Fazoli's is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1988 and is now owned by FAT Brands. As of November 2021, there are 220 Fazoli's located nationwide. The restaurant chain specializes in Italian-American cuisine and dishes. History In 1988, the concept of the casual Italian-American dinner, Fazoli's, was set. Two years later, the Fazoli's system was established. Fazoli's started with five locations in the Lexington, Kentucky, area. Fazoli's was originally managed by Jerrico Inc. but later was put up for sale and sold to Duskin Co. Ltd so that Jerrico Inc. could focus on Long John Silver's. Duskin Co. Ltd later formed Seed Restaurant Group with the help of Entrepreneur Kuni Toyoda. Once Kuni Toyoda and Duskin Co. Ltd formed Seed Restaurant Group, this group began its ownership of the Fazoli's system. During the mid-1990s, the chain expanded rapidly. By 1992, it had grown to include 35 restaurants within Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida. This almost doubled in 1993 when Fazoli's added 25 more locations. During this time, the operations of Fazoli's increased from $500,000 per restaurant per year in total volume to $1 million per restaurant per year in total volume within five years. This rapid financial success made the expansion of Fazoli's easy and with the start-up cost ranging from $150,000 to $500,000 most locations were able to turn a profit within the first year of opening. In October 2006, Seed Restaurant Group sold the company to Sun Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. At the time of the sale, Fazoli's had a total of 319 locations, 179 of which were franchised, in 32 states. As part of the deal, Sun Capital replaced Toyoda with McDonald's veteran Robert Weissmueller as Fazoli's president and chief executive officer. In June 2008, Weissmueller retired and was replaced with Carl Howard. When Howard took over, the company was suffering from declining sales and massive store closing as a result of severe cost-cutting measures which were implemented by the previous management. The number of restaurants had been steadily declining after reaching a peak of 400 locations in 2004. In July 2008, a struggling franchisee in Arizona announced that it was closing all 13 of its Fazoli's restaurants in the state. In July 2015, Sun Capital Partners sold the chain to Sentinel Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. At the time of the sale, Fazoli's had 124 company-owned