Captain D’s is a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

-based chain of fast-food restaurants, specializing in seafood

Seafood

Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...

 and fish and chips

Fish and chips

Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...

. The restaurant also features a low-carbohydrate

Low-carbohydrate diet

Low-carbohydrate diets or low-carb diets are dietary programs that restrict carbohydrate consumption usually for weight control or for the treatment of obesity. Foods high in digestible carbohydrates are limited or replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of proteins and fats...

 menu. The restaurant chain's headquarters is located in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

.

The first Captain D’s restaurant opened in Donelson

Donelson, Tennessee

Donelson is a neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee located east of downtown Nashville along U.S. Highway 70. It is named in honor of John Donelson, co-founder of Nashville and father-in-law of Andrew Jackson, Nashvillian and seventh President of the United States...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, in 1969 under the name “Mr. D’s”. The “D” is the initial of the last name of the co-founder, Ray Danner.

Many Captain D’s locations were originally selected to be near extant Shoney’s

Shoney's

Shoney’s is a privately held restaurant chain that operates primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It is named after Alex Schoenbaum, who was the owner of the original chain of Big Boy restaurants in the southeastern United States...

 restaurants. Captain D’s has grown to become a restaurant chain with nearly 600 locations in about twenty three states (primarily in the South

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 and Midwest

Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....

) as well as overseas. Its main competitor is Long John Silver’s

Long John Silver's

Long John Silver's, Inc. is a United States-based fast-food restaurant that specializes in seafood. The name and concept were inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's book Treasure Island. Formerly a division of Yum! Brands, Inc., the company was divested to a group of franchisees in 2011.-History:The...

.

Captain D’s Seafood has won the 2007 Nation’s Restaurant News “MenuMasters Award” in the category of “Best Menu Revamp.”

After a 2000 bankruptcy, Dallas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

-based Lone Star Funds

Lone Star Funds

Lone Star Funds is a worldwide private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas, that specializes in purchasing distressed companies and assets, often well-known consumer brands that have seen better times or gone through financial difficulties due to leveraged buy-outs...

 bought Shoney’s

Shoney's

Shoney’s is a privately held restaurant chain that operates primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It is named after Alex Schoenbaum, who was the owner of the original chain of Big Boy restaurants in the southeastern United States...

 in 2002. Timonium, Maryland

Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland

Lutherville-Timonium is a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland made up of the unincorporated communities of Lutherville and Timonium. The population was 15,814 as of the 2000 census. Within its borders lies the Lutherville Historic District...

-based Grotech Capital Group Inc. and Charlesbank Capital Partners

Charlesbank Capital Partners

Charlesbank Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm focusing on leveraged buyout transactions involving middle-market companies.The founders of Charlesbank came together in 1991 as Harvard Private Capital Group to manage the private equity investment portfolio for Harvard Management...

, a Boston private equity firm, formed Sagittarius Brands and bought Captain D’s in December 2004 for US$150 million. Captain D’s owners also operated Del Taco

Del Taco

Del Taco is a North American fast food restaurant chain which specializes in American-style Mexican cuisine as well as American foods such as burgers, fries, and shakes...

.

In 2007 Design and Innovation firm Continuum re-designed Captain D's total diner experience and developed the brand mark currently being used today.

In 2010, Captain D's was acquired by Sun Capital Partners.