Wingstop Inc. is an American international chain of restaurants that primarily sells buffalo wings. Wingstop locations are decorated with a 1930s and 1940s pre-jet aviation theme. The restaurant chain was founded in 1994 in

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located within Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Collin County, Texas, Collin and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a ...

, and began offering

franchises Franchise may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Media franchise, a collection of related creative works, such as films, video games, books, etc., particularly in North American usage * "Franchise" (short story), a 1955 short story ...

in 1997. As of 2025, Wingstop had over 2,500 restaurants worldwide. The chain is headquartered in Addison, Texas. In 2003, the chain was acquired by Gemini Investors, which sold it to Roark Capital Group in 2010. Wingstop went

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

in 2015.

History

Wingstop was founded in 1994 in

by Antonio Swad and Bernadette Fiaschetti. The first franchised location opened in 1997, and by 2002, the brand claimed to have served two million wings. In 2005, Wingstop began serving lunch, and in 2009 it began selling a boneless product. Between 2014 and 2016, Wingstop was the third-fastest-growing restaurant chain in the US as measured by both system-wide sales and unit growth, according to

Nation's Restaurant News ''Nation's Restaurant News'' (''NRN'') is an American trade publication, founded in 1967. NRN covers the foodservice industry, including restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Me ...

. In 2015, Wingstop went public at an initial public offering price of $19 per share. That year, their profits more than doubled. In 2019, Wingstop began using the tagline ''Where Flavor Gets Its Wings''. The next year, Wingstop became available for delivery in Dallas, Texas through DoorDash As of 2019, the Wingstop Team Member Foundation acted as an employee-funded nonprofit that gave money to other employees experiencing financial hardship due to an emergency. On June 21, 2021, WingStop announced a digital-only restaurant called ThighStop, which sells chicken thighs instead of wings. The company cited cost-saving measures as the reason for the change.

International operations

Wingstop opened its first international restaurant in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 2010. In 2021, Wingstop made an agreement with JPK Capital to develop 100 Wingstop locations in Canada. The first restaurant in Canada opened in June 2022. The first Wingstop in Australia opened on May 17, 2025.

References

External links

* {{Fast-food chains of the United States 1994 establishments in Texas 2003 mergers and acquisitions 2010 mergers and acquisitions 2015 initial public offerings Chicken chains of the United States Companies based in Richardson, Texas Companies in the S&P 400 Companies listed on the Nasdaq Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food poultry restaurants Fast-food franchises Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1994 Restaurants in Texas Theme restaurants Virtual restaurant American companies established in 1994

History

International operations

Menu

See also

References

External links