10/28/2026
Big things happening for our friends and family at Slapfish!!
Mark Weghorst didn’t expect to be the last man standing in the Slapfish restaurant chain, but that’s essentially the position the central Indiana entrepreneur finds himself in after the fast-casual seafood brand’s dramatic contraction.
Weghorst opened his first Slapfish restaurant in Noblesville in 2019. Three years later, the California-founded chain had 22 restaurants in 10 states. Since then, Slapfish restaurants in California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia have closed.
The entirety of the chain now is made up of Indiana restaurants operated by Weghorst and his wife, Lauren Weghorst, plus a location at Los Angeles International Airport that’s run by an airport concessions operator.
“Slapfish is headquartered out of here now,” Mark Weghorst said of the restaurant known for its lobster roll and a “clobster” grilled cheese sandwich featuring crab and lobster meat.
Far from merely surviving, the Weghorsts have Slapfish on an upswing. On Nov. 14, the couple will open a Meridian-Kessler restaurant as the fifth in their portfolio.
IBJ's Dave Lindquist explains the changes Weghorst made to the original Slapfish concept, which celebrity chef Andrew Gruel launched in 2011 as a “modern seafood shack.”
