Long John Silver's
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Long John Silver's is a United States-based fast-food restaurant that specializes in seafood and "fish and chips." It is named after the fictional pirate Long John Silver.
The restaurant, which has 2200 units, is a division of Yum! Brands, Inc. The company purchased it from Yorkshire Global Restaurants, which originally acquired it from Fleet Boston Bank after its having gained control of the restaurants due to bankruptcy. Yum! appears to intend to combine the brand with its chain of A&W Restaurants; most Long John Silver's locations that have opened in recent years are cobranded Long John Silver's/A&W restaurants. The parent corporation of the chain's Canadian franchises, which have no connection with A&W in Canada, is Priszm Brandz.
The first restaurant was opened in 1969 in Lexington, Kentucky. Until its bankruptcy in 1998, Long John Silver's was a privately owned corporation.
The restaurant chain was the subject of some controversy in the late 1990s for a commercial in which a police officer decided not to write a ticket to a motorist who gave him a Long John Silver's fish sandwich. Many police organizations objected to the commercial on the grounds that it depicted a police officer taking a bribe.