The company has retained Robert K. Futterman & Associates (RKF) to devise a comprehensive real estate strategy for the restaurant company, which currently operates 33 units along the eastern seaboard. The new restaurants will range between 6,500 and 8,500 square feet, and be placed in a variety of formats.

"This is not a cookie-cutter operation. Legal Sea Foods goes to great lengths to fit into very different spaces," Stephen Asch, senior vice president of RKF, tells GSR. "We will be exploring the world of lifestyle centers, pad sites, and stand-alone locations, and will continue to be interested in malls."

Geographically, RKF will focus on the East Coast, expanding in Florida and examining Atlanta, among other markets. Nationwide expansion is not imminent. "Not yet. There's much to do, and markets that are untapped," Asch said.