This article was reported and published in a partnership between THE CITY and the Brooklyn Paper.
BK Lobster, a seafood restaurant that started in Brooklyn and has expanded rapidly across the country, sold multiple franchises in New York without registering them, in violation of state law, THE CITY and Brooklyn Paper have found.
That infraction raises questions about the chain run by CEO Rodney Bonds, who often describes himself as a “master franchise developer” and whose food operation attracted media attention for its $100 gold-infused lobster roll and locally-inspired plates like the “BedStuy B.I.G.G.I.E. Roll,” while also seeing multiple locations pop up and then mysteriously shutter across the borough since the company’s launch in 2019.
The company, which is currently facing several lawsuits from franchisees and investors alleging fraud, declined to provide a full list of its current or former stores.
In an interview last month, Bonds admitted to violating the New York law requiring franchisors to register with the state attorney general’s office. Bonds said that he hadn’t understood the state’s franchise laws, and that his food business was “in the process” of addressing his franchise violations on the instructions of his attorneys.
“My lawyers informed me on the registration states and non-registration…
