Throwback Thursday: Another Kentucky food story, Long John Silver’s

We have told stories of legendary Kentucky food icons like the real man behind the cake mix, Duncan Hines, and Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky fried chicken recipe. Another global restaurant chain got its start in Kentucky nearly 60 years ago, one you likely didn’t expect. Long John Silver’s seafood chain started in Lexington in 1969.

The first Long John Silver’s restaurant opened exactly 56 years ago this week, on August 18, 1969, in Lexington. There are a couple of ways to tackle this story, by baiting our audience with the story of Jim Patterson, the restaurant’s founder. And by going back even further in time to 1883, when author Robert Louis Stevenson released Treasure Island, the book that first introduced us to the fictional pirate character that’s been brought to life across pop culture in movies, TV, other books and radio for over a century.

1960s America was in the throngs of a massive pop culture shift. Not only were the hippies becoming rockers in the long-haired bands of the era, and not only were film and TV becoming more fast-paced and entirely in color. But there was a food shift as well, as the rise of fast food chains was upon us. Chains like Burger Queen were just ramping up. Jim Patterson, a Kentucky-based restauranteur in Lexington, saw the chance to fill a niche market for fast, casual seafood. Long John Silver’s was born. The original architecture was inspired by Cape Cod-style homes with coastal, nautical decorations.

By the early 1980s, over 1,000 Long John Silver’s restaurants were running in the U.S. The seafood market made the chain popular, given it was a break from burgers, fries, and pizza chains. The brand saw decline in the late 1990s though, as a growing health consciousness caused bankruptcy in 1998. Now, the restaurant is owned by Yum brands, and there are still over 480 of the restaurants active around the country.

Meanwhile, in pop culture, Long John Silver’s fictional story of being a pirate and hiding gold on Treasure Island makes the restaurant’s appeal even more nostalgic and whimsical. Many films and TV shows over the years have brought Long John Silver to life, including the most recent, “Black Sails” on Starz. For those who haven’t read the novel, Long John is not just a pirate, he’s also a cook. Using the novel’s star power to find a niche culinary market during a time when fast food was all burgers and pizza was brilliant marketing. Kentucky may not be known for its beaches and coastlines, but it certainly does have a rich culinary history.