restaurants) and was sold to Sun Capital Partners. This began a decade-long pattern of buying and selling by various companies, such as Centre Partners, which bought Captain D's in 2013. After owning the company for only four years, Centre Partners abandoned ship and sold the business to Sentinel Capital Partners, which managed to navigate through the pandemic and turn the "ship" around into positive growth margins.

By 2022, Captain D's patched the holes in its hull and sailed on smoother waters yet again, so of course, Centre Partners wanted back in on the action. It re-purchased Captain D's that same year, keeping the current management team as the brand continued focusing on growth and customer satisfaction, even if the occasional location shuts its doors every now and then. At its current rate, Captain D's is poised to join Roy Rogers as yet another old-school fast food chain making a comeback after nearly disappearing.