Zaxby's Franchise

Zaxby's is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken fingers, boneless wings, sandwiches, salads, and signature dipping sauces. The concept was founded in 1990 in Statesboro, Georgia, near the Georgia Southern University campus, by childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley. The very first location operated under the name Zax before the brand became Zaxby's. The chain expanded beyond Georgia for the first time in 1994, opening a restaurant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and has since grown into a multi-state operation concentrated primarily across the American South.

Zaxby's has grown from a single Georgia storefront into a chain with more than 900 locations, the majority of which operate under franchise agreements rather than corporate ownership. This heavy reliance on franchisees signals a business model designed to be replicated by independent operators, backed by an established brand identity and menu that customers already recognize throughout the Southeast.

The company has also been actively pushing into new territory, with reported openings in the Baltimore, Maryland area and in Las Vegas. Zaxby's leadership has described an intention to expand beyond the Mississippi River and eventually reach the West Coast, noting that most restaurants remain concentrated in the Southeast, leaving considerable untapped territory for future development. For a franchisee, this points to a brand still in a growth phase rather than a saturated, mature system.

While Zaxby's has not published detailed financial qualification thresholds in the sources reviewed for this profile, the brand does maintain a dedicated Franchisee Profile section on its official site describing its ideal candidate. Generally, quick-service and fast-casual restaurant franchisors like Zaxby's look for candidates with restaurant or multi-unit management experience, sufficient liquid capital and net worth, a hands-on operational commitment, and the ability to hire and train restaurant staff to brand standards. Prospective franchisees should confirm exact requirements directly with the Zaxby's franchise development team.

Specific investment figures, including the initial franchise fee, total investment range, royalty percentage, and required square footage, were not available in the research used to build this profile. These figures are typically disclosed in the Zaxby's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) and on the official franchise pages at zaxbys.com/franchise. One confirmed financial detail is that Zaxby's offers a 20 percent discount on the initial franchise fee for qualified military veterans, reflecting a broader industry trend of veteran-focused franchise incentives.

Prospective candidates are strongly encouraged to request the current FDD directly from Zaxby's or speak with the brand's franchise development team to obtain verified figures on capital requirements, total investment, and ongoing royalty obligations before making any decisions.