Captain D´s was originally opened in Donelson, TN in 1969 and was originally called Mr. D’s.  They had a goal of serving fast food, but not burgers and chicken products.  Instead they were aimed as serving seafood fast while keeping the high quality that many love with seafood.  The “D” in the name is for the co-founders Ray Danner since he was involved in starting the company back in 1969 they have held onto the “D’”.  Now Captain D´s has almost 600 restaurants in 25 different states and many different countries as well.  After the 2000 bankruptcy Captain D’s was bought by Sagittarius Brands for $150 million.  It once again changed hands in 2010 when it was bought by Sun Capital Partners who currently owns the company.

Captain D´s offers a variety of fried and grilled fish, shrimp, and even chicken dishes.  They also offer pasta meals, salads, and many locations offer regional seafood favorites as well.  They have many side items including corn, baked potatoes, tossed salads, hushpuppies, southern style green beans, and cole slaw.  Captain D´s also offers a few desserts for the end of the meal as well.

To own a franchise restaurant of Captain D´s an individual or group must have liquid assets of at least $300,000 and a minimum net worth of $750,000.  If a new franchisee makes a commitment to build more than one Captain D´s they must have these amounts per restaurant.  There is a $25,000 franchise fee and ongoing royalty fees of 4.5% of the gross sales.  They also require a 1.25% fee of the gross sales for advertising and the franchisee has to spend at least 2% of their gross sales on local marketing as well.  The final fee is 4% of the gross sales into any advertising cooperative that is established for the restaurants.