In the quick-service restaurant world, 2025 may go down as “the year of the chicken tender,” but Zaxbys started serving chicken fingers and sauce way back in 1990, six years before Raising Cane’s and decades earlier than Wendy’s just-launched “Tendys.”
Call them chicken fingers, tenders or strips, this breaded white meat chicken piece is now on 25% of menus in Technomic’s Ignite database of over 8,500 operators.
So how does fast-casual Zaxbys stand out from the crowd?
“Our chicken fingers come out hot and fresh with a proprietary seasoning and coating, but what really is the game changer is the sauce,” said Patrick Schwing, chief marketing & strategy officer of the Atlanta-based chain. There are 12 sauces in total, with original Zax sauce the most popular.
But with sauce competition getting fiercer with every new chicken tender or wing to hit the market, Zaxbys had to build more awareness about its DNA. “We wanted our sauce equity to be more prominent, and we made that very visible by restructuring the menu,” said Schwing. “Famous fingers and sauces is our core, so we made that very visible.”
Zaxby's customers can dip into a dozen core sauces with different flavor profiles.
The first step was building an architecture that made it easier to “shop.” Clear and legible print, brighter colors and craveable food photos give the menu a visual identity and make it more approachable and simpler to navigate. The chicken fingers and sauces were made very visible and easy to identify on the core menu.
“We realized that we had a great chicken brand with amazing sauces but we also needed to build out a few categories that we were deficient in, like sides and desserts,” said Schwing. So fried pickles, cheddar bites, cookies and other choices are now on the core menu, and Zaxby’s added back some salads featuring chicken, including the Asian Zensation Zalad and Cobb Zalad. “Salads were largely abandoned during COVID, but having a fresh salad is a competitive edge,” said Schwing. “And despite adding a few menu items, we kept the simplicity in place.”
The majority of Zaxbys nearly 1,000 locations use printed menus, but the chain is gradually transitioning to digital menu boards, with about 10% of the system already there. “That’s up from around only 10 to 15 restaurants last year, so we’re really making that investment,” he added.
To bring more attention to its sauces, Zaxby’s recently brought three varieties out from behind the restaurant to sell at retail. And the marketing team enlisted a “Sauce Boss” portrayed by Omar Epps as the spokesperson for its “Who’s Got the Sauce” campaign. It launched in April along with the limited-time Sauce Boss Box featuring chicken fingers, crinkle fries, Texas toast, cheddar bites, two cookies, a small drink and three sauces. “Even our french fries are specifically designed with deep ridges to capture a lot of sauce,” said Schwing.
The ZaxSeas Box pairs chicken fingers and shrimp for Zaxbys' version of surf 'n turf.
Limited-time offers have also become a bigger part of Zaxbys menu strategy. The fast casual introduced the ZaxSeas Box, its take on surf ‘n turf, to extend its breading system and sauces to another protein. The box features eight Southern fried shrimp with “Zaxtail Sauce” and three chicken fingers with Zax sauce, served with Texas toast, fries and a small drink for $12.99. It was a differentiator that boosted the business, reported Schwing.
An LTO of Chicken Finger Tacos returned this fall—another platform to show off the brand’s sauces. The menu offers three choices: Chipotle Ranch with Pico Tacos, Avocado Ranch BLT Tacos and the new Buffalo Blue Tacos drizzled with Buffalo Garlic Blaze sauce and Ranch. The chain has also jumped on the snacking trend with a Zappetizer Trio, a new late-night item that gives guests the chance to mix and match shareables, sides and sauces after 8 p.m. Choices include veggie egg rolls, cheddar bites, fried pickles, boneless wings and fried cheesecake bites.
“The way we approach innovation is through a structured process that tests what flavor profiles resonate best with consumers and should be added to our national menu. We innovate with intention using our core menu as the foundation; we don’t do it for novelty," said Schwing.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.