The oldest Purple Lobster location is closing after 56 years – NBC New York
One Florida slinger of shellfish is popping off its grill for the final time.
The oldest repeatedly working Purple Lobster seafood restaurant — situated in Tallahassee, Florida — will formally shut on Could 24. The information was first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat.
In 2024, 17 Florida Purple Lobsters closed throughout the nation, however Tallahassee remained open.
Purple Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun instructed The Wall Road Journal in February that the chain “wanted to get smaller” and was assessing its restaurant roster and lease phrases.
“We are able to verify the Tallahassee restaurant will probably be closing. This restaurant holds a particular place in Purple Lobster’s historical past and has been a significant a part of the neighborhood for many years. We’re grateful to the company and staff members who’ve supported it through the years,” a Purple Lobster spokesperson shared with TODAY.com.
“As a part of the traditional course of enterprise, Purple Lobster repeatedly evaluates restaurant efficiency and lease phrases and will, on occasion, select to shut or relocate choose eating places. This choice displays particular person enterprise circumstances particular to this location.”
The Florida location first opened in 1970, and on the time, a newspaper advert promised that the “meals is excellent and the environment is casual.” Simply image it: Somebody might have first heard The Carpenters’ “Near You” (which got here out in 1970) whereas biting into their first Cheddar Bay Biscuit.
On the time, the Shrimp Creole en Casserole offered for $1.95, Baked Oysters a la Purple Lobster for $1.85, and a platter with steak and lobster for $3.55. In distinction, the Surf and Turf at Purple Lobster right now will set you again round $50, relying on location.
One worker, Horace Williams, labored on the Tallahassee location for greater than 4 a long time as head grillmaster.
“I’ve cooked over 100 meals a day, typically 150,” he instructed the Democrat. “I take pleasure within the meals. I cook dinner it to make it look presentable. Like I might exit and eat it myself.”
Purple Lobster lately dug itself out of chapter
Purple Lobster filed for chapter in Could 2024 and closed areas that fall, due partially to its $20 “Limitless Shrimp” miscalculation in 2023 that reportedly prompted the corporate to lose an estimated $19 million.
In September 2024, the restaurant obtained court docket approval for its plan to exit chapter, and when it reopened, it overhauled its menu and made itself the butt of the joke with a tongue-in-cheek business about its new, much less bankruptable deal referred to as “SpendLESS Shrimp.”
It additionally leaned on the endorsement of Taste Flav, who ordered the complete menu to assist save the chain and later lent his clock-wearing picture to a limited-time menu referred to as “Taste Flav’s Faves.”
Most lately, in April, the chain determined to revive its Limitless Shrimp promotion for a restricted time.
“That is about placing our company first and bringing again one thing they really love,” Adamolekun mentioned in a press release.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. Extra from TODAY:
