Captain D's

What Captain D's does

Captain D's is a privately held fast-casual seafood restaurant chain headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, operating 535 locations across 23 U.S. states (224 corporate and 311 franchised) plus newly opened restaurants in the United Kingdom, with a master-franchise-led pipeline into Spain, Portugal, and France. Founded in 1969, the company specializes in affordable, made-to-order seafood including its signature hand-battered wild caught pollock, fire-grilled fish, shrimp, chicken, and family meals, with sides and hush puppies prepared from scratch in-restaurant daily. Its technology stack is built on third-party platforms rather than proprietary systems: Olo for online ordering at order.captainds.com, Spendgo for the Captain D's Rewards loyalty program, Presto's voice-AI for drive-thru automation, SOCi for local location pages, and IBM Watson Campaign Automation plus Infobip for email and SMS marketing.

Revenue is generated through a hybrid corporate-and-franchise model: direct consumer sales from corporate stores (including the $5.99 Full Meal Deal promotional anchor), franchise fees ($35,000 per unit plus $700K-$900K traditional or $206K-$688K non-traditional startup costs) and ongoing royalties from 311 U.S. franchisees, gift card sales via captainds.wgiftcard.com, catering routed through ezCater, and UK/European royalties from a 20-unit master franchise agreement operated by CD's Holdings. The customer base spans families seeking affordable seafood meals, health-conscious diners choosing grilled items, urban takeaway guests in dense markets like the Bronx, and franchisee/master-franchisee operators in the U.S. and Europe. Leadership includes CEO and President Phil Greifeld, COO Andrew Castle, CMO Bindi Menon, Chief Supply Chain Officer Brad Clark, Chief Development Officer Brad Reed, and CIO Sean McAnally.

Name

Captain D's

Legal name

Captain D's, LLC

Website

https://captainds.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Captain D's is a privately held Nashville-based fast-casual seafood chain operating 535 company-owned and franchised restaurants across 23 U.S. states and the UK, serving families and franchisees with affordable made-to-order seafood meals, a 20-unit UK master franchise, and Western European expansion underway.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fast-Casual Seafood Restaurants

akta.pro primary industry

Seafood Fast Casual (THAFABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Steakhouses & Seafood Restaurants (THAFACAE)

Keywords

• Fast-casual seafood
• Seafood restaurant chain
• Restaurant franchise
• Quick-service seafood
• Fish and chips

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Corporate Restaurant Sales: Direct revenue from 224 corporate-owned restaurants selling seafood meals, combos, family meals, and limited-time offers (e.g., Wild Caught Batter Dipped Fish at $5.99).
2. Franchise Fees and Royalties: $35,000 initial franchise fee plus ongoing royalties and marketing contributions from 311 franchise locations across the U.S. and 20-unit development deal in the UK.
3. Gift Card Sales: Physical and digital (eGift) gift card sales through captainds.wgiftcard.com; balance inquiries supported via phone (866) 608-5474.
4. Catering (via ezCater): Group catering orders routed through ezCater platform linking to corporate and franchise locations.
5. Digital Marketing and Data Monetization: Monetization of first-party customer data through Google AdWords remarketing, Meta/Facebook pixel, Twitter (X) pixel, TikTok pixel, and IBM Watson/Infobip email/SMS programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels9 records

Marketing channels15 records

Core offering

Captain D's operates and franchises more than 535 fast-casual seafood restaurants across 23 U.S. states, plus growing locations in the United Kingdom and Western Europe. The chain sells hand-battered and hand-breaded whole-muscle fish fillets, shrimp, chicken, and family-style meals prepared from scratch in-restaurant daily, complemented by digital ordering, a mobile app, a loyalty program, gift cards, and catering through ezCater.

Product overview

Captain D's is a leading U.S. fast-casual seafood franchise operating over 535 restaurants across 23 states, plus expanding UK and European locations. Its offering centers on a full-service restaurant menu organized into distinct categories — Family Meals, Fish Favorites, Grilled Meals, Captain's Classics, Combos, Desserts, Kids' Meals, Sides, and Add-Ons & Appetizers — with a flagship signature item, the Wild Caught Batter Dipped Fish from Alaska. The digital and off-premise layer stacks on top of the restaurant experience: the Captain D's Mobile App, the Olo-powered Captain D's Online Ordering platform at order.captainds.com, the Spendgo-powered Captain D's Rewards loyalty program, and physical/e-gift cards (Captain D's Gift Cards). Catering is offered through an ezCater integration as Captain D's Catering. Featured limited-time offers such as Crispy Crunchy Shrimp and co-branded promotions such as the Alaska Family Cruise Sweepstakes with PepsiCo round out the portfolio, and the Captain's Table taste testing panel drives ongoing menu innovation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Family Meals Family-sized seafood bundles including Family Sampler (10 fish, 6 chicken, 12 shrimp), 10 Piece Fish Family Meal, and Seafood Feast, designed to feed multiple people at value price points.
• Fish Favorites Captain D's signature hand batter dipped fish (classic or spicy) and premium hand-breaded fish meals, including the flagship Batter Dipped Fish, Hand-Breaded Catfish, Southern-Style White Fish, and Wild Caught Salmon.
• Grilled Meals Fire-grilled fish fillets and shrimp with choice of Blackened, Lemon Pepper, or Original Seasoning, including Grilled White Fish, Wild Caught Salmon, Grilled White Fish & Shrimp, and Grilled Shrimp.
• Captain's Classics Classic Captain D's signature combos including Supreme Sampler, Hand-Breaded Chicken & Fish Meal, Deluxe Seafood Platter, Fish & Shrimp, and Crispy Butterfly Shrimp.
• Combos Sandwich and entrée combos pairing seafood or chicken with a side and refreshing beverage, including Giant Fish Sandwich Combo, Big Chicken Sandwich Combo, and 2 Piece Fish & Fries Combo.
• Kids' Meals Kid-friendly seafood and chicken options including Kids' Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders, Kids' Popcorn Shrimp, and Kids' Batter Dipped Fish, served with choice of side and drink.
• Sides Side dishes including Corn on the Cob, Mac & Cheese, Loaded Baked Potato, Coleslaw, French Fries, Green Beans, Okra, Broccoli, and Baked Potato, each prepared fresh in-restaurant.
• Add-Ons & Appetizers Additional menu items including Captain's Ultimate Appetizer (Clam Strips, Butterfly Shrimp, Popcorn Shrimp), Clam Strips, Popcorn Shrimp, Hush Puppies, Butterfly Shrimp, Grilled Shrimp, Mozzarella Sticks, Jalapeño Poppers, and Fried Pickles.
• Desserts Sweet treats including Classic Cheesecake (made exclusively by The Cheesecake Factory Bakery) and Funnel Cake Stix.
• Captain D's Rewards Loyalty program powered by Spendgo where members earn 1 point for every $1 spent; points redeemable for select menu items at participating Captain D's locations and through online ordering. Available via mobile app on iOS and Android.
• Captain D's Gift Cards
• Captain D's Mobile App
• Captain D's Online Ordering
• Captain D's Catering
• Wild Caught Batter Dipped Fish from Alaska Featured nationwide product using Alaskan pollock sourced through partnership with Trident Seafoods and Channel Fish Processing; available as part of the $5.99 Full Meal Deals promotion.
• Crispy Crunchy Shrimp Limited-time shrimp offering introduced for the 2026 Lenten season at Nashville, Tennessee locations, accompanied by promotional seafood meal deals.
• Captain D's Franchise Program Franchise opportunity to operate Captain D's restaurants under either a 95-seat traditional model or non-traditional formats (end-caps, kiosks, urban walk-up). Includes $35,000 franchise fee plus ongoing royalties and marketing contributions, with detailed unit economics disclosed in the media kit.

Quantifiable outcome

• Foot traffic up 4.3% per location in May 2026, outperforming the broader seafood industry average (Placer.ai)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration15 records

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen: Popeyes is a large QSR/fast-casual chain under RBI with a fried-chicken core but a meaningful seafood LTO business; competes with Captain D's for seafood-occasion visits in overlapping value-tier QSR occasions.
• McDonald's: McDonald's is the largest global QSR incumbent and competes with Captain D's for value-tier family dining occasions and seafood LTO attention, while operating a fundamentally different scale and cost structure.
• Chick-fil-A: Chick-fil-A is the dominant U.S. fast-casual chain and competes with Captain D's for family value-meal occasions and real estate in overlapping trade areas, especially across the Southeast.

Direct peers

• Red Lobster: Red Lobster is the largest U.S. seafood casual-dining chain with a broader menu (lobster, crab, shrimp) at higher price points than Captain D's, but competes for the same seafood-occasion guest and represents the brand Captain D's is often compared against.
• Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. is a seafood casual-dining chain heavily focused on shrimp preparations and seafood platters; overlaps with Captain D's shrimp and seafood-combo menu positioning at a higher check average.
• Joe's Crab Shack: Joe's Crab Shack is a seafood casual-dining chain focused on crab, shrimp, and fish at value price points; competes with Captain D's for seafood-occasion family and group diners in overlapping U.S. markets.
• Bonefish Grill: Bonefish Grill is a casual-dining seafood chain under Darden that competes for grilled and premium seafood occasions; comparable to Captain D's grilled-meals lineup but at a higher check average and full-service format.
• Long John Silver's: Long John Silver's is the closest direct competitor to Captain D's in the U.S. seafood QSR/fast-casual space, offering battered fish, shrimp, and hush puppies at similar value price points across hundreds of locations.

Regional players

• The Boiling Crab: The Boiling Crab is a Cajun seafood boil concept with strong West Coast and Sun Belt presence; comparable seafood-positioning to Captain D's but primarily operates in regions where Captain D's has minimal footprint.

Emerging players

• Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar: Hook & Reel is an emerging Cajun-style seafood boil chain competing in the seafood casual-dining segment; relevant as a more recent category entrant taking share from legacy seafood concepts like Captain D's.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/captainds
• Facebookfacebook.com/CaptainDs
• Instagraminstagram.com/captaindsseafood
• TikToktiktok.com/@captaindsseafood
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/captain-d-s

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Captain D's