The Old-School Chicken Finger Chain That Inspired Raising Cane's And Zaxby's

You're likely to find chicken fingers or chicken tenders on almost any fast food menu these days, but that wasn't always the case. Chains like Wendy's began with just burgers and fries, which became the focus of many fast food restaurants for a long time. Now, you've got a list of options for chicken that spans a mile long: Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's, Zaxby's, KFC, Popeyes, and so on — but before those became the big names in pop culture, there was a little restaurant named Guthrie's that helped inspire chicken-focused menus.

Guthrie's opened its first location in 1965, opening with a fairly standard menu of burgers and steak sandwiches, but switched to a chicken-only menu around 1982. This decision came years before restaurants like Raising Cane's and Zaxby's hit the scene, and is actually said to be the inspiration behind the two chains, as both founders worked at different Guthrie's locations prior to opening their respective restaurants (just one of the many things that Zaxby's and Raising Cane's have in common). The reason for the shift towards poultry came about after the Guthrie's team noticed that chicken products were accounting for more than half of the restaurant's sales, after only being added to the menu in 1978. The menu was then officially narrowed to just chicken fingers, a chicken finger sandwich, French fries, Texas toast, and coleslaw, allowing the chain to find its niche.

Hal Guthrie opened the first Guthrie's location in Haleyville, Alabama (contributing to the list of unique foods and drinks that originated in the state), and slowly expanded to five other locations through 1992. At the heart of the business was a focus on family, as it was Guthrie's mother and father who helped build the original A-frame drive-in restaurant and, eventually, Guthrie's own children who helped concoct the recipe for the now-famous dipping sauce. For over two decades, Guthrie's only served chicken items. The chain experimented with adding non-chicken items to the menu in the early 2000s, but ultimately decided to go back to its chicken-based roots. Today, the menu consists of items like chicken fingers, chicken finger sandwiches, fries, Texas toast, coleslaw, and the renowned dipping sauce.

Over 60 years since opening, Guthrie's is not slipping quietly into the past, even with a rise in competing chicken-based chains and a myriad of fried chicken restaurants in America. In 2021, the chain introduced drive-thru-only restaurants, which have been a major success and have inspired discussions about additional drive-thru-only models around the country. The company has also seen a rapid expansion in the last few years, going from around 40 locations at the start of 2021 to around 70 locations at the start of 2025. Guthrie's opened its first location in North Carolina towards the end of 2025 and has plans for even more expansion on the horizon.