Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Restaurants |
Genre | Quick service restaurant |
Founded | 1989 Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S. |
Founder | Morris Reaves |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Number of locations | 319+ |
Area served | , and Louisiana. |
Key people | Jeremy Reaves (CEO) |
Products | Hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, Chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches, quesadillas, wraps, cheese curds, Carolina-style barbecue, and milkshakes |
Revenue | US$125 million |
Owner | Morris Reaves |
Number of employees | 13,000 as of May 2021 [update] [1] |
Website | cookout |
Cook Out is a privately owned American fast-food restaurant chain operating in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1989, [2] the chain has since expanded and now has restaurants in over 100 cities. The chain itself has grown in size with many locations now spread throughout the Southeastern US. [3]
The standard format of the restaurant features two drive-thru lanes and a walk-up window, but no indoor seating. Some newer locations have an indoor dining room and counter service similar to a traditional fast-food restaurant, but most still only have drive-thru and walk-up service. The restaurant specializes in hamburgers, milkshakes, and North Carolina-style pork barbecue.
Morris Reaves founded Cook Out in 1989. [4] He is currently the owner of the company, with his son, Jeremy Reaves, serving as the CEO.
The first Cook Out location opened in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1989. Over 50 more locations opened in North Carolina before expanding out of the state. [5] As of November 2022, 326 locations are operating in ten states.
The company opened its first out-of-state store in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on July 30, 2010. [6] Cook Out opened in Clemson and Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 2010. At the end of 2011, Cook Out opened restaurants in Columbia, South Carolina; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Radford, Virginia. In March 2012, Cook Out opened its first location in Lynchburg, Virginia, and shortly thereafter in Harrisonburg, Virginia. [7] 2013 saw new Cook Out locations in Georgia, and in 2014, there were plans to launch several more Georgia locations. [8] In 2016, Cook Out expanded into the Mississippi with stores in Oxford, Jackson, Hattiesburg, and Starkville, and the company's first Alabama location, in Tuscaloosa. [9] Other locations in Alabama include Jacksonville (July 2017), [10] Auburn (December 2017), [11] Huntsville (January 2018), [12] Opelika (May 2018), Troy (June 2018), Mobile (December 2018), Montgomery (January 2019) and Birmingham (January 2021). In 2018, Cook Out expanded its Virginia locations in the Collinsville community of Martinsville, Virginia which opened in September 2019. [13] In November 2022, Cook Out opened a restaurant in Manassas Park, Virginia. In January 2024, Cookout opened a store in Newberry, South Carolina. [14] [15]
Their menu primarily features grilled hamburgers and cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, Chicken Nuggets, Chicken fingers, North Carolina barbecue [2] and quesadillas. [16] A signature to their menu is the Cook Out Tray, which features combinations of entrees, sides and a drink or milkshake. Another feature of Cook Out's menu [17] is their selection of more than 40 flavors of milkshakes. [18] A featured drink on their menu is Cheerwine, a local North Carolina cherry soda usually only served in North Carolina and surrounding states. [16]
Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960 in North Carolina.
Roy Rogers Franchise Company, LLC is a chain of fast food restaurants primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. The chain originated as the rebranding of the RoBee's House of Beef chain of Fort Wayne, Indiana, acquired by the Marriott Corporation in February 1968. However, Marriott first used the Roy Rogers Roast Beef name on conversions of the company's Junior Hot Shoppes in the Washington, D.C. area in April 1968, then the existing RoBee's stores. An aggressive nationwide franchising campaign was launched. At its peak, the chain included over 600 locations. The chain now has 37 locations in six states, either company owned or franchised.
Chick-fil-A, Inc. is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in College Park, Georgia, Chick-fil-A operates 3,059 restaurants across 48 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company also has operations in Canada, and previously had restaurants in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The restaurant has a breakfast menu, as well as a lunch and dinner menu. The chain also provides catering services.
U.S. Route 29 or U.S. Highway 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for 1,043.3 miles (1,679.0 km) from Pensacola, Florida, to Ellicott City, Maryland, just west of Baltimore, Maryland, in the Eastern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. The highway takes on an overall northeast–southwest direction, from its southern terminus at US 90 and US 98 in Pensacola to its northern terminus at Maryland Route 99 (MD 99) in Ellicott City.
Steak 'n Shake Operations, Inc., doing business as Steak 'n Shake, is an American casual restaurant chain concentrated primarily in the Midwestern United States with locations also in the South, Mid-Atlantic, Western United States, Europe, and the Middle East. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Biglari Holdings. As of 2018, 628 Steak 'n Shake restaurants were in operation; of those 414 were corporate-owned, and 214 franchised. The company has since attempted to convert to a fully franchised model.
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. It operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under the Cheesecake Factory brand and 7 under the Grand Lux Cafe brand, not including the number of restaurants operated under the North Italia nor any of Fox Restaurant Brands' names. The Cheesecake Factory also operates two bakery production facilities—in Calabasas, California, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina—and licenses two bakery-based menus for other foodservice operators under the Cheesecake Factory Bakery Cafe marque. Its cheesecakes and other baked goods can also be found in the cafes of many Barnes & Noble stores.
Captain Ds, LLC. is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in seafood and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The chain was founded as Mr. D's Seafood and Hamburgers by Raymond L. Danner Sr. on August 15, 1969, in Donelson, Tennessee. The chain is currently owned by private-equity firm Centre Partners. Captain D's has more than 500 locations in the United States.
Bojangles OpCo, LLC., doing business as Bojangles, is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants that specializes in Cajun-seasoned fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits and primarily serves the Southeastern United States. The company was founded in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1977 by Jack Fulk and Richard Thomas.
Shoney's is an American restaurant chain headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. As of April 2024, the company operates 58 locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Five Guys Enterprises, LLC is an American fast food chain focused on hamburgers, hot dogs, and french fries. It is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.
Shake Shack is an American fast casual restaurant chain based in New York City. It started out as a hot dog cart inside Madison Square Park in 2001, and its popularity steadily grew. In 2004, it received a permit to open a permanent kiosk within the park, expanding its menu from New York–style hot dogs to one with hamburgers, hot dogs, fries and its namesake milkshakes.
Jack's Family Restaurants, LP is an American fast food restaurant chain, headquartered and based in Birmingham. Restaurants feature sit-down dining, drive-thrus and takeout service. The menu features primarily burgers, fried chicken, breakfast and various other fast food items including french fries and soft drinks.
Golden Skillet is a fast-food chain that mainly sells fried chicken originating in Richmond, Virginia. The first Golden Skillet chicken was sold in 1963 at the downtown Richmond department store Thalhimer's. The fried chicken recipe was created by Clifton W. Guthrie, the original owner and founder of Golden Skillet.
Milo's Hamburgers, known colloquially simply as Milo's, is a regional fast food restaurant chain based in Alabama, United States, founded by Milo Carlton as Milo's Hamburger Shop in 1946. As of 2021, Milo's has 20 locations across Alabama. A signature menu item is a secret-recipe hamburger sauce, and Sweet Tea. One location in Tuscaloosa was destroyed in the EF4 tornado on April 27, 2011, and a new Milo's was recently constructed in a new location. The chains slogan is "Everybody goes to... Milo's"
Guthrie's is a fast casual, franchised restaurant chain headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States, best known for being the original chicken fingers restaurant. The first location was opened in Haleyville, in 1965 by Hal Guthrie. By 1978, the menu adapted to consist primarily of chicken fingers, signature sauce, french fries, coleslaw and Texas toast, becoming the first to largely center its menu on chicken fingers. Today, the chain has grown to include 48 stores across the United States with active plans to expand further.
Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries is a fast casual restaurant chain that operates primarily in the state of North Carolina and other neighboring states on the east coast of the United States. Founded by Kenney Moore as Andy's Cheesesteaks and Cheeseburgers, the first location opened in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1991. In 2012, seeking to expand beyond North Carolina, the company changed their name to Hwy 55 and opened their first out-of-state restaurant in May of that year. As of February, 2022, the chain has a total of 108 locations in the United States, primarily in North Carolina (81) and South Carolina (12), with 15 other locations in the states of Florida, Georgia, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The restaurant serves hamburgers, cheesesteaks, sandwiches, salads, hand-dipped ice cream and milkshakes.
Chicken Salad Chick is a fast casual restaurant chain and franchise of chicken salad restaurants based in Atlanta, Georgia. To date, the chain consists of over 300 franchise restaurants and stores in 21 different U.S. states.
Slim Chickens is an American fast-casual restaurant chain which specializes in chicken tenders, wings, sandwiches, salads, wraps, chicken and waffles, and other items. It was founded in 2003 by Greg Smart and Tom Gordon.
The Original Dinerant, or simply The Original, is a diner serving American cuisine in Portland, Oregon, United States. Owned by Sage Hospitality Resources, Guy Fieri visited the "modern" and "upscale" diner to film a 2016 episode of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The diner has hosted competitive eating contests and other special events. The Original has received a generally positive reception and is most known for its glazed doughnut sliders and alcoholic milkshakes. The restaurant's mezzanine level has an amusement arcade and bar called The Dinercade added in early 2019.
Dave's Hot Chicken is an American fast casual restaurant chain specializing in Nashville-style hot chicken.