First Illinois Restaurant for Booming Chicken Chain

It looks like the landscape of chicken chains in Illinois is about to get much more interesting as one of the fastest-growing brands reportedly is about to announce its first-ever restaurant in the Land of Lincoln.

There's a very popular chicken brand that has the goal of having 1,000 restaurants in America. To achieve that strategy, they plan to open 50 new locations between now and the end of 2025. Now, Cheapism says that Zaxby's will soon be expanding to Illinois.

Here are the states where Zaxby's will reportedly open new restaurants in:

• Arizona
• Pennsylvania
• New York
• Maryland
• Illinois
• Ohio
• New Jersey

What does Zaxby's specialize in?

While Zaxby's has the chicken items you'd expect like fingers, nuggets and sandwiches, they also have some very original options like giant quesadillas filled with chicken fingers. The also have many salad menu items which they call "Zalads".

Where in Illinois will Zaxby's open first?

While no exact locations have been announced, it would be safe to say that Chicagoland could be a likely landing spot for this chicken chain, but southern Illinois is a possibility, too. There are already several Zaxby's in Missouri and on the Illinois border in Paducah, Kentucky so it remains to be seen where this popular chicken place will invade Illinois first.