Long John Silver's Seafood Shoppe
712 S. Minnesota Avenue
2908 W. 41st Street
2908 W. 41st Street
One of America's favorite seafood franchises spent decades here, serving up deep fried comfort food starting in 1975.
Long John Silver's on Minnesota, shortly before opening in 1975.
Long John Silver’s opened its first seafood shop in Sioux Falls on November 10, 1975. The restaurant, located at 712 S. Minnesota Avenue, was built in a distinctive, Cape Cod style with a blue roof and a small cupola with fish-themed weather vane. The building was flanked with dock-like planks and pilings with ropes between them, to give it a sea-front vibe. One could almost hear the seagulls and the churning of the surf below.
Long John Silver’s restaurants started as a seafood eatery in Lexington Kentucky in August, 1969. The restaurants quickly became a hit, and by the time Sioux Falls’ first location opened, there were 400 restaurants in 30 states. A month after the Sioux Falls location served its first hush puppies, a second location was already under construction at 3908 W. 41st Street. It would open the in the spring of 1976. The hope was for the restaurant to take advantage of the vigorous traffic generated by the new Empire Mall.
Long John Silver’s specialized in fish, clams, chicken, oysters, and French fries (sometimes called fryes in a delicious pun). The restaurant’s Big Catch combinations boasted 16 chicken Peg Legs, four orders of Fryes, and one large keg of coleslaw. Like other restaurants of the time, much of the restaurants’ advertising was tuned to attract children. There were pleasant pirate personalities with eye patches and beards offering baskets of deep-fried fish and fries with a beaming smile, all teeth present, none of them gold-capped. Some of the characters represented were actually in the book Treasure Island, others were not. One wonders what Robert Louis Stevenson would have thought of this exploitation of his work.
The Empire location did not do very well. Perhaps this was due to too much competition in the area or bad timing, but it was closed by 1977. Plans to open a restaurant in the same location called the Steak Pub could not get off the ground, owing to the difficulty at the time for new businesses to acquire liquor licenses. Vision Optical operated in this location for many years after, never redecorating enough to erase the seafront motif of the building.
Long John Silver’s restaurants started as a seafood eatery in Lexington Kentucky in August, 1969. The restaurants quickly became a hit, and by the time Sioux Falls’ first location opened, there were 400 restaurants in 30 states. A month after the Sioux Falls location served its first hush puppies, a second location was already under construction at 3908 W. 41st Street. It would open the in the spring of 1976. The hope was for the restaurant to take advantage of the vigorous traffic generated by the new Empire Mall.
Long John Silver’s specialized in fish, clams, chicken, oysters, and French fries (sometimes called fryes in a delicious pun). The restaurant’s Big Catch combinations boasted 16 chicken Peg Legs, four orders of Fryes, and one large keg of coleslaw. Like other restaurants of the time, much of the restaurants’ advertising was tuned to attract children. There were pleasant pirate personalities with eye patches and beards offering baskets of deep-fried fish and fries with a beaming smile, all teeth present, none of them gold-capped. Some of the characters represented were actually in the book Treasure Island, others were not. One wonders what Robert Louis Stevenson would have thought of this exploitation of his work.
The Empire location did not do very well. Perhaps this was due to too much competition in the area or bad timing, but it was closed by 1977. Plans to open a restaurant in the same location called the Steak Pub could not get off the ground, owing to the difficulty at the time for new businesses to acquire liquor licenses. Vision Optical operated in this location for many years after, never redecorating enough to erase the seafront motif of the building.
The South Minnesota location continued for years, but had a major setback on April 20, 1990, when a grease fire in the building’s ventilation system started its roof on fire. Jan Rappolt stood outside the restaurant with her drink and the red plastic number that was to be replaced with food before the fire took off. The blaze was quickly extinguished and repairs were begun the very next day. Jan would not be able to exchange this number for food until May 1, 1990.
Long John Silver’s Minnesota Avenue location closed on October 17, 2014. The restaurant had not been turning a profit for a while, perhaps because, since the early 2000s, many diets had been making their carb-heavy foods a no-no. The trend continued for other locations nation-wide, especially the stand-alone locations not paired with an A&W or a KFC. Gilberto’s Mexican Taco Shop opened in the original spot on Minnesota on March 4, 2015.
Long John Silver’s may be gone, but we’ll always be able to tell where they’ve been. Remodeling the exterior of a building is expensive, and not always done. The distinctive styling still reminds those in the know of batter-dipped fish, chicken, lobster, and other delights, served with hush puppies and crumblies.
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