Big Noodle Lou’s Long Standing Affair With Long John Silver’s!

Yes, it's time to come clean! I admit it! I've been having a Long Term Affair with Long John Silver's!

It all started on September 10, 2013, (Yes, I remember the date). I had a CRAVING for some Long John Silver's. So, I jumped in The Linguinimobile and drove downtown to the Taco Bell/Long John Silver's drive-thru on Lurleen Wallace Boulevard. When I pulled up to place my order, I noticed that there were NO Long John Silver's items on the menu. Right then, a voice comes on the speaker and says, "Can I take your order?" I say, "Where's the Long John Silver's Menu?" He says, "We no longer have any Long John Silver's, we're just Taco Bell now." I say, "Really?" He says, "Yeah they moved over 4 MONTHS ago." I say, "Where to?" He turns wise-guy on me and says, "MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI." Not be outdone, I then say, "Well, my GPS is broken, so I'm gonna need YOU to give me some DIRECTIONS...."

When I received that news, I was DEVASTATED! The Lurleen Wallace Boulevard location of Long John Silver's was the ONLY one left in Tuscaloosa! At one time, we had THREE Long John Silvers in the Tuscaloosa/Northport area, but now, we were down to ZERO! I then came to the sudden realization, that if I wanted to satisfy my hunger for some Long John Silver's, it would take a little bit of dedication. Therefore, if I wanted some Long John Silver's, I would have to make the 96 mile drive, (one way), to get some!

So, for close to 3 years, I made the Bi-Monthly road trip to Meridian to get my Long John Silver's fix. I got used to the drive. Then, one day this past June, I got some more bad news. My girlfriend, Lisa, had made a trip over to Meridian to get us some Long John Silver's, and she saw a sign on the door which read,   "LONG JOHN SILVER'S AND A&W ARE CLOSED FOR BUSINESS AS OF 6/10. WE APPRECIATE OUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS AND WILL MISS SERVING YOU". When I received the news, via text, once again I was DEVASTATED and DISTRAUGHT....The question now was, "How far will I have to go the next time I NEED some LONG JOHN SILVER'S?"

So, the road trips began. There are currently THREE Long John Silver's in Alabama. Those LJS locations are: Anniston, Hunstville, & Foley....and I've eaten at all 3. On my days off, I've been known to jump in the Linguinimobile, and drive to Anniston, or Huntsville, to get my FAVORITE Long John Silver's meal: The 3 Piece Chicken, 2 Piece Fish Dinner With Hush Puppies, Fries, & Cole Slaw. I usually drive to the one in Anniston, which is 114 miles away from my house. However, sometimes I head to Huntsville. The Foley, Alabama, Long John Silver's is reserved for my mini-vacations down in Gulf Shores. Speaking of vacations, in my travels within the last 3 years, I've been able to hit quite a few Long John Silver's locations across The United States. Those locations are: Tyler, TX....Wichita Falls, TX....Loveland, CO....San Bernardino, CA....and my hometown of Joliet, IL.

Now, I know what you're probably saying, "Big Noodle Lou, why do you travel such far distances to eat Fried Fish, when there's a Captain D's just one mile down the road from the radio station?". The answer for me is an easy one: "There Simply Is NOTHING Like LONG JOHN SILVER'S!" And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Check out what Alan says about Long John Silver's in the movie: "The Hangover Part II"

This is WHY I have been on a personal CRUSADE to bring a Long John Silver's back to Tuscaloosa. 3 1/2 years without one is WAY too long! Currently, there are THREE Captain D's locations in the Tuscaloosa/Northport area, and ZERO Long John Silver's franchises. I find this completely UNACCEPTABLE!  With all the new restaurants that are planning on coming to Tuscaloosa in the near future, WHY isn't Long John Silver's part of the discussion? It needs to be!

I say, there needs to be some dialogue established between our City Leaders, Real Estate Developers, The Zoning Commission, & WE The People, to bring a LONG JOHN SILVER'S BACK TO TUSCALOOSA! The fact that there are THREE Captain D's locations, and ZERO Long John Silver's locations, is something that I find, Ridiculous, Unexplainable, Suspicious, and, Downright FISHY!

SO, LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN! IT'S TIME TO BRING BACK LONG JOHN SILVER'S TO TUSCALOOSA!