11 Long John Silver's Ordering Hacks You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

You probably think that you've got Long John Silver's all figured out by now, but you might be wrong. This restaurant has certainly been around for a long time, pleasing customers with its fried fish options since 1969, so it's definitely given its customers plenty of time to get familiar with it. However, like virtually every other fast food restaurant out there, this is a joint that has a treasure trove of secrets and ordering hacks you can take advantage of.

While no menu hacks will likely bring back some of those beloved Long John Silver's menu items from the 1980s or beyond, you can still jazz up your order in some pretty fun ways. Items can be combined in a sandwich or swapped out entirely, and its famous "crumblies" can be used to provide texture and crunch in ways you never imagined. You can also combine Long John Silver's items with options from other stores to create menu mash-ups that really hit the spot. Plus, it's not all about creating weird and wonderful food options. There are plenty of ways you can order at Long John Silver's which makes the standard experience all that more enjoyable. Ready to change up your ordering game for good? We've got you covered.

The so-called crumblies at Long John Silver's are pretty delicious, folks. These are the little scraps of crispy fried batter from the deep fat fryer, which servers collect and serve up to any customer who wants them. And you can use them in some pretty fabulous ways. Next time you're in Long John Silver's, order some crumblies alongside your sandwich, and then pop the two next to each other. Open the sandwich up, sprinkle the crumblies inside, pop your buns back together and enjoy.

The texture that the crumblies add to your sandwich can also be used elsewhere. By scattering them on top of your coleslaw, you can give the salad a slightly different type of crunch, and add a salty, fatty note that contrasts the creamy flavors of the slaw. It also pairs well with the slight tang in the coleslaw, and has the same effect when you pop it in your sandwich, playing against the pickles well. True Long John Silver's aficionados, though, know that the crumblies truly hit right when you're enjoying them with just sauce. Pour ketchup and tartar sauce onto the crumblies, stir them together, and enjoy the creamy crunch.

No one likes standing in line at a fast food restaurant, and the people who own and run these places have started to cotton on. As a result, in recent years we've seen a host of fast food restaurants create apps that allow you to skip the queue and order directly from your phone, then merely having to walk in and pick up your order before skipping away with glee. Long John Silver's has done this too. Its mobile app allows you to locate the nearest Long John Silver's near you, browse its menu, and then order directly from the store for pick-up.

It's incredible how many people forget this is an option, though. Instead, they just rock up to their store as normal and endure the dreaded lunch queue. This isn't an issue with the app, which is totally free to download, by the way. As well as this, the Long John Silver's app gives you access to its Seacret Society Rewards scheme, which opens up your ordering options even more by giving you access to free — yes, free! — menu items when you collect points.

If you're anything like us, you've long perfected your pirate voice. Hey, all those years of watching "Pirates Of The Caribbean" as a kid weren't for nothing, guys. However, if you haven't busted out any yarrs or yo-hos in a while, here's the perfect reason: If you do it at Long John Silver's one day of each year, you get free food.

This may sound totally untrue, but bear with us here. For a while now, Long John Silver's has held a special promotion in tandem with International Talk Like A Pirate Day, which is on September 19 each year. All you have to do is head into your local participating Long John Silver's, and do the best pirate impression you can muster. When you do, and providing you manage something at least halfway decent, you'll be rewarded with a free piece of chicken or fish.

That's not all, either. If you combine this with a pirate costume, you'll get given a two-piece chicken or fish basket for free. Pretty good, huh? Naturally, it's a good idea to make sure that the Long John Silver's you're going to is taking part, otherwise you might be left a little embarrassed. If you're brave enough to try it out, though, you'll get several dollars' worth of food for nothing. Seems worth it to us!

Fish just hits different when it's battered, folks. There are a few easy mistakes when frying battered fish at home, but Long John Silver's certainly won't make any of them, and each fillet has a pretty light, crispy batter to protect it from the ravages of the deep fat fryer's heat while keeping it nice and juicy. However, for some people, we'd imagine that the single coating of batter on their fish just isn't enough, and they need a pop of extra crunch to seal the deal.

That's where this next hack truly shines. Next time you're in Long John Silver's, ask for your fish to be double battered. Instead of dipping your fish in the batter just once, the employee will give it a double-dunk, increasing the amount of batter and therefore the amount of flavor. As with so many other hacks at the restaurant, this may not work at every location — you might just be faced with a blank stare when asking for it, so be prepared — but if you get lucky, your server will oblige. Double-battering fish will also help to keep it from going soggy as it sits on your plate, and preserve more moisture in the fish itself. It just makes sense, people.

Loyalty schemes have been around for a minute, but it's only really been in the last decade or so that restaurants have started using them as a key way to drive foot traffic and sales. Long John Silver's was slightly slow on the uptake, but in 2024 it joined the loyalty scheme craze, launching its mobile app-based rewards scheme, Seacret Society (get it?). Because it's relatively recent, a lot of people forget that this loyalty program exists — but do so at your peril. You can get some pretty nifty deals and free items with the Seacret Society scheme, and the points that you earn with each purchase can really add up.

The free stuff starts from the moment you sign up: On your first purchase with the loyalty program (with a $5 minimum spend), you'll get a free basket of food. Then, each time you spend a dollar, you'll rack up four "coins," in Long John Silver's treasure chest-themed version of points. Earn 60 coins, and you'll get some free hush puppies, while 400 coins will give you a free combo meal.

Importantly, not all Long John Silver's locations currently participate in Seacret Society Rewards. Co-branded locations, which contain both Long John Silver's and KFC or Taco Bell, operate their own schemes. To avoid being disappointed, make sure you check whether your local restaurant takes part.

Sometimes, the simple hacks are the best. The fish sandwich at Long John Silver's is pretty good, even with no tweaks made to it. Ranking among the best fast-food fish sandwiches, it's a slightly more natural-looking version of a Filet-O-Fish, with a breaded Alaskan Pollock fillet sitting between two buns, finished off with a squirt of tartar sauce and some pickles. The sandwich has nailed its creamy, salty, and vinegary notes, but here's the thing, guys: We live in a world where spice is king, and heat definitely isn't on the agenda in this meal. Until you hack your sandwich, that is. 

Next time you order your fish sandwich, ask for Baja Sauce instead of the tartar sauce. The chain's Baja Sauce is like an amped-up tartar, with all of its sour and creamy notes, but it also adds in a fiery kick and some smokiness. It adds way more flavor to your sandwich than is reasonable for such an easy swap. Plus, you don't have to stop there when it comes to switching out sauces. Long John Silver's has a host of sauces available, from honey mustard to hot sauce, and you can ask for any of these in your sandwich too. Plus, if you want a double-sauce impact, just request these sauces as extra.

Honestly, we just love eating out on our birthday. That's not just because it makes things feel more like a celebration, or because we kinda love the attention when servers sing to us (yeah, we know, it's not for everyone, but it's definitely for us) — it's also because you can often get free food. At Long John Silver's, that's definitely the case, and folks celebrating their birthdays can get some freebies each year, provided that they're signed up to the Seacret Society scheme and have the mobile app.

So what do you get when you hit up Long John Silver's on the big day? Somewhat strangely, the company isn't super clear about this: In its marketing for the Seacret Society bonus, it tends to refer to the free birthday item as just a "treat." Perhaps this keeps things a bit easier for each restaurant, so that they can decide independently what they want to give their customers. However, it seems like an order of hushpuppies is a pretty standard free item for birthday diners, and we're not about to say no to that.

Where some chain restaurants have secret menus, the best Long John SIlver's secret options involve food from other restaurants. Locations that combine Long John Silver's and Taco Bell are fairly rare, but if you're lucky enough to live in or near some select parts of the country (like Fort Myers, Florida, Dandridge, Tennessee, or Queensbury, New York), you can get all your fast food cravings in one go. Plus, you get unique access to some pretty wild menu combos. By taking items from both fast food joints and mashing them up, you can combine the briny flavors of Long John's with the spicy, cheesy notes of Taco Bell, and enter food heaven.

Of all the hacks you can perform at these locations, making a Shrimp Cheesy Gordita Crunch is our favorite. First, order a Cheesy Gordita Crunch without the meat from the Taco Bell menu, and then an order of fried shrimp from the Long John Silver's menu. Remove the tails from each piece of shrimp, to avoid them messing up the texture of your culinary creation. Then, open up your Cheesy Gordita Crunch, and pop the shrimp inside. The final product will be full of crunch, and notably girthier than the standard Cheesy Gordita Crunch, thanks to the shrimp bulking things out.

As far as its fish goes, Long John Silver's doesn't just do deep-fried, heavily battered items. It also has some notably fresher fare, with its Grilled Salmon Meal being the perfect choice for people who prefer their meal a bit lighter. People who have tried this meal have noted how flaky the salmon is, with the seasoning sprinkled on top giving it a pop of flavor — and the fact that it comes with sides of corn, green beans, and rice complements the lightness with fresh flavors.

However, you may well want a little more flavor than this meal promises, and that's where a side of sauce comes in. When you're ordering your Grilled Salmon Meal, ask for some extra Baja Sauce, Sweet Chili Sauce, or Southwest Sauce to give things a heat-infused kick. Any of these sauces will work well with the salmon, cutting through its slightly oily notes (which are, importantly, key to its flavor) with some all-important fire and tanginess. The sauces will also give the vegetables some much-needed seasoning, as otherwise, they can be a little bland. Plus, if you can't decide between them, you can order them all.

Long John Silver's has joined forces with more than just Taco Bell over the years, including the curious choice to team up with the Cheesecake Factory in 2023, but some of its partners are matches made in heaven. If you're located near Fairfield or Gardena in California, Beavercreek or Bowling Green in Ohio, or Brownfield or Dallas in Texas, then you're in luck: You have easy access to a combination KFC and Long John Silver's location. There are plenty more around the country, too — and like the dual Taco Bell and Long John Silver's joints, these restaurants give you premium access to some elite meal combo hacks.

However, it's not necessarily the chicken you need from KFC, but the biscuits. Rock up to one of these combination locations and grab a chicken and fish meal from the Long John Silver's menu, and some biscuits from the KFC menu. Split the biscuits and pop your chicken and fish inside, adding any sauce you might want with them too, to make Surf and Turf Sliders. The beauty is you can toss in pretty much anything else you want on top of the sauce: Pop in some fries, or pile on some coleslaw to give it a bit of extra crunch. You can even put some crumblies in there, too.

Long John Silver's crab cakes are an underrated item on its menu. These cakes come in single portions and can be added onto any meal, but they don't feature as the central part of any of its dishes — which can lead to them being a bit of an afterthought, despite how delicious they are. However, there's one nifty way that you can elevate them to a starring role, by incorporating them into your fish sandwich.

To do this, you have two options. The first is to simply ask your server to make you a fish sandwich with a crab cake instead of the regular patty. If you're served by someone who's willing to do so, you can avoid spending any extra cash. However, if you're told that they can't do this (and to be fair, a lot of different places have different rules), then simply order a crab cake on the side of your regular fish sandwich meal, and then swap the patty for the crab cake. You'll end up with a spare piece of Alaskan pollock, but hey, call it a bonus snack.