A wildly popular seafood chain is coming to NJ

You would think that a coastal state like New Jersey with all its restaurants, would be a tough market to crack for a fast-casual seafood chain, but one of the biggest is going to give it a try.

Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen, which operates over 500 restaurants nationwide, is expanding into New Jersey.

A franchise development agreement has been signed for the restaurant, which will be in Camden, in a building that used to house a Church’s Chicken. Over the past year, 50 percent of Captain D’s new restaurant openings have been conversions, successfully giving new life to former Huddle House, Bojangles, Dunkin’, KFC and Hardee’s properties.

In total, Captain D’s is now the second generation in former locations of 18 different brands, with more conversions planned for 2024.

According to Captain D’s website:

We believe good seafood can transform any meal into a moment to remember. Throughout our 50-year history, our focus has been making great seafood available to everyone, every day and creating a place that makes an ordinary day feel special. From the friendly smiles and hand-crafted cooking of our crew members to our beachy restaurant design, we want you to feel relaxed as we transport you to the coast.

It’s that last part that has me wondering how successful they can be; we don’t need to be “transported” to the coast, we live here. That promise may work in the Midwest or other parts of the country, but it sounds kind of hollow here. Well, good luck, anyway.

The new Camden location is scheduled to open sometime in 2024.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom