School friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley founded Zaxby’s back in the 1990s. When they were opening their restaurant they wanted it to have tasty chicken and an atmosphere where you could be yourself. And it's true many years and locations later. Zaxby's still serves delicious chicken fingers, wings, sandwiches, and salads in a fun, offbeat atmosphere where we welcome customers as friends.

In 2019, Zaxby’s has more than 900 locations in 18 states with headquarters in Athens, GA.

Zaxby’s founders decided to open their place when they understood that their community has a lot of fast food or sit-down dining options but still something was missing. The key idea was to make a place with a great atmosphere where food quality is of ultimate importance. They decided to serve the freshest chicken fingers and Buffalo wings in town. First Zaxby’s was opened in 1990 in Statesboro, GA.

Their concept of “quick-casual” restaurants has proven to be very successful.

Now Zach and Tony operate 140 company stores and there are over 900 locations.

All these years we've expanded our footprint. At the start, there were few locations in Georgia. We eased into the Atlanta market, then into neighboring states. We enlarged little by little. By popular demand, Zaxby's restaurants were opened from the sandy plains of Florida to the Appalachian hills. After that history leads us across the Mississippi to the west coast. We believe that there is still time to "get in early" and we hope to become the next big national restaurant chain. Most of our restaurants are concentrated in the southeast, which leaves a whole lot of unsigned territory. One day, we think there will be Zaxby's restaurants across the country.

We're entrepreneurs too. So we know all about the desire to have your own business. At the same time, being in business for yourself doesn't mean you have to be by yourself. That describes our approach to franchisee support. We understand that it's your business in your community. And we want to offer you all the resources our most successful franchisees use to create their winning formulas. Our job is to get you to the dance, so you can shake your groove thing.

As you may already know, our food is so good, people typically can't stop talking about it. And that's the best marketing you can get. But with all that talking, how will they be able to savor their favorite Zaxby's recipes? That's why we develop marketing and advertising programs to generate awareness at the regional level and drive traffic at the local level. We work hard to build the brand, so you can build your business.

Award-Winning Advertising Campaigns

You might not be able to afford dozens of the most recognizable celebrities to promote your restaurant. But when you're a part of Zaxby's, you're part of a family that can. With hundreds of restaurants and growing, we're starting to get a lot of attention. Our national advertising campaign features lots of big names endorsing our food. And partnerships with charities like the Make-A-Wish Foundation® help us to communicate our values in our marketing.

Advertising Cooperatives, Local Marketing Tools

There's strength in numbers. And it's one of the best things about being a Zaxby's franchisee. Local advertising cooperatives make it possible for a handful of stores to generate the impact of a major national chain. Plus, our field marketing support helps you reach your community directly. There's even a local store marketing tool kit with hundreds of marketing packages to get the word out.