Zaxby's restaurant franchise has a good ol' time history of two childhood buddies that opened a restaurant to create chicken fingers and wings that were indescribably good. Since day one, Zaxby's has blended the staples of fresh and delicious food with a mission to give back to the community, including their valued employees and customers.
With the celebration of a successful nine years on Jan. 6, the Bentonville location will offer the first 100 customers free Zaxby's for a year.
"We are celebrating nine years of business by giving a gift to our loyal Zaxby's fanatics. The first 100 customers on Jan. 6 will receive a "deck of cards" that will give them free Zaxby's every single week for an entire year," marketing coordinator of the Northwest Arkansas stores Brittney Hillegass said.
"We have never done anything like this before," she added.
Giving back to customers is not a novel idea at Zaxby's, however.
Programs like the Kidz Club and Zaxby's Club include sending a postcard or text message for a free birthday treat.
Weekly promotions include 99-cent Nibblerz each Tuesday; four Meal Dealz and six cookies for $20 served 5-8 p.m. each Wednesday; and 99-cent kids meals with purchase of a chicken-finger plate or Wings & Things item 3-8 p.m. each Thursday.
Zaxby's dedication to giving back expands from involvement in community fundraisers to the guest-appreciation, semi-annual Repeat Days.
The premise for the Repeat Days is simple: Customers that visit Zaxby's on Repeat Days can bring who receipt back to the same store the following month and get the same order free. Repeat Days receipts are good for a one-time redemption at the same location for the exact same order that was purchased the previous month.
"Our customers absolutely love it," Hillegass said.
Another customer-driven perk is the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine at the each of the Zaxby's locations. The self-serve beverage machine allows customers to blend more than 100 flavor concoctions. Beyond the popular soda staples, there is also Seagram's sparkling seltzer water, Dasani Sensations, Powerade, Fanta, Mello Yello, Hi-C and Minute Maid.
The menu at Zaxby's highlights the originating recipes of chicken wings and tenders, and also offers salads, sandwiches, appetizers, cookies and milkshakes.
Zaxby's defies the notion that diners can't have their food both fresh and fast. Each order is made fresh and can be customized to the customer's preference.
Each piece of chicken is prepared on site with a house marinade, then breaded and cooked to order.
The thick-cut chicken tenders can be tucked between slices of Texas toast or roughly chopped and layered atop salads. The wings are available both traditional and boneless. One of the most popular menu items, Wings & Things, offers both wings and chicken fingers served with crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast, celery, ranch dressing and Zax sauce.
Zaxby's offers nine sauces in all -- Wimpy, Tongue Torch, Nuclear, Insane, Original, barbecue, teriyaki, hot honey mustard and sweet and spicy. Each is made from an original Zaxby's recipe, and in the early days, all sauces were made right in the store. As business grew, the same recipes were kept, but now the concoctions are bottled and shipped to each store.
Zaxby's also has gained notoriety for its freshly prepared salads. "Zalad" varieties include Caesar, bleu cheese with Buffalo Fingerz or blackened chicken, and House Zalad.
Side items and "Zappetizers" include onion rings, coleslaw, spicy fried mushrooms, fried white cheddar bites and thin-sliced fried potatoes.
Menu items are prepared to order, and each of the five Zaxby's locations in Northwest Arkansas has a drive-thru window for added convenience. Customers can place their order at the inside counter, phone in the order to pick-up, order at the drive-thru speaker or or online at zaxbys.com.
Online ordering is offered for regular menu items, as well as the cater-style options of Travel Paks, Zax Pax Boxed Lunches and Party Platterz.
Party-sized portions of the House Zalad, chicken salad, Nibblerz, Chicken Salad Nibblerz, sides and desserts are also available.
"Whether you're looking for individual meals or buffet-style catering, Zaxby's has it covered. We try to make these orders as simple as possible and if we have advanced notice, we will even deliver the order for no extra charge," Hillegass said.
These programs and services have allowed Zaxby's to expand to 17 states with additional franchising opportunities on the horizon.
The use of social media outlets helps Zaxby's to connect to the community through YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. There is a corporate account for each of these, as well as individual pages on Facebook for each location in Northwest Arkansas. The national corporate Facebook page recently crossed the milestone of 1 million likes.
NAN Dining Guide Cover on 01/02/2015