SAN MARCOS, Texas — Tennessee-based Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken is set to open another location in the Austin area, with space leased in a former H-E-B in San Marcos.
According to the Austin Business Journal, the franchisee who brought the restaurant to Texas, Janet Hickerson, is behind the new outpost. Hickerson and her late husband opened the chain’s Downtown Austin location in 2014, followed by a location in Houston in 2018 and San Antonio in 2021.
The San Marcos location will be located at 110 E. Martin Luther King Drive, just blocks from the Hays County Courthouse and the town square, the ABJ reported. Hickerson hopes to have it open in June 2023.
Diners at Gus’s can enjoy Southern comfort food, such as fried chicken, mac and cheese, fried okra and coleslaw.
Hickerson and her late husband, Robert Bradley Blodgett, first tried Gus’s while growing up in Memphis. According to the ABJ, it was Blodgett’s idea to begin franchising – a dream Hickerson kept alive after his death in 2018.
Hickerson told the business journal she chose the San Marcos market for its growth.
Gus’s San Marcos will be housed in a 3,500-square-foot renovated former H-E-B, which is also home to other restaurants and retailers.
The lease will be for 10 years under landlord MLKSM LLC, which has links to Austin-based property investor Mark Shields.
Hickerson told the ABJ it costs between $800,000 and $1.2 million to open a Gus’s franchise.
To read the full report, visit the ABJ website.