The landmark agreement, signed with an experienced restaurant and real estate developer, is part of a wave of explosive Texas growth, including recent record-breaking restaurant openings
Frisco, TX (RestaurantNews.com) Layne’s Chicken Fingers, the Soon to be Famous™ Texas-based chicken finger franchise, has already established a booming – and consistently growing – presence across its home state. Now, with a monumental 44-unit franchise agreement signed with Eli Cohen, an experienced real estate and restaurant developer, Layne’s will expand across West Texas, San Antonio and the Coastal Bend. With this deal, the Texas market is now over 90% sold out, leaving room for expansion in just El Paso and a few smaller, single-unit territories.
“Sealing an over-40-unit deal in our home state is a major milestone for us as we approach 100% market saturation across Texas,” said CEO Garrett Reed. “And given our focus on real estate, the opportunity to pursue this expansion with a seasoned developer is even more meaningful.”
Cohen, an investor and entrepreneur, specifically built his platform, C5 Restaurants, to scale exceptional operators – not just replicate.
“When a franchisor has a strong culture and a clear playbook, it allows local teams like ours to focus on execution, leadership and community impact,” he said. “That combination of structure and autonomy is what makes the model work.”
As part of the agreement, Cohen’s team plans to open multiple new Layne’s locations in their home base of Lubbock next year – with two sites already confirmed and a potential third under consideration – marking an exciting first step in bringing Layne’s signature chicken fingers to markets across West Texas.
In addition to the deal with Cohen, which is the largest in the brand’s history, Layne’s has also recently executed a 12-unit deal with an experienced Wendy’s operator to develop the Rio Grande Valley, an eight-unit deal with a former water bottling entrepreneur to develop in The Big Country area in Texas, and a four-unit agreement with an experienced hospitality professional to grow the brand in South Fort Worth.
Layne’s momentum is also driven by recent successes with new restaurants. Year-to-date, the brand has opened new restaurants in Mission Bend, Tyler and Nacodoches, Texas, with the Nacodoches location breaking sales records in the first week. With five additional locations slated to open across Texas before the end of the year, Layne’s is not slowing down.
This wave of development has brought Layne’s to near-total saturation across its home state, a milestone that serves as a powerful proof of concept. With Texas almost entirely sold out, the brand is leveraging this momentum to drive continued growth not just in its home state but nationwide, carrying its focus on strategic growth and strong franchisee-franchisor partnerships into other key markets across the country.
About Layne’s Chicken Fingers
Founded in 1994 in College Station, the original location became a Texas A&M legend known for its small-town charm, friendly service, iconic chicken fingers and secret sauce. While opening corporate locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the leadership team focused on fine tuning its operations and starting to franchise.
Franchise opportunities range from $451,500 to $1,050,000 with different buildout options available. Learn more about franchising here.
Contact:
Julie Maw
Mainland
312-526-3996
jmaw@hellomainland.com
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