 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Seafood restaurantFranchising |
| Founded | 1996; 29 years ago (1996), inMonterey, California |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas |
Number of locations | 31 restaurants[1] |
Area served | |
| Parent | Landry's, Inc. (2010-present) |
| Website | www |
TheBubba Gump Shrimp Company is an American seafood restaurant chain inspired by the 1994 filmForrest Gump, based inHouston, Texas, and a division ofLandry's Restaurants since 2010.[2] As of 2025, 31 restaurants operate worldwide: twenty in the U.S., four in Mexico, three in Japan, and one each in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Canada.
The first Bubba Gump restaurant opened in 1996 inMonterey, California, by Rusty Pelican Restaurants in partnership withParamount, the distributor ofForrest Gump. It was named for the film's characters Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue andForrest Gump. Before his death in theVietnam War, Bubba convinces Gump to go into the shrimping business.
In 1995, entrepreneur Anthony Zolezzi bought the rights to the name "Bubba Gump Shrimp Co." from Paramount Pictures in an attempt to turn around a financially troubled seafood company, Meridian Products.[3][4][5]
The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. line of packaged imported shrimp products were sold in supermarkets across the US and in international markets.[6][7] Zolezzi was approached by a friend in the seafood restaurant business about licensing the name. Zolezzi consulted with Paramount and the Rusty Pelican restaurant chain to launch the first Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant inMonterey, California in 1996.[8] Its success led to its franchising on an international scale.[9]
In November 2010, Landry's, Inc. acquired Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for an undisclosed amount.[10] The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. purchase also included a lone Rusty Pelican inNewport Beach, California. As a result, the restaurant's headquarters moved from Hollywood, California toHouston, Texas.
As the name implies, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.'s menu consists mostly ofimported shrimp dishes. It serves other seafood, as well asSouthern andCajun cuisine, as the characters of Forrest and Bubba were fromAlabama. The restaurant offers dishes named after characters in the movie, like Jenny's Catch and the restaurant's bestseller Forrest's Seafood Feast.[11][12] Restaurants display movie memorabilia throughout the building. Guests can playForrest Gump movie trivia and can signal their waiter with a "Stop, Forrest, Stop" sign. The mascot of the chain is a shrimp named Shrimp Louie.[13]
In 2013, a former Bubba Gump employee claimed that thesocial media policy in the company's employee handbook had a restrictive effect on employees' rights by prohibiting them from discussing their jobs online.[14] In 2015, aNational Labor Relations Board administrative law judge ruled that Bubba Gump did not violate employees' rights as they did not explicitly prohibit employees from discussing job-related subjects, but only expected them to do so in a civil manner.[15] There had been cases previously in which the National Labor Relations Board found companies social media policies to be excessively broad, and ruled in favor of the employee(s).[16]
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