By AUSTIN FULLER, ORLANDO SENTINEL | MAY 05, 2021 AT 11:17 AM
Bojangles plans to bring its fried chicken and biscuits back to Central Florida after closing its stores here about six years ago.
The chain is expected to open 15 locations in the Orlando area through an agreement with Chaac Foods Restaurants, which owns and operates 135 Pizza Huts along with several other restaurants, according to a news release.
Bojangles also will open 20 new restaurants in Georgia and five in Tennessee.
The agreement is billed as a “40 and 40 deal,” where Chaac will acquire 40 corporate-owned Bojangles restaurants and open 40 over the next seven years. Bojangles has about 760 restaurants in 14 states.
“We are thrilled to join forces with the accomplished team at Chaac Foods,” Bojangles chief development officer Jose Costa said in the release. “The company’s caliber of operations is well-recognized, and to have a partner with that pedigree invest in Bojangles speaks volumes about our brand and our growth plans for the future.”
Eight Bojangles in Central Florida, from Leesburg to St. Cloud, closed in 2015 when the local franchisee at the time decided to leave the business.
Orlando fans of the restaurant have still been in driving distance of the chicken chain, with 10 Florida locations including one in Ocala and one in St. Augustine.
The Bojangles announcement comes on the heels of White Castle returning to Florida with its first restaurant in the state since the 1960s. It opened Monday.
The White Castle near Walt Disney World set a single-day sales record for the chain. With long lines for their hamburger sliders, the company posted on Twitter Tuesday that customers must be in line by 10 p.m., even though 1 a.m. was the restaurant’s original closing time.
