Hardee’s

Hardee’s Restaurants is a quick-service restaurant chain known for its biscuits, chicken tenders and burgers as well as roast beef sandwiches. William Hardee founded the chain in Greenville, N.C., in 1960 and grew it to more than 200 locations by the end of the decade.

CKE Restaurant Holdings Inc., the parent company of Carl’s Jr. Restaurants, bought Hardee’s in 1997 and since then has alternated strategies between unifying the two brands — one with most of its restaurants in California and the West and the other mostly in the Southeast — and keeping them separate, highlighting their regional differences. As of 2021 CKE is keeping them separate, although they have one corporate chef and many of their limited-time offers are the same.

Lately CKE has been leveraging Hardee’s biscuits with the recent addition of a chicken biscuit and a burger biscuit.

Headquarters: Franklin, Tenn.

Segment: Quick Service

Restaurant Segment: LSR Burger

Number of U.S. Locations: 1,776

2020 Sales: $2.00 billion

Annual Growth:

Source: Datassential Firefly 500

CEO: Ned Lyerly

Parent Group: CKE Restaurant Holdings Inc.