Zaxbys, a Southern fast food chain known for chicken, is heading north to the Philadelphia region in 2025 — and the expansion announcement comes about a year after the company mocked the city with its attempt at the cheesesteak.
Ten Zaxbys restaurants are planned for Pennsylvania, particularly in the Southeast, and six locations are planned for New Jersey, the Georgia-based franchise announced last week. Zaxbys said it will begin infiltrating the region next year.
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The locations near Philadelphia will open over the next five years, with the first two slated for 2025. In South Jersey, two restaurants will open in the summer of 2025. The exact locations have not yet been announced.
Zaxbys — not to be confused with the Philly-based coffee company Saxbys — is known for its "Chicken Fingerz," "Zalads," wings and signature sauces. It also serves sandwiches, including a chicken cheesesteak concoction that was offered for a limited time last fall and came with a campaign that was seemingly designed to anger Philadelphians.
In September 2023, when the nearest Zaxbys was 169 miles away in Virginia, the fast food chain introduced the "Fried Chicken Philly." For their spin on the cheesesteak, Zaxbys ditched beef — and the name "cheesesteak" — and added fried chicken, garlic aioli, American cheese, grilled peppers and onions to a hoagie roll. They also launched a campaign with catchphrases that boasted "Just like the Philly you know and love, but good," and "Finally, the Philly done right," and plastered billboard advertisements in Philadelphia — where the sandwich was not even available … the audacity!
tag a Philadelphian who needs to see this pic.twitter.com/O6LiIpdCxT
— Zaxbys (@Zaxbys) September 20, 2023
To add insult to injury, a commercial for the Fried Chicken Philly starred Dolph Lundgren, who played "Rocky" villain Ivan Drago. The company also claimed it was considering dispatching a food truck to the city to allow residents the chance to sample the sandwich, but it's unclear if that ever came to fruition. Philly residents gave Zaxbys a piece of their mind during a series of TikTok interviews asking their thoughts on the sandwich.
what upsets Philadelphians more?
putting fried chicken on their sacred sandwich… or @Dolph_Lundgren eating it on sacred ground pic.twitter.com/GCSjNFFX5O— Zaxbys (@Zaxbys) October 11, 2023
"I feel like you guys are trying to make people hate you," a man in an Eagles hat said. A young Philadelphian added, "No one can f— with the original."
Following Zaxbys' (playful) affronts last year, it remains to be seen whether or not the people of the region will embrace the arrival of the fast food chain to our region. Perhaps they'll bring back the Fried Chicken Philly as an olive branch of sorts, so we can at least find out whether it was worth the trolling.
