9 Things You Didn't Know About Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

In the (very limited) pantheon of chain restaurants that were directly inspired by a movie (is Goodburger still a thing?), Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. is in all likelihood at the top of the heap. This touristy chain is obviously a spinoff of the 1994 smash Forrest Gump, and even if no visit to Times Square is complete without a Run Across America Sampler, we bet that there's a lot you don't know about it. 

Here's how the creation of Bubba Gump went down: The folks behind the movie wanted to open a restaurant to build on the film's success, so they approached a preexisting restaurant chain in their portfolio called Rusty Pelican with the idea. The Rusty Pelican folks spent a year developing the restaurant, the concept was licensed by Paramount Licensing, Inc., and the first location opened in Monterey, California. When Landry's purchased the chain, the lone surviving Rusty Pelican — still operating in Newport Beach, Calif. — was included in the deal. 

While living in a van in Maui and waiting on tables at the local Bubba Gump in 1998, 19-year-old Chris Pratt was "discovered" after approaching actress Rae Dawn Chong at her table. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he told Chong that he was a fan of her work, and she decided on the spot to cast him in a film she was directing at the time, called Cursed Part 3, even though he'd never acted before. Even though the film was never released, Pratt had found his calling. 

According to former employee Katy Franklin, who wrote a book about her experience in the service industry called Hi, How Are You?, all employees learn something called the "Top Tens" on their first day of work. "The Top Tens were Bubba Gump's mantra, their rules to work, live, and die by," according to Franklin. "If you set foot in any Bubba Gump restaurant anywhere in the world, stating that you were, in fact, a member of the Bubba Gump team, you would be expected to know the Top Tens." These rules dictate that "all actions will display overwhelming care and concern for the guests and other employees" (#1), "Be part of the team: Look your best!" (#3), and "Stop, Forrest, stop! Teamwork!" (#8). 

The Golden Nugget Casino, like Bubba Gump, is owned by Landry's, and in order to capitalize on that relationship every summer the Atlantic City Golden Nugget hosts Bubba Gump Shrimpfest on its marina-facing patio. After purchasing food and drink tickets, attendees can chow down on dishes including Cajun shrimp, shrimp gumbo, popcorn shrimp, peel and eat shrimp, shrimp po'boys, shrimp cocktail, and jambalaya while listening to live music.