Long John Silver's Returns to Akron This Fall, Nearly 50 Years After First Location

A new Long John Silver's is taking shape on South Arlington Street in Akron, with construction already underway on a restaurant the seafood chain plans to open this fall. It marks the brand's return to the city following the closure of its last local outpost on Romig Road, and comes nearly 50 years after Long John Silver's first opened in Greater Akron.

Company officials have not yet set a firm opening date for the new location, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, which first reported on the project. The paper notes that Long John Silver's opened its first Greater Akron location in Fairlawn back in 1977, and that the Romig Road restaurant was the last one standing in the city before it shut down. The new South Arlington Street building will offer what the company describes as a modern Long John Silver's experience designed for convenience and comfort, per the Beacon Journal's report.

Laura Ellis, a Long John Silver's representative, told the Beacon Journal that the company looks forward to returning to Akron in fall 2026. The chain still operates roughly 50 restaurants across Ohio, including one in Canton, according to the same report.

A Chain That's Shrunk — But Sharpened Its Focus

The Akron opening arrives as Long John Silver's works through a period of significant contraction nationally. The Beacon Journal reports the chain has closed about half of its restaurants since 2015, down from a peak of roughly 1,400 locations across the country. A June 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document shows the company ended 2025 with 479 U.S. locations, down 23 net outlets from 502 the year before and nearly half its 2019 footprint of about 900 restaurants, according to the Washington Times.

Ohio actually recorded more closures than any other state last year, losing five of the 30 locations shuttered nationwide in 2025 while gaining just one new store, the Washington Times reports. Company executives have said that roughly 70 to 75 of the chain's closures over the past three years stemmed from unwinding co-branded restaurants that paired Long John Silver's with Taco Bell, KFC and A&W, a legacy of its growth strategy under previous ownership, rather than standalone locations failing outright, per reporting cited in industry coverage of the restructuring.

Despite the shrinking store count, the brand says its underlying sales have kept climbing. Long John Silver's has posted 16 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth through mid-2026, with systemwide sales rising from $400 million in 2022 to nearly $430 million in 2025, according to The Independent. The company has completed more than 115 store remodels since late 2022 and has roughly 100 more planned through 2028 to modernize interiors and streamline drive-thru layouts, the outlet notes.

New Ownership, New Menu Direction

Long John Silver's has changed hands more than once since its founding in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1969, named for the buccaneer in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, per the Beacon Journal. Yum! Brands acquired the chain along with A&W in 2002 for $320 million before selling it in September 2011 to LJS Partners LLC, a franchisee-led investor group. In November 2022, the company changed hands again when it was acquired by Four Oaks Partners, an investment group led by Bob Jenkins, who also serves as president of Charter Foods, Inc. — a franchise operator that runs Taco Bell, KFC and Long John Silver's locations across 15 states, including existing operations in Summit County.

In October 2025, Long John Silver's rebranded itself as a chicken and seafood restaurant, unveiling a refreshed logo that puts chicken front-and-center to capitalize on growing national chicken consumption. The chain's hand-battered chicken tenders have long ranked among its top non-seafood sellers. In February 2026, the company also committed to keeping $6 promotional meal baskets on the menu through the rest of the year, including rotating value options like Sweet Chili Shrimp Baskets aimed at value-focused diners.

What Replaces the Old Romig Road Spot

The Romig Road location that once served as Akron's last Long John Silver's was an 1,823-square-foot standalone restaurant on 0.73 acres, complete with a drive-thru and pylon sign, and has since been listed for sale as a commercial outparcel next to an Amazon fulfillment center. The South Arlington Street site will give the chain a fresh foothold in a corridor where its franchisee, Charter Foods, already operates other fast-food restaurants.

Akron isn't the only regional market where the chain has been on the move. Hoodline previously reported on a new Long John Silver's opening in Washington, Pennsylvania, while a separate Hoodline report detailed a Minnesota franchisee's bankruptcy filing tied to store closures near Mall of America — a reminder that the chain's national footprint remains uneven even as individual markets like Akron see fresh investment.