So long, John Silver’s

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Mateys, the only Long John Silver’s Seafood Shoppe in the Inland Valley has pulled up the plank. Montclair’s location, 9379 Central Ave., closed Dec. 31.

“The property that includes the restaurant is currently in escrow,” reports Steve Lustro, Montclair’s community development director.

Arrrrrr.

The Montclair location opened in 1978, according to building records. I ate there once, maybe twice, but have been to other Long John Silver’s — named for the pirate in “Treasure Island” — in my time. Founded in Kentucky in 1969, they may have been more common in the Midwest, where I’m from, than out here.

According to Wikipedia: “Earlier restaurants were known for their Cape Cod-style buildings, blue roofs, small steeples, and nautically-themed decorations such as seats made to look like nautical flags. Most early restaurants also featured separate entrance and exit doors, a corridor-like waiting line area, food heaters that were transparent so customers could see the food waiting to be served, and a bell by the exit which customers could ‘ring if we did it well.’ Many of these buildings had dock-like walkways lined with pilings and thick ropes that wrapped around the building exterior.”

According to the chain’s store locator, the only remaining Silver’s in the Inland Empire are San Bernardino, Riverside, Redlands and Victorville. To the west, you’d have to drive to Norwalk.

The pirate craze seems to have passed the pirate eatery by. Someone at headquarters should walk the plank over this.

Anyone have any memories of this location, or others?

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