The closing and subsequent demolition made me sad. I like Long John Silver's. The problem is, the food is heavy and greasy, so it can't be a frequent treat. I like the fish, the slaw, and the hush puppies. The shrimp is really good, too. When the chain switched from horrible little boney chicken peg legs to wonderful boneless planks, it was a game changer.
The focus of today's entry is what's become of fast food seafood in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. There used to be several Long John Silver's. Now, there are just two. There are only 28 left in the entire state. "Mature" blog readers will remember the H. Salt and Arthur Treacher's chains. Phillip's, too. Captain D's made a brief entry in to the market, only to quickly retreat. Yes, we have Red Lobster, but I don't consider that "fast food." Have people in this corner part of the state lost their taste for fast seafood? Maybe. I should note that there is just one Arthur Treacher's left in the country. H Salt is a west coast only chain. I know a lot of people are trying to eat healthier. Fish is healthy, but when you dip it in batter and deep fry it, it becomes a different story.
I'm probably reading too much in to the Long John Silver's pull back. This is likely simply a matter of "times and tastes change."
