Legal Sea Foods
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Legal Sea Foods is a Boston-based seafood restaurant chain primarily located in New England and the Northeast. There are also a few locations around Washington, DC and 3 in South Florida, and a location opening soon in Atlanta, GA. It was founded in 1968 by George Berkowitz, who opened a restaurant adjacent to his fish market in Cambridge, MA. The menus vary slightly by location and season, but all include a variety of specialty seafood and non-seafood entrees, appetizers, salads, and desserts. Extensive wine lists and full-service bars are also available at all locations to entice a younger, urban clientele in addition to family gatherings. By promoting day boat fishing operations, the company markets itself as having the freshest fish. The company also made industry advances on fish handling and has worked with the federal agencies on developing Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). HACCP is an inspection and testing program now being introduced to the general population of seafood dealers for food safety.[1]
While the company's Quality Control Center have created improvements in testing for tainted fish and seafood, a widely-noted criticism is that all fish and chowder served in any Legal's store must be processed and shipped out through Boston. This can lead to the irony of Long Island Blue Point oysters being shipped from New York to Boston for quality control, then sent back to a New York or New Jersey location for consumption by customers.
Legal Sea Foods currently has 33 locations, in addition to catering and mail order divisions, and has garnered critical accolades for its status as a mid-sized seafood chain.[2] Since 1992, George’s son Roger Berkowitz has been at the helm of the company. Legal's New England clam chowder has been both a staple of its menu and, according to the restaurant, a mainstay at every presidential inauguration since 1981.[3] The restaurant motto is "If it isn't fresh, it isn't Legal."
During early 2008 it ran a series of humorous radio advertisements, capping with its aforementioned motto. Roger Berkowitz appears in self-mocking roles in the ads.
Contents |
[edit] Management
- President/CEO - Roger Berkowitz
- Executive Chef/VP of Restaurants - Richard Vellante
- VP of Beverage Operations - Sandy Block
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ [1] In the Quest for Safer Seafood, One Company Follows Its Nose (New York Times, Nov 2000)
- ^ [2] 2007/2008 Zagat Boston Overview (The Boston Globe, Apr 2007)
- ^ [3] New England's Best: Clam Chowder (NBC WHDH Boston, Aug 2003)
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