Guthrie's is a fast casual

franchised Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

restaurant chain headquartered in

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, 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, becoming the first to largely center its menu on chicken fingers. Today the chain has grown to include 36 stores across six states with plans to expand further.

History

The original Guthrie's was opened in

Haleyville, Alabama Haleyville is a city in Winston and Marion counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It incorporated on February 28, 1889. Most of the city is located in Winston County, with a small portion of the western limits entering Marion County. Haleyville w ...

, 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 centered on chicken fingers. By 1982, a second location would open in

and a third in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Georgia by 1984. By 1997, eight locations were open and all were under the ownership of the Guthrie family. Many early stores were constructed adjacent to major universities:

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. Expansion outside of

college town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...

s 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 had expanded into Kentucky, and, later, in 2022 Guthrie’s opened their first restaurant in Mississippi in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

near the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

. With the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

that began in mid-March 2020, most restaurants had to abandon eat-in dining. Drive-thru, take-away & pick-up service are the customer's options upon ordering. Although dine-in service resumed, masks are required.

References

External links

Guthrie's
website
Little Known Facts About Haleyville Alabama
Digital Alabama {{Establishments serving chicken Companies based in Birmingham, Alabama Restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama Economy of the Southeastern United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Restaurants established in 1965 Fast-food poultry restaurants 1965 establishments in Alabama

History

See also

References

External links