Zaxby's facts for kids
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Trade name
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Zaxby's |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Genre | Fast casual |
| Founded | August 1990 |
| Founders | Zach McLeroy Tony Townley |
| Headquarters | Athens, Georgia, U.S. |
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Number of locations
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941 (2022) |
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Area served
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United States |
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Key people
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Bernard Acoca (CEO) Zach McLeroy (Chairman, Former CEO, Co-Founder) Tony Townley (Former Chief Strategy Officer, Co-Founder) |
| Products | Chicken wings, french fries, Texas toast, chicken fingers |
Zaxby's is a popular American restaurant chain. It serves delicious chicken wings, chicken fingers, sandwiches, and salads. Most Zaxby's restaurants are in the Southern United States.
There are over 900 Zaxby's locations. Many of these are owned by franchisees. This means independent business owners pay a fee to operate a Zaxby's restaurant. The Zaxby's company itself owns 123 locations.
Contents
History of Zaxby's Restaurants
Zaxby's was started by two childhood friends, Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley. They opened the first Zaxby's in March 1990. This first restaurant was in Statesboro, Georgia, near a college campus.
The company's first restaurant outside of Georgia opened in September 1994. It was in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In 2013, Zaxby's expanded to Utah. This was their first time opening restaurants outside the southeastern U.S.
As of 2023, Zaxby's has restaurants in 19 different U.S. states. Like many other restaurants, Zaxby's had to close its dining rooms. This happened in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some locations started to reopen their dining rooms by May 2020.
In 2022, Bernard Acoca became the new CEO of Zaxby's. He was the first CEO who was not one of the company's founders. Zach McLeroy, one of the founders, stayed on as the Chairman.
What's on the Zaxby's Menu?
Zaxby's is known as a fast casual place. This means the food is made fresh when you order it. It's quicker than a sit-down restaurant but often higher quality than typical fast food. They offer tasty chicken fingers, chicken wings, sandwiches, and salads.
When you order chicken fingers, you can choose from many dipping sauces. These sauces range from mild to very spicy. The "Zax sauce" is a popular choice. The "Nuclear" sauce is extremely hot!
The dining areas at Zaxby's are decorated in fun ways. You might see interesting objects and signs on the walls. The decorations can be different depending on the restaurant's location. For example, Zaxby's near colleges might have decorations related to the local university. Some locations also have special drink machines called Coca-Cola Freestyle. These machines let you mix many different soda flavors.
Zaxby's Advertising and Famous Faces
Zaxby's has used many famous people in its commercials. These commercials show celebrities enjoying Zaxby's food. From 2007 to 2008, stars like Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams appeared. Famous athletes like Herschel Walker and Evander Holyfield were also in the ads.
In later years, more celebrities joined in. These included Paul Teutul Sr. from Orange County Choppers and comedian Fred Willard. Musicians like Little Richard and actors like Jaime Pressly also appeared. More recently, stars like Rachel Dratch and Clay Matthews III have been featured.
Zaxby's and Sports Sponsorships
Zaxby's is known as "The Official Chicken of Sports Fanz." They have partnered with many Division I colleges. This means Zaxby's supports their football and basketball teams. This partnership covers nearly 30 colleges across 25 states. It includes many schools in the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference.
Zaxby's also sponsored the Heart of Dallas Bowl. This was a college football game played at the Cotton Bowl Stadium. The company also supported NASCAR driver John Wes Townley. He was the son of Zaxby's co-founder Tony Townley. John Wes raced in the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series with Zaxby's as his sponsor.
Zaxby's also supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This organization helps make wishes come true for children with critical illnesses.
See also
- List of chicken restaurants
