The Krusty Krab

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The **Krusty Krab** is a fictional fast food restaurant in the American animated TV series *SpongeBob SquarePants*. It was founded by Eugene H. Krabs, who is also the owner. The restaurant has two employees: SpongeBob SquarePants and Squidward Tentacles. Famous for its Krabby Patty sandwiches, it is a rival of Plankton's across-the-street restaurant The Chum Bucket and as a result, the character frequently plots schemes to obtain the Krabby Patty formula. The restaurant first appears in the pilot episode, "Help Wanted" and has since become a common setting in the series.

Aside from *SpongeBob SquarePants*, the Krusty Krab has also appeared in the show's two film adaptations, *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie* (2004) and *The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water* (2015), and in other related media and merchandise.

## Section heading

The building's design is based on a New England lobster trap.[1] Executive producer Stephen Hillenburg created the Krusty Krab as a place for SpongeBob to work and as a main location and setting. Multiple episodes of SpongeBob focus specifically and only on the Krusty Krab and scenarios in the Krusty Krab. Hillenburg somewhat based the Krusty Krab and owner Eugene Krabs off the restaurant he worked as a fry cook at before starting his career in television. The Krusty Krab first appeared in the season 1 episode and series pilot "Help Wanted".

## Role in *SpongeBob SquarePants*

The Krusty Krab is a restaurant that sells various fast food products at extraordinarily high prices, including the popular Krabby Patty burgers.[2] Typical of the series, there are inconsistencies in the origin of the restaurant's name; in one episode, it is stated that the Krusty Krab took its name from the Rusty Krab, a retirement home in Bikini Bottom acquired by Mr. Krabs and converted into a restaurant.[3] but in another, the restaurant got its name from a pirate ship named the Krusty Krab, which Mr. Krabs also owned.[4] The Krusty Krab is one of the most successful restaurants in Bikini Bottom.[3] The Krabby Patty formula is a closely guarded trade secret, and rival restaurateur Plankton's futile attempts at acquiring the secret formula (as well as the often absurd lengths Mr. Krabs will go to protect it) is a major recurring themethroughout the series. The Krusty Krab usually attracts customers from Bikini Bottom because of the Krabby Patty's renowned taste and the fact that Plankton's restaurant, the Chum Bucket, has a menu consisting of mostly inedible chum.[5] Because of this lack of viable competition, Mr. Krabs is free to engage in price gouging, which he usually does. Sometimes The Krusty Krab is shown to have a drive-thru seen in Driven to Tears, Drive Thru, and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.[6]It was noted that the Krusty Krab is clean and disease-free.[7]

Aside from Mr. Krabs (who spends most of his time at the restaurant counting money in his office), the Krusty Krab has two full-time employees: Squidward Tentacles, the restaurant's cashier, and SpongeBob SquarePants, the fry cook and janitor. On rare occasions, Mr. Krabs will hire Patrick Star for various spot gigs, such as a replacement for SpongeBob, or just to fall flat on his face for the customer's amusement (No Hat for Pat.)

## Cultural influence

The Krusty Krab has appeared in *Robot Chicken* in the Season 5 episode "Major League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" where the Krusty Krab serves Krabby Patties which are made of crab, calamari rings, and chicken of the sea salad which is tuna. In an episode of *Red Sox Small Talk*, John Ferrell was featured and was fielded with "tough" questions like "What is your favorite musician?" and "Is managing the Red Sox like managing the Krusty Krab on SpongeBob SquarePants?"[8] He replied that "managing the Krusty Krab and the Red Sox are similar in some ways."[9][10] In 2016, *Time* magazine included the Krusty Krab into the list of the most influential fictional companies of all time.[11] The Krusty Krab has become huge in popular culture and on the internet. The Krusty Krab's interior and exterior design was one of the main features of the Krusty Krab that became popular and made the restaurant so unique and iconic to television and culture.

### Real-life replicas and fictional restaurant-inspired stores

As of September 2017, there is one real-life replica, and two fictional restaurant-inspired stores.

A replica of the Krusty Krab was built in Ramallah, Palestine.[12][13] In January 2016, Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom filed a lawsuit against the operators of an unaffiliated, for-profit "Krusty Krab" restaurant to be opened in Texas.[14] A Texas federal judge ruled in January 2017 that the planned restaurant violated Viacom's rights to the *SpongeBob*property, thus halting its construction.[15][16]

Another version of the restaurant is located in Davao City, named as "The KrustyKrub Cafe". It was inspired by the show, as their son is a fan of SpongeBob SquarePants.[17]

The last version of the restaurant is located in Moscow, and is named "The Krusty Krab Cafe."[18]

### Merchandising

In 2006, Lego released the Lego SpongeBob SquarePants set based on the Krusty Krab.[19] The second Krusty Krab based Lego set called the "Krusty Krab Adventures" was released in 2009.[20][21]