Cook Out (restaurant)


Cook Out is an American privately owned fast food restaurant chain operating in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Maryland. Founded in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1989, the chain has since expanded and now has drive-thru restaurants in over 100 cities. The chain itself has grown in size with many locations now spread throughout Virginia. Their menu primarily features grilled hamburgers and cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, and North Carolina barbecue.

History

Cook Out was founded by Morris Reaves. He is currently the owner of the company, with his son, Jeremy Reaves, serving as the CEO. As of November 2019, there are 263 locations operating in ten states.
The company opened its first out-of-state store in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on July 30, 2010. Cook Out opened in Clemson and Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 2010. At the very end of 2011, Cook Out opened restaurants in Columbia, South Carolina; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Radford, Virginia. In March 2012, Cook Out opened its first location in Lynchburg, Virginia, and shortly thereafter in Harrisonburg, Virginia. 2013 saw new Cook Out locations in Georgia, and in 2014, there are plans to launch several more Georgia Cook Out locations. In 2016, Cook Out expanded into the state of Mississippi with stores in Oxford, Jackson, Hattiesburg, and Starkville, and the company's first Alabama location, in Tuscaloosa. Other locations in Alabama include Jacksonville, Auburn, Huntsville, Opelika, Troy, Mobile & Montgomery. A location will also be opening in Birmingham in late 2019. In 2018, Cook Out expanded its Virginia locations adding Collinsville, Virginia which opened in September 2019.
On April 5, 2020, Cook Out announced it opened its new restaurant concept Taco Roo's Tacos & Chicken in Wilmington, North Carolina. The new restaurant has the normal Cook Out menu and it also features a special menu that has a walking taco in a Doritos bag. Cook Out has plans to open more Taco Roo's restaurants.