relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . august 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message long john silver s type private industry restaurants founded august 18 1969 ; 47 years ago august 18 1969 lexington kentucky u.s. headquarters louisville kentucky u.s. products seafood number of employees 8 400 world wide parent ljs partners llc website ljsilvers.com a renovated early ljs location that retains cape cod style structure a typical meal from long john silver s a platter with battered and fried fish and chicken french fries chips battered fried shrimp hushpuppies and coleslaw long john silver s inc. is a united states based fast food restaurant . the name of the brand is borrowed from the novel treasure island by robert louis stevenson in which the pirate long john silver is one of the main characters . formerly a division of yum brands inc. the company was divested to a group of franchisees in 2011 . contents 1 history 2 menu items 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit the first restaurant was opened on august 18 1969 in lexington kentucky . 1 the original location on 301 southland drive just off nicholasville road was previously a seafood carry out restaurant named the cape codder . the original cape codder concrete block building was redesigned by architect druce henn who created the new england style of ljs s early chain restaurants . that original location is now a styling salon . 2 3 the chain began as a division of jerrico inc. a publicly owned corporation which also operated jerry s restaurants a chain of family restaurants which also began in lexington and that was very similar to big boy restaurants . jerry s was located in the midwest and southern united states . the original restaurant concept was developed by jerrico and a jerry s restaurant franchisee . choices for the restaurant name were limey s barnacle bill s and long john silver s seafood shoppes . when the company was sold in 1989 and became a privately owned corporation the long john silver s concept had far outgrown the jerry s chain . most of jerry s 46 remaining locations were converted to denny s by the new owners with a handful staying under the original name usually because an existing denny s was already nearby . only a dozen or so now called jerry s j boy restaurants are still open in kentucky and southern indiana . ljs stores were largely unaffected by this move . many original ljs franchisees were also operators of jerry s locations . citation needed earlier restaurants were known for their cape cod style buildings blue roofs with square cupolas wood benches tables lobster pots and ship s wheels . later more nautically themed decorations were added such as seats made to look like nautical flags . those early restaurants also featured separate entrance and exit doors a corridor like waiting line area deep fryer with food heaters that were transparent so customers could see the food waiting to be served and wrought iron sword door handles . a major exterior theme of these buildings had dock like walkways lined with pilings and thick ropes . somewhat newer restaurants kept the basic structural design and theme but eliminated most of the interior features . the contemporary multibrand outlets do not use the blue roofed cape cod style buildings . all current locations have an if we did well ring the bell bell by the exit a feature that was later copied by arby s. originally the chain had a much larger focus on a pirate theme . for example the chain once offered small chicken drumsticks which they called peg legs but now offer chicken fingers known as chicken planks . the chain does still offer kids paper pirate hats with ljs s logo . citation needed the restaurant which has over 1200 units worldwide was formerly a division of yum brands inc. the company purchased it from yorkshire global restaurants which originally acquired it from fleet boston bank after its having gained control of the restaurants due to a 1998 bankruptcy . after jerrico sold the company many of the corporate locations were combined with a & w restaurants and most new long john silver s locations in the first few years after the acquisition were co branded with a & w. yum after purchasing long john silver s a & w announced in 2005 that it would expand the multibrand concept and pair long john silver s with kfc just as they had paired taco bell and pizza hut along with a & w and long john silver s was since paired with all of yum s other chains . the parent corporation of the chain s canadian franchises which have no connection with a & w in canada was priszm before its bankruptcy and eventual sale of all assets . as yum brands began putting more money in its other brands the investment in smaller brands like long john silver s and a & w was reduced . with the anticipated shrinkage in sales on january 18 2011 yum brands announced its intention to sell long john silver s along with its a & w restaurant chain . citing poor sales for both divisions the company plans to focus on its international expansion plans for its other brands with particular emphasis on its growth in china . 4 with the announcement of the intent to sell by yum brands a group consisting of long john silver s franchisees and other private investors made a successful bid to buy the ljs brand and in september 2011 yum announced the impending sale to ljs partners llc . citation needed in march 2015 james o reilly who had previously worked for kfc was appointed as the ceo . in an interview he said that he intended to strengthen the core business and solidify the brand . he expected the chain to maintain its 1 132 stores during the year with the possibility of future expansion . 5 menu items edit long john silver s food offerings include platters sandwiches and various single items . the platters feature seafood as the main item with side dishes consisting of coleslaw hushpuppies corn green beans and french fries chips or batter fried onion rings . seafood items include fish clams and shrimp with chicken fingers known as chicken planks . more recently the brand began offering baked cod as a lower calorie option . the restaurants also sell dessert offerings as separate items . citation needed before being bought by yum brands in late 2002 long john silver s sold coca cola products . they began to switch over to pepsi products the following year when yum brands began to open new restaurants . citation needed customers also have the option to add a piece which the company promotes in its advertising and on its website . 6 in july 2013 the center for science in the public interest a nutrition and health policy watchdog group named long john silver s big catch meal the worst restaurant meal in america noting that it contains 33 grams of trans fat 19 grams of saturated fat 1 320 calories and almost 3 700 milligrams of sodium . 7 in january 2014 the company announced that it had eliminated trans fats from its menu . 8 a co branded kfc and long john silver s restaurant in lafayette tennessee a former co branded long john silver s and taco bell in kent ohio before becoming a taco bell store see also edit louisville portal companies portal food portal fish and chips list of fish and chip restaurants list of seafood restaurants references edit sloan scott 2011 12 09 . a & w returns to lexington . kentucky.com . retrieved 2012 11 06 . fayette county pva . qpublic7.qpublic.net . retrieved 2012 11 06 . fantasia styling salon . fantasia styling salon . retrieved 2012 11 06 . yum brands places long john silver s and a & w all american restaurants for sale . business wire . january 18 2011 . retrieved 2014 02 24 . caitlin bowling 16 march 2015 . long john silver s still trying to regain ground following negative press in 2013 louisville louisville business first . louisville business first . long john silver s archived august 15 2015 at the wayback machine . heart attack on a hook meet america s worst restaurant meal . npr.org . 2 july 2013 . long john silver s throws trans fats overboard . npr . january 22 2014 . retrieved february 5 2014 . first1 missing last1 in authors list help external links edit official site v t e fast food and fast casual restaurant chains in the united states chicken chains coffeehouse chains pizza chains hamburgers a & w back yard big boy burger king carl s jr. checkers rally s cook out fatburger five guys freddy s fuddruckers the habit hardee s in n out jack in the box johnny rockets krystal mcdonald s roy rogers shake shack smashburger sonic steak n shake wayback wendy s whataburger white castle asian l & l hawaiian barbecue manchu wok panda express pei wei asian diner pick up stix sarku baked goods au bon pain auntie anne s bruegger s cinnabon corner bakery cafe dunkin donuts einstein bros. great american cookies honey dew donuts krispy kreme mrs. fields nestl toll house panera bread pretzelmaker pretzel time shipley do nuts tim hortons t.j. cinnamons wetzel s winchell s beverages argo tea biggby coffee caribou coffee bean & tea leaf coffee beanery dunn bros gloria jean s jamba juice juice it up orange julius peet s planet smoothie robeks seattle s best coffee smoothie king starbucks teavana tropical smoothie cafe tully s frozen desserts baskin robbins ben & jerry s braum s bruster s carvel cold stone culver s dairy queen dippin dots fosters freeze friendly s golden spoon graeter s h agen dazs handel s kiwi yogurt maggiemoo s marble slab menchie s pinkberry red mango rita s sweet frog tastee freez tcby tropical sno tutti frutti yogen fr z yogurtland hot dogs hot dog on a stick nathan s famous portillo s wienerschnitzel mexican style tex mex baja fresh cafe rio chipotle del taco el pollo loco freebirds green red burrito moe s pancheros qdoba rubio s taco bell taco bueno taco cabana taco del mar taco john s taco mayo taco time wahoo s fish taco noodles fazoli s noodles & company sandwiches arby s atlanta bread blimpie capriotti s charley s cos cousins d angelo daphne s erbert & gerbert s firehouse subs great wraps jason s jerry s subs jersey mike s jimmy john s lenny s sub mcalister s deli miami subs mr. hero newk s eatery penn station port of subs pdq potbelly quiznos rax runza sandella s schlotzsky s steak escape subway togo s tubby s tudor s biscuit world which wich seafood arthur treacher s captain d s h. salt esquire ivar s long john silver s skippers seafood & chowder house defunct bresler s ice cream brigham s burger chef carrols d lites druther s henry s hamburgers hot n now hot sam pretzels naugles red barn sandy s zantigo retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title long john silver % 27s & oldid 738935907 categories companies based in louisville kentuckyfast food chains of the united statesfast food franchisesfast food seafood restaurantsrestaurant chains in the united statesrestaurants established in 1969companies established in 1969seafood restaurants in the united statestreasure islandyum brandsfish and chip restaurants1969 establishments in kentuckyhidden categories articles with wayback machine linkscs1 errors missing author or editorarticles lacking reliable references from august 2010all articles lacking reliable referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from december 2013 navigation menu personal tools