Saving Seafood

US FTC cautions Red Lobster, other restaurants on their seafood marketing efforts

October 2, 2024 — U.S. Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya recently sent a letter to the top-grossing seafood restaurants in the country, cautioning them not to give their customers the false impression that they are eating wild-caught U.S. seafood when they are, in fact, serving imported, farm-raised seafood.

“Many Americans are willing to pay a premium for wild-caught, American seafood. Those customers deserve to know when they are being offered the genuine article – and when they are being offered something else,” Bedoya said in the letter sent to Red Lobster, Long John Silver’s, and Legal Sea Foods, among other companies.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Legal Sea Foods’ new owner looks to expansion after menu innovation

June 30, 2021 — After a very rough year in which it carried out closures of several of its restaurants – some temporary and some permanent – Legal Sea Foods is considering an expansion.

In late December, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based PPX Hospitality, which also operates the Smith & Wollensky and The Strega Group restaurant chains, acquired Legal’s restaurants and quality control center. As part of the deal, Legal Sea Foods President and CEO Roger Berkowitz retained exclusive ownership rights of the Legal Sea Foods’ name in retail, e-commerce, and other non-restaurant channels, but PPX is now making executive decisions concerning the future of the company’s restaurants, and is looking to grow the well-regarded restaurant chain and reinvigorate its menu.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Legal Sea Foods considers appeal after losing insurance case

March 9, 2021 — Legal Sea Foods is “considering its options” after a federal judge ruled against the seafood restaurant chain on its COVID-19 insurance case, the company’s attorney told SeafoodSource.

The Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based foodservice chain, which became embroiled in a separate controversy last month involving its creditors, sued Strathmore Insurance Company in May 2020 over failure to cover business losses Legal Sea Foods incurred from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Legal Sea Foods leaves some creditors in the lurch

February 18, 2021 — Several unsecured creditors of Legal Sea Foods still have not been paid by the seafood restaurant chain after its sale to PPX Hospitality Group, according to a news report.

It is not clear how many vendors are still owed funds, but several lawsuits were filed by vendors to Legal last year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced Legal to close its restaurant dining rooms for months, according to The Boston Globe.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Roger Berkowitz: Legal Sea Foods sale allows for retail, QVC expansion

December 23, 2020 — Transitioning from building a successful seafood restaurant chain to focus on retail, e-commerce, and other channels is almost like going home for Legal Sea Foods President and CEO Roger Berkowitz.

On 22 December, the Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based company announced it is selling its 27 restaurants to PPX Hospitality Brands, which also operate the Smith & Wollensky and The Strega Group restaurant chain.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: Legal Sea Foods restaurant chain sold to Boston company

December 23, 2020 — The Boston-based restaurant chain Legal Sea Foods has been sold, Legal’s chief executive said Tuesday.

Legal’s 25 locations will now be operated by Boston-based PPX Hospitality Brands, which owns the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse restaurants and Strega Italian restaurants, according to a statement.

“It’s a bit of mixed emotions,” Legal President and CEO Roger Berkowitz told Boston.com. “It was a family business — particularly a family business that deals directly with the public. One of the great things, I suppose, about the restaurant business in general is that you come in contact with so many people from so many walks of life.”

Berkowitz will retain ownership rights of the Legal Sea Foods name for the company’s e-commerce and retail business.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: With sale of Legal Sea Foods, another Boston institution changes hands

December 21, 2020 — If it’s not Roger, is it Legal?

That’s the question as Roger Berkowitz, the chief executive and public face of Legal Sea Foods, is poised to sign off as soon as Monday on the the sale of the restaurant business his family started in 1968 to PPX Hospitality Group, owner of Smith & Wollensky steakhouses and three Boston-area Strega restaurants.

The pending deal is the latest chapter in Legal’s local lore: Roger’s family opening the first Legal Sea Foods restaurant in Cambridge, next to the fish market of the same name his father had opened in 1950. The expansion into Boston, the suburbs, and down the Eastern Seaboard to Florida. The feud between Roger and his brother Marc, after Roger took over as CEO. And the comical ads — some groan-inducing, some not-quite suitable for a family restaurant — with the tagline, “If it isn’t fresh, it isn’t Legal!”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

US restaurant chains closing, filing bankruptcy due to COVID-19

May 4, 2020 — Some U.S. restaurant chains have filed for bankruptcy, and many other U.S. restaurant seafood chains have been forced to temporarily close their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

West Palm Beach, Florida-based TooJay’s Original Gourmet Deli, which operates 24 restaurants, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The chain, which offers a number of seafood dishes, said that two of its restaurants are closed, while the others remain open for takeout and delivery, Restaurant Business reported.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US foodservice industry upended by public response to COVID-19

March 13, 2020 — U.S. restaurant chains and other foodservice outlets are struggling to cope with rapidly changing dining habits of Americans fearing exposure to COVID-19.

A new Datassential survey released on 12 March found 89 percent of Americans feel more comfortable eating food from home or grocery stores, while only 11 percent feel comfortable eating food from restaurants or away from home. Fifty-four percent said they would eat at restaurants less frequently due to COVID-19.

Read the full story at Seafood Source