Wing Zone Staging Grand Opening On Saturday July 16th to Unveil The Nation’s First Wing Restaurant to Offer Drive-Thru Service

Entrepreneurs and franchise owners Michael Hornsteiner and Jeff Reddick will soon be making history for Wing Zone, a wing restaurant concept based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Hornsteiner and Reddick will become the franchise owners of Wing Zone’s first drive-thru location. Not only is the drive-thru location a first for the company but it is also a first in the wing food service industry.

In addition to the new location adding to the brand’s presence in the Atlanta area, it also presents a milestone for Wing Zone. Hornsteiner and Reddick are enthusiastic to have the opportunity to be the first to own a drive through model that has the possibility to be reproduced all over the country.

Atlanta residents will have their chance to prove their Flavorholic status at the grand opening located at 518 Atlanta Road, Cumming, GA on July 16. The first 25 lucky customers in line will be awarded with free wings for a year. Wing Zone expects hundreds of people to camp out for the 11am Grand Opening. During that day, Flavorholics can participate in Wing Zone’s Nuclear Challenge and win prizes all day long.

“This is our chance to be trailblazers as franchisees,” said Reddick. “It’s an honor; it’s exciting and we know Atlanta residents are going to go crazy over this very first drive thru wing concept. On July 16, we’re celebrating with a bang and Wing Zone Flavorholics are going to get a first glimpse into a brand new way to order wings.”

The wing drive-thru concept was an idea that Wing Zone has been researching for the past several years since consumers are only getting busier and wanting their food faster. Finally the idea will make its debut.

“If every other food can be purchased through a drive thru, we thought why not wings?” said Matt Friedman, Founder and CEO of Wing Zone. “This is the time for innovation, not retraction and we are pushing for industry firsts in everything we do. Certainly the drive thru concept is an example of that. Jeff and Michael are the perfect franchise partner duo to fulfill our drive thru footprint.”

Wing Zone featured in Bellmore Post

Wing Zone was recently featured in an article called “Winging It: Bellmore, East Meadow Conquered by Wing Zone” in the Bellmore Patch. The article features Wing Zone Bellmore co-owner, Chris Licht where he discusses initially opening the location in East Meadow with his father in November 2010. After graduating college, Licht took over the East Meadow location and eventually expanded into Bellmore with the help of co-owner Matt Dolan. The article continues on to discuss the fast casual aspect to Wing Zone, rather than being a fast food concept. Click here to view the full article!

Winging it: Bellmore, East Meadow Conquered by Wing Zone
By Matthew Hogan

When Wing Zone opened in East Meadow in October of 2004, part-owner Matt Licht knew he had something special on his hands.

When Licht, along with co-owner Matt Dolan, opened a second “takeout-delivery restaurant” in Bellmore back in November of 2010, he realized it was something completely different.

(Read More)

Wing Zone featured in NRN

In observance of Memorial Day, Nation’s Restaurant News reporter Mark Brandau spoke to Wing Zone franchisee and military veteran Todd Waldemar to learn how his military experience has helped him become a successful Wing Zone franchisee. “The military really drills into you the philosophy that you can do,” said Waldemar “…I’m looking at it (restaurant ownership) in terms of knowing I can do it.” Matt Freidman, CEO of Wing Zone, also discussed why military vets make great franchisees and Wing Zone’s recent alignment with AAFES to bring more Wing Zone locations to military bases across the U.S. Click here to view the article in its entirety!

Taking military training to restaurant leadership
By Mark Brandau

Todd Waldemar returned from Iraq in 2006 and knew that he had the experience and leadership capabilities as a Marine to go into business for himself. He just didn’t know everything about one industry to get started.

But researching several franchised businesses before enlisting with Wing Zone gave him the confidence to know that the discipline instilled in him by the Marine Corps would allow him to leverage platforms already developed by the franchisor. Today he franchises four units of the fast-casual chain.

(Read More)