LAURINBURG — Zaxby’s, the Athens, Georgia-based restaurant chain known for chicken fingers and wings, will open in Laurinburg on Monday.

Zaxby’s held employee trainings this week and put the finishing touches on the outside of the new restaurant located at the intersection of X-Way Road and U.S. 401 near the Walmart shopping center.

The Laurinburg restaurant expected to employ about 85 people.

“We’re excited to be here and I think there is a lot of interest from the public in Zaxby’s opening,” said Ben Fields, operating partner of MFAC, LLC, a group which operates franchise locations in Fayetteville, Hope Mills, Lumberton, Sanford, Harrisburg and Asheboro.

The franchise’s other business partners are Rod Pass, Zoe Pass, Chris Carnes and Danny Sangster.

“We looked at Laurinburg and this location for a long time and we think it is going to be a good fit,” said Rod Pass.

The fast-causal restaurant will offer drive-thru and eat-in options that range from salads to sandwiches. Seen by some as an alternative to fast food, Zaxby’s offers prepared-at-order items. One of its most popular items are its hand-breaded Chicken Fingerz and Traditional or Boneless Wings, smothered in a choice of nine sauces with names like Wimpy, Tongue Torch, Nuclear and Insane.

“We also do a lot of salads and one our favorite menu items is the Kickin’ Chicken sandwich, which consists of three chicken fingers, on Texas Toast with ranch and Tongue Torch sauces,” Pass said. “We sell a lot of those.”

Salads can come with chicken grilled, blacked or fried and range in price from $4.99 to $7.29. Zaxby’s also offers appetizers like fried white cheddar bites and spicy fried mushrooms and desserts.

The Laurinburg location plans to eventually hold a grand opening with the Laurinburg-Scotland County Chamber of Commerce, but has not set a date.

The restaurant is open Mondays through Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 10:30 a.m.to 11 p.m.; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Zaxby’s began its franchise in 1990 when the first store opened in Statesboro, Georgia by friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley, who still run the company today.

Last year, Zaxby’s was the No. 9 fastest-growing chain in the Nation’s Restaurant News Top 100 list. Entrepreneur magazine ranked Zaxby’s as one of the fastest-growing franchises and as a Top 500 franchise. In Technomic’s Consumers’ Choice Awards, Zaxby’s was named the Most Craveable fast casual restaurant chain in 2014;and as the chain with the Most Unique Items You Can’t Get Elsewhere in 2015.

Zaxby’s operates more than 700 locations in 16 states and is headquartered in Athens, Georgia.

Scott Witten photo Zaxby’s business partners from left, Rod Pass, Chris Carnes and Ben Fields in the dining room of the new restuarant that will open on Monday.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_1A_zax_IMG_0104_cmyk.jpgScott Witten photo Zaxby’s business partners from left, Rod Pass, Chris Carnes and Ben Fields in the dining room of the new restuarant that will open on Monday.

https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_zaxby_cmyk.jpg
Chain ‘excited’ about Laurinburg

By Scott Witten

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Reach Scott Witten at 910-506-3023