Industry Fast Casual Number of locations 27 & growing. Founded 1965 | Founder Hal Guthrie Website guthrieschicken.com Type Restaurant | |
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Products Chicken fingers, French fries, Coleslaw, Texas toast, Signature Sauce Headquarters Birmingham, Alabama, United States | ||
Guthrie's is a fast casual franchised restaurant chain headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The first restaurant was opened in Haleyville, in 1965 by Hal Guthrie. By 1978 the menu would consist primarily of chicken fingers, signature sauce, french fries, coleslaw and Texas toast, the first to largely center its menu on chicken fingers. Today the chain has grown to include 26 locations across 6 states with plans to expand further.
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History
The original Guthrie's was opened in Haleyville, Alabama in 1965 by Hal Guthrie. The restaurant originally served a full menu of Southern food, but in 1978 it was changed to focus primarily on chicken fingers. This switch resulted in Guthrie's becoming the first restaurant to have a menu largely center on chicken fingers. By 1982, a second location would open in Auburn and a third in Athens, Georgia by 1984. By 1997, eight locations were open and all were under the ownership of the Guthrie family.
The initial stores were constructed adjacent to major universities: Auburn University, University of Georgia, University of Alabama, and Florida State University. Expansion outside of college towns did not commence until the opening of the Gardendale location in 1997. By 2005, the 26 restaurants in the chain were all under the ownership of the Guthrie family. In April 2005 it was announced that the company was looking to expand further out of Alabama into Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi and that they were also looking to franchise the brand for the first time. By 2015 the restaurant expanded into Kentucky.