Long John Silver’s has gone from having over 1,000 restaurants just over a decade ago to less than 500 today. But fans of the seafood chain shouldn’t worry.
List of Long John Silver’s restaurant closures: States where the seafood franchises are closing
Long John Silver’s has been delighting customers with battered, fried fish and shrimp for over half a century. In just under a decade after its founding, it had expanded from its original location in Lexington, Kentucky, to having a fleet of over 1,000, and it became a national brand in the 1980s.
However, as of June this year, the popular seafood chain has shrunk its footprint to just 477 locations, Chief Marketing Officer Laura Ellis told USA TODAY. According to a disclosure document released in June, Long John Silver’s closed 30 restaurants in 18 states in 2025.
However, according to Ellis, this is “only one part of the picture,” and that under the current ownership, “the business has continued to build positive momentum.”
Finding a Long John Silver’s is getting harder, but there are plans to expand
Long John Silver’s was purchased in 2022 by Four Oaks Partners from a group of franchise owners who had acquired it from YUM! In 2011. Since buying the restaurant chain, its newest owners have “strategically optimized its restaurant portfolio,” according to Ellis.
Currently, 214 of the Long John Silver’s restaurant locations are company-operated while 262 are owned by franchisees, Ellis told USA TODAY. The majority of the closures in 2025 were run by franchisees according to the disclosure document reports Fast Company.
Ellis told the outlet that “these were individual market decisions and not part of a broad-based closure initiative.” The locations that were closed include the following:
- Arizona: 3 closures
- Colorado: 2 closures
- Connecticut: 2 closures
- Florida: 1 closure
- Indiana: 1 closure
- Kansas: 1 closure
- Kentucky: 1 closure
- Maryland: 1 closure
- Michigan: 1 closure
- Missouri: 1 closure
- Nebraska: 2 closures
- New York: 2 closures
- Ohio: 5 closures
- Pennsylvania: 1 closure
- South Carolina: 1 closure
- Tennessee: 1 closure
- Texas: 3 closures
- Virginia: 1 closure
While such a significant decline in the number of locations might seem like cause for worry, Ellis assures that Long John Silver’s reorganization process is paying dividends. The seafood chain “has seen 16 consecutive quarters of sales growth among stores open for at least a year,” she said. And sales have grown since the 2022 acquisition.
The company is progressively remodeling its stores, with over 115 renovations completed and another 100 planned over the next two years.
Furthermore, new Long John Silver’s have been opening. According to the disclosure document five locations were opened by franchisees in Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kentucky, and there are five new company-owned locations.
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