Wingstop Opens First Southern California Location

Jim Deering, president of Wingstop Restaurants, Inc., one of the nation's fastest growing franchises, announced today that the company has opened its first southern California location in Long Beach on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

The Restaurant is located at 2000 Long Beach Blvd. in the Top Valu Markets shopping center (northeast intersection of Long Beach and 20th Street), and its hours of operation are from 4:00 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and from 11:00 a.m. to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays.

Anand Patel is the owner/operator of the new Wingstop.

"Basically, there's not many wing places here," said Patel. "When I tried this product in Dallas, I thought it would be something southern Californians would really love. I'm really looking forward to introducing the concept here."

There are four other Wingstop locations under construction, three of which are in the Los Angeles area, Jim Deering said.

"We also have locations in various stages of development and due to open the first part of '03 in Carson, Englewood, and Walnut," said Deering. "In northern California, we've opened in Stockton and have a location in the works for Modesto."

The Wingstop chain offers restaurants with a nostalgic, aviation-themed atmosphere where the sole focus is on chicken wings. Wingstop features eight unique wing flavors, including Original Hot, Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian Barbeque and Garlic Parmesan. The wings are always made-to-order and served steaming-hot. Wingstop also offers a variety of delicious sides, soft drinks, beers and wine coolers.

Restaurant veteran Antonio Swad founded Dallas-based Wingstop Restaurants, Inc. The company currently has 86 restaurants in operation with another 100 under development in 22 states. Entrepreneur magazine ranked Wingstop as one of the 30 fastest-growing Franchises in the nation for 2001, and Southern Methodist University ranked it the 13th fastest-growing, privately-held company in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.