Legal Sea Foods to launch fast-casual chain

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Legal Sea Foods is fishing for a fast-casual spinoff.

The Boston-based polished casual chain began the conversion this week of part of an existing Cambridge, Mass., unit into a quick-serve concept called Legal Fish Bowl, The Boston Globe reports.

Legal Fish Bowl, which is slated to open this spring, will be a build-your-own bowl concept, with seafood bowls priced at $10-$15. Customers can choose from a half dozen chef-created bowls or they can select their own ingredients.

The quick-serve prototype is designed to appeal to time-pressed office workers, particularly at lunchtime. Legal Sea Foods CEO Roger Berkowitz hopes to open more Legal Fish Bowls as standalone units if the test is a success.

Legal Sea Foods was founded in 1968 and currently operates 35 units in the U.S., making it the nation’s 166th largest chain, according to Technomic data. The company operates several other spinoffs, including the full-service Legal Test Kitchen and Caribbean-themed Legal C Bar. 

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