Shreveport’s Creole restaurants will not legally be able to continue making Stuffed Shrimp once the ink is dry on an exclusive purchase of the recipe by Long John Silver’s, said Esther Freeman.
The Louisville, Kentucky-based restaurant chain said, “The acquisition and total ownership of this yummy Shreveport dish should enable us to compete successfully in the global market.”
Long John Silvers sees Shreveport stuffed shrimp as a competitive asset in the Chinese and Australian markets. Those markets are a smoking hot destination for fast food execs.
“We had just begun to make a coherent plan for marketing stuffed shrimp as a signature dish for Shreveport,” said disappointed tourism media maven Chris Jayhawk. “More local restaurants than ever were serving variations on the stuffed shrimp recipe established by Freeman & Harris Restaurant.”
Responded one local restaurateur, “We might as well shut down Eddie’s and Crescent City Bistro if we can’t keep serving stuffed shrimp.”
Added Mayor Ollie Tyler, “We had just begun to plan a Shreve-proud agenda based on Freeman’s Shreveport stuffed shrimp. My attorneys have looked at the Long John Silver’s contract. Our Shreve-proud plan? Basically we’re going to have to stuff it.”