Bethesda, Md. — Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of the RLJ Companies and founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), has announced a joint venture with the Boston-based restaurant group Legal Sea Foods to open smaller-scale versions of the famed restaurant within airports across the country.
“I am very excited about the RLJ Companies joining with Legal Sea Foods and its CEO and president, Roger S. Berkowitz, to expand the Legal Sea Foods dining experience to millions more airport travelers,” Johnson says. “Berkowitz’s family founded Legal Sea Foods, whose roots in the food business go back almost 100 years.”
Legal Sea Foods has a proven track record of highly successful airport restaurants at Logan International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport and Reagan National Airport. The joint venture will lead to a marked increase in new locations across the country.
“As two entrepreneurial owners, Roger and I are both enthusiastic about what our brand combination can successfully achieve in meeting the dining needs of consumers who are seeking first-class food in locations long underserved by great restaurants,” Johnson adds.
“As a family-owned and operated company, we feel we have a kindred spirit in Bob who has achieved phenomenal success through smarts, tenacity and a strong sense of what people want,” Berkowitz says. “Our venture will enable us to bring the freshest, highest quality food from the sea to those traveling by air.”
The RLJ Companies, founded by Robert L. Johnson, is an innovative business network that provides strategic investments in a diverse portfolio of companies, headquartered in Bethesda, Md. Prior to founding The RLJ Companies, Johnson founded Black Entertainment Television (BET). For more information, visit www.rljcompanies.com.
Seventy years ago, Legal Sea Foods opened as a fish market in Cambridge, Mass., and now operates about 30 restaurants along the East Coast as well as its own fish processing plant on Boston Harbor. At the helm of the family-owned restaurant group is Roger Berkowitz, a 2017 James Beard Award winner. For more information, visit www.legalseafoods.com.
SOURCE: The RLJ Companies