Back Yard Burgers

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Back Yard Burgers

Type	Public
Founded	March 21, 1987 in Cleveland, Mississippi
Founder	Lattimore M. Michael
Headquarters	Nashville, Tennessee, USA
No. of locations	165
Area served	Southern and Midwestern United States
Industry	Restaurants
Products	Fast Food (including hamburgers, chicken products, french fries, milkshakes, salads, hot dogs, chili products, and baked potatoes)
Website	http://www.backyardburgers.com/

Back Yard Burgers is a regional franchise chain of quick serve restaurants. Its headquarters is located in Nashville, Tennessee. There are 172 Back Yard Burgers locations in 20 states throughout the Southern and Midwestern United States.

The chain distinguishes itself from other hamburger chains in that, among other things, its charbroiled hamburgers are made of 100% premium black angus beef. Consequently, the hamburger prices are generally slightly higher, although minimal advertisement strategy allows it to be somewhat competitive.^{[citation needed]} Backyard Burgers also offers salads, baked potatoes, or other side items as optional replacements for fries in its combo meals, and also offers a vegetarian garden burger.

The first Back Yard Burgers opened in Cleveland, Mississippi in 1987. Originally, the chain consisted of only drive-through restaurants with no dine-in facilities, but most locations have since added dine-in facilities. In recent years, the company has emphasized the quality of Black Angus beef.^{[citation needed]}

A co-branded Back Yard Burgers - Taco Bell restaurant in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Photo taken January 2003.

In 2002, Back Yard Burgers and Yum! Brands, Inc. temporarily entered into a development agreement whereby Yum! had an option to co-brand Back Yard Burgers' trademarks with its other restaurants' trademarks, including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC. In 2004, however, after Yum! chose not to exercise its option, the two companies abandoned this plan as Yum! began revitalization of the A&W brand of hamburgers and root beer.

In August of 2007 the then publicly-traded company was purchased for US$38 million by a group of investors led by C. Stephen Lynn, the former Chairman of Shoney's who also previously served as Sonic's Chief Executive Officer, and Reid M. Zeising of Cherokee Advisors.[1]