Captain D's

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U.S.-based restaurant chain

title: "Captain D's" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["companies-based-in-nashville,-tennessee", "economy-of-the-midwestern-united-states", "economy-of-the-southeastern-united-states", "seafood-restaurants-in-the-united-states", "fast-casual-restaurants", "fish-and-chip-restaurants", "regional-restaurant-chains-in-the-united-states", "fast-food-chains-of-the-united-states", "restaurants-established-in-1969", "fast-food-seafood-restaurants", "1969-establishments-in-tennessee", "1984-mergers-and-acquisitions", "2017-mergers-and-acquisitions", "2022-mergers-and-acquisitions", "american-companies-established-in-1969", "fast-food-franchises"] description: "U.S.-based restaurant chain" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_D's" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary U.S.-based restaurant chain ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameCaptain Ds, LLC.
trade_nameCaptain D's
logoCaptainDsLogo2018.png
imageCaptain D's on North Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida.jpg
image_captionCaptain D's in Tallahassee, Florida
typePrivate
industryRestaurants Franchising
former_nameMr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers
(1969–1975)
genreFast casual
foundationin Donelson, Tennessee, U.S.
founderRaymond L. Danner, Sr.
location_cityNashville, Tennessee
num_employees6,000
key_peoplePhil Greifeld (President & CEO)
Nan Ward (COO)
Jeff Wilson (CFO)
Bindi Menon (CMO)
Brad Reed (CBDO)
revenue(2016)
ownerCentre Partners
location_countryU.S.
homepage
::

| name = Captain Ds, LLC. | trade_name = Captain D's | logo = CaptainDsLogo2018.png | image= Captain D's on North Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida.jpg | image_caption= Captain D's in Tallahassee, Florida | type = Private | industry = Restaurants Franchising | former_name = Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers (1969–1975) | genre = Fast casual | foundation = in Donelson, Tennessee, U.S. | founder = Raymond L. Danner, Sr. | location_city = Nashville, Tennessee | locations = | num_employees = 6,000 | area_served = | key_people = Phil Greifeld (President & CEO) Nan Ward (COO) Jeff Wilson (CFO) Bindi Menon (CMO) Brad Reed (CBDO) | products = | services = | revenue = (2016) | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | owner = Centre Partners | divisions = | subsid = | footnotes = | intl = | location_country = U.S. | homepage =

Captain D's, LLC. is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in seafood and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The chain was founded as Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers by Raymond L. Danner Sr. on August 15, 1969, in Donelson, Tennessee. The chain is currently owned by private-equity firm Centre Partners. Captain D's currently 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 franchise. The franchise was limited to 11 states in the Southeast. In 1971, Danner and his Shoney's co-founder Alex Schoenbaum 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 to Marriott Corporation.

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, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

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 firm Sun Capital Partners, Inc in 2010.

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

In 2022, Sentinel Capital Partners sold Captain D's back to Centre Partners.

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.{{cite press release |author= |title=The Nation's Leading Fast Casual Seafood Restaurant Captain D's Selects PepsiCo As Exclusive Beverage Provider to Help Usher in a New Era on Its 50th Golden and Crispy Anniversary |url=https://www.pepsico.com/news/press-release/the-nations-leading-fast-casual-seafood-restaurant-captain-ds-selects-pepsico-as05212019 |location=Purchase, NY and Nashville, TN, USA |publisher= |agency= |date=21 May 2019 |access-date=15 July 2021}}

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, in 2021.

In 2021, Captain D's announced the debut of its double drive-thru in Tupelo, Mississippi.{{cite news |last1=|first1=|title=Capt D's debuts double drive-thru |url=https://www.fastcasual.com/news/capt-ds-debuts-double-drive-thru/ |access-date=15 July 2021 |work=Restaurant Business |date=4 December 2020}}

Controversies

In April 1989, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund 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, 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.

References

References

  1. "Our Story".
  2. Thorn, Bret. (December 18, 2017). "Sentinel Capital Partners buys Captain D's". [[Nations Restaurant News]].
  3. (2017). "The potlikker papers : a food history of the modern South 1955-2015". Penguin Publishing Group.
  4. (1999). "Fast food : roadside restaurants in the automobile age".
  5. (13 September 2018). "Hands-On Restaurateur Built Shoney's on Family-Style Food".
  6. (11 January 1994). "Founder of Shoney's Chain Started Small". Los Angeles Times.
  7. Cason, Albert. (March 25, 1975). "Shoney's Launches Seafood Franchise". The Tennessean.
  8. (14 January 1994). "FOOD, AMERICAN STYLE: SHONEY'S BUFFET SERVES UP CLASSIC FAMILY FARE". Orlando Sentinel.
  9. "Captain D's {{!}} Our Story".
  10. (August 24, 2010). "Captain D's lands Huddle House CEO".
  11. (2016-10-03). "Captain D's Franchise Achieves 20th Consecutive Quarter of System-Wide Growth". Captain D's.
  12. (26 January 2005). "Captain D's owner brings in new CEO". Nashville Post.
  13. (3 December 2020). "Friendly's Owner Hastens Exit From Restaurants With String of Sales". Wall Street Journal.
  14. (21 May 2010}}{{dead link). "Sagittarius Sells Captain D's, Divests Del Taco". Blue Maumau.
  15. (30 August 2006). "Troubled Spectrum Files for Chapter 11". Los Angeles Times.
  16. "Captain D's Acquires 65-Unit Grandy's".
  17. (18 December 2017). "Centre Partners More Than Triples Its Money on Captain D's Sale". Wall Street Journal.
  18. Thorn, Bret. (December 18, 2017). "Sentinel Capital Partners buys Captain D's". [[Nations Restaurant News]].
  19. "Ahoy Matey! Centre Back at Captain D's".
  20. "The Menu".
  21. "CMX to Drive Food Quality and Safety Across Captain D's Global Supply Chain".
  22. (11 November 2020). "Captain D's 'Express' model reduces start-up costs". Fast Casual.
  23. (4 December 2020). "FAST CASUALS RE-IMAGINE THEIR FUTURES". Restaurant Business.
  24. . (August 1989). ["NAACE LDEF/Sues Shoney's"](https://books.google.com/books?id=n14EAAAAMBAJ&dq=captain+d%27s+restaurant+shoney%27s+history&pg=PA20).
  25. (2012). "The black O : racism and redemption in an American corporate empire". University of Georgia Press.
  26. (31 January 1993). "Bias case settlement compels Shoney's to aid blacks". The Baltimore Sun.
  27. (3 November 1992). "Shoney's to Pay $105 Million to Settle Discrimination Lawsuit". Associated Press News.
  28. (5 February 1993). "SHONEY'S BIAS SETTLEMENT SENDS $105 MILLION SIGNAL". Washington Post.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

companies-based-in-nashville,-tennesseeeconomy-of-the-midwestern-united-stateseconomy-of-the-southeastern-united-statesseafood-restaurants-in-the-united-statesfast-casual-restaurantsfish-and-chip-restaurantsregional-restaurant-chains-in-the-united-statesfast-food-chains-of-the-united-statesrestaurants-established-in-1969fast-food-seafood-restaurants1969-establishments-in-tennessee1984-mergers-and-acquisitions2017-mergers-and-acquisitions2022-mergers-and-acquisitionsamerican-companies-established-in-1969fast-food-franchises