Po' Folks (later restyled as PoFolks) is an American family restaurant chain founded in 1975 in

Anderson, South Carolina Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 28,106 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 75,702. It is one of the prin ...

. Between 1982 and 1988, Po' Folks was operated by the fast food chain

Krystal Krystal may refer to: People * Krystal Ann Simpson (born 1982), American poet, fashion blogger, DJ, reality television personality, and musician * Krystal Ball (born 1981), American political commentator * Krystal Barter, Australian activ ...

History

Betty K Hare opened the first Po' Folks in 1975 in

. The restaurant was named after the 1961 hit single by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer Bill Anderson. Although Anderson initially planned to file a lawsuit against the chain for using the name, he later sold the rights to the chain and served as its spokesperson. He and

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

also acquired franchise rights to a location in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

in 1983. Anderson's country-music themed

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

on TNN, ''

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

'', was sponsored by the restaurant.

acquired Po' Folks in 1982 and continued to expand it. By 1984, the chain had 102 restaurants in 17 states. Eric A. Holm (now with Golden Corral) was director of construction and accused of taking bribes for favorable construction deals. Krystal later merged Po' Folks with DavCo, a division of the company that franchised

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...

restaurants. In 1988, Po' Folks filed for bankruptcy. As a result, the Po' Folks restaurants were sold, and the remaining assets continued to operate as DavCo. As of November 2022, there are 5 locations remaining in Florida. Callaway, Lynn Haven, Niceville, Pensacola and St. Petersburg.

References

External links

*
PoFolks customer reviews on TripAdvisor
{{Bill Anderson Defunct restaurant chains in the United States Defunct companies based in South Carolina Restaurants established in 1975 Restaurants disestablished in 1988 1975 establishments in South Carolina 1988 disestablishments in South Carolina