Eating shrimp “Forrest Gump” style

Bubba Gump Shrimp is a seafood restaurant chain, specializing in shrimp dishes with more than 40 branches around the world. The first restaurant opened in the US in 1996, inspired by the movie "Forest Gump", from the decoration of the restaurant, the way the staff serves to the menu all bear the mark of the movie. Every corner of the restaurant is filled with memorabilia from the movie, which can make diners want to take pictures, or look closely to figure out which scene in the movie this is.

From "Forrest Gump" - an immortal movie...

The film is inspired by the book of the same name about Forrest Gump, a mentally handicapped boy with an IQ of 75 and limping legs who is always teased and bullied by his peers. His only friend is his neighbor girl Jenny. When she sees Forrest being chased by bad friends, Jenny shouts "Run, Forest, Run" and suddenly, from a place where he can barely walk, Forrest runs away. Jenny's words have become a classic line of American cinema.

Later, when Forrest enlisted in the army and fought in Vietnam, he was under the command of Lieutenant Dan and became friends with Bubba, a black soldier. Forrest and Bubba shared the dream of owning a shrimp boat and making a living from it. Not long after, Bubba died in battle, and Lieutenant Dan lost both legs. When he returned to the US, Forrest bought a shrimp boat to fulfill his promise to Bubba, and named the boat Jenny. Forrest became the captain, and Lieutenant Dan volunteered to be the second captain. After fishing trips that only caught a few shrimp and scrap, failing to the point of running out of capital, the sea area where Jenny operated was devastated by Hurricane Carmen in 1974. The press reported that during the storm, all the boats in the area were destroyed, except for Jenny. Even more ironically, during the fierce storm, Lieutenant Dan madly challenged fate, "If you're so good, come and take me down!" But when they reached shore, the battered boat was carrying a huge catch of shrimp, filling every hold. From then on, their fishing trips were extremely profitable, and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. was established, with up to 12 large boats.

The film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards in 1994 and won 6. Nearly 30 years have passed but the film is still analyzed, commented on and the image of Forrest Gump is still used as an example of comparison in many aspects of life. Bubba Gump restaurant specializes in selling shrimp based on the film and thanks to that, attracts a large number of fans.

...to Bubba Gump shrimp shop

Before entering Bubba Gump, I thought this was a typical American restaurant. But no, the restaurant was packed with customers of all nationalities, including British, Italian, Spanish... most of whom were fans of the movie. In front of the restaurant was a counter selling souvenirs from the movie such as shirts, hats, glasses, mugs... Inside was the restaurant and deeper inside was the bar, decorated like a miniature museum, storing everything related to the movie, from tables and chairs, pictures on the wall, quotes to staff uniforms.

On each table there is a small aluminum bucket containing napkins and condiments, along with a few small plates and a blue board with the words “Run, Forest, Run” (Jenny’s quote in the movie), which when flipped over will read “Stop, Forest, Stop” on a red background, so that diners can notify the waiter if they need to be served, instead of ringing the bell or waving like other restaurants. You just need to flip the “Stop, Forest, Stop” board up and a waiter will immediately come running over.

The drinks at Bubba Gump are quite varied, but the cocktails are sweet and not too intoxicating. Beer goes better with seafood.

Bubba Gump's strong point is shrimp dishes, but other seafood dishes are also very fresh and delicious, mostly fried and grilled, in addition to rice, noodles, sandwiches, hamburgers... Especially on the menu, below the dishes (with interesting names like Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp or Mama's Southern Fried Chicken) there are also calorie counts so that diners who are on a diet know clearly. And don't forget that the dishes in red and marked with stars are the "specialties" of the restaurant, if you still don't know which dish to choose, pay attention to these signs.

If you are a fan of Forrest Gump, then this shrimp restaurant is definitely a place you cannot miss. Even if you do not like Forrest Gump, you should still visit this place once to understand why Bubba Gump has become famous all over the world in just over 20 years from a small shrimp restaurant.

Rosemary