Texas has a lot of cultural pull when it comes to American food, but you might not have realized one of your favorite chains is from there. While the Lone Star State is best known as the home of Tex-Mex cuisine (which is different from Mexican cuisine) and great barbecue, quite a few chains making different types of food have started there. The two Texas-born chains that might be most associated with the state are Tex-Mex mainstay, Chili’s, and the state’s homegrown burger champion, Whataburger. However, Texas also gave rise to the sandwich chain Schlotzsky’s and Church’s Chicken. And yet even those big names can’t compete with what is not only Texas’ biggest contribution to American chain dining, but one of the hottest chains in the country: Wingstop.
That’s right, America’s favorite wing chain was founded in Garland, Texas in 1994, and has gone on to blow its competition out of the water. Wingstop has over 2,600 locations worldwide, mostly in the United States. As a takeout oriented business, Wingstop has grown quickly through the process of franchising. The company opened its first franchise location in 1997, only three years after founding, and by the end of 2024 more than 2,150 of its 2,200-plus U.S. locations were franchises according to the QSR report. Wingstop’s success is particularly impressive given the state of the industry, as the chain has soared even as consumers pull back on spending over inflation pressures. This has been credited to Wingstop’s value for its quality, and its embrace of technology and social media.
Read more: 15 Fast Food Chicken Wings, Ranked Worst To Best
Wingstop’s Incredible Growth
Wingstop wings – Everything You Need/Shutterstock
It may not have the hype of Chick-fil-A or Raising Cane’s, but Wingstop has been on a growth journey over the last decade. Its 2,200-plus locations are more than double its footprint from just six years ago. In 2024 alone, it opened 349 new stores. It may not be chasing the exact same business model, but compared to Wingstop, rival Buffalo Wild Wings has only 1,360 locations in the U.S.
Wingstop is not just randomly throwing money at new locations either, as its growth has been driven primarily by consumer demand. Over the past few years same-store sales have grown by a whopping 40%, and its total sales jumped by more than 36% in 2024. It has now surpassed KFC to be the fourth-largest chicken chain by sales in the United States.
Customers may love Wingstop’s wide variety of wing flavors, but that’s not the only thing driving its surge in growth. The company has reportedly invested heavily in state-of-the-art kitchen technology. Its ordering system is employee-friendly so chefs can more easily prepare food, and it even has a predictive element that allows wings to be prepared ahead of surges in demand, which has cut wait times for food in half and led to big jumps in customer satisfaction. You may not have expected a wing spot to be on the cutting edge of restaurant technology, but Texas’ biggest chain success story has a lot of surprises up its sleeve.
Read the original article on Tasting Table.
