Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken is currently in the process of launching two new locations in the greater Phoenix region; one at 4523 N 16th St. that’s due to open February 2023, and another in the former Ahwatukee Keegan’s Grill at 4723 E Ray Rd that’s slated to start serving customers in April 2023, according to owner Wendy McCrory.
“We’ve had such a great response at our Van Buren and Mesa locations, that we’re really excited to ensure that we can serve more people out in the Phoenix area,” McCrory tells What Now Phoenix. “It’s been a great market for us, we thoroughly enjoy it, the city’s been phenomenal, and we can’t wait to open up more stores.”
McCrory not only opened the first Gus’s franchise in Memphis in 2001, but she went on to purchase the entire company 13 years later. And despite the fact that most locations are franchise-operated, McCrory says that “All the stores in Phoenix, it’s kind of like my – dare I say – my love project, if you will. I just love the city out there and I save that for myself to open up stores.”
Needless to say, with McCrory at the helm, Gus’s has gone on to achieve substantial growth, with a portfolio that includes some 35 restaurants in about as many cities, while earning plenty of accolades along the way such as Best of Memphis 2016, 75 Best Fried Chicken Places in America 2018, Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the US for 2016: Fast Track to a Food Coma, and most recently, the 2022 Winner of the Best Fried Chicken Contest at the National Fried Chicken Festival.
Perhaps more impressively, however, in 2021 McCrory herself was named a Small Business Executive of the Year by the Memphis Business Journal.
In an interview at the time, McCrory said of the brand she came to lead: “While not only being the best fried chicken I ever had, it also had an inclusive and down-to-earth atmosphere. These ingredients created a recipe that would allow me to serve my community for decades to come.”
She went on to say, “I would be remiss to not mention my team. I am working with people who started with me almost 20 years ago. There is no question that they are the heart and soul of the brand,” adding, “Of course, it helps to sell what is arguably the best fried chicken on the planet.”
