Spartanburg has a new fried chicken option on East Main Street, as Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken has opened its second South Carolina restaurant in the city, joining an existing location in Rock Hill. The new spot sits at 2161 E. Main St., near the Walmart, and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The Ohio-based chain's arrival in Spartanburg was first reported by the Post and Courier, which noted that the restaurant's other Palmetto State location has been running in Rock Hill. That Rock Hill restaurant was originally established in the late 1970s before Harris Mullis reopened it in 2010, according to a release distributed via PR Newswire. Mullis, the same longtime franchisee, now owns and operates the new Spartanburg location as well.
A Grand Opening With Free Chicken on the Line
Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken said the Spartanburg restaurant would open its doors on Monday, October 26, with an official grand-opening celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m., per a company announcement carried by EIN Presswire. The first 50 guests in line that morning are set to receive a free two-piece Breast Strip meal, the same announcement states. It's a modest but classic grand-opening hook for a chain that has been building its footprint well beyond its Midwestern roots.
The chain traces its history back to 1966, when its namesake, Lee Cummings, and his business partner, Harold Omer, opened Harold's Take Home restaurant in Lima, Ohio, according to the Post and Courier's account. Cummings first served his now-famous chicken recipe out of that original restaurant, and within a year new locations had opened in Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio, along with Kalamazoo, Michigan, according to the company's own franchise history.
Where the Chain Stands Today
Most Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken locations remain concentrated in Ohio, Kentucky and Missouri, with other restaurants scattered throughout Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, the Post and Courier reported. The chain has just one location each in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia, while Florida has three restaurants. Company materials have described the chain's overall size differently depending on the release: an announcement carried by EIN News put the total at 130 restaurants across the U.S., while the earlier PR Newswire release put the figure at more than 130 locations spread across 12 U.S. states and Canada.
Beyond the ribbon-cutting, Mullis has bigger plans for the brand in the Palmetto State. He intends to expand Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken's South Carolina presence with six additional locations, according to Restaurant News. The same report describes the chain's longtime emphasis on fresh, never-frozen chicken and homestyle sides as central to its appeal as it grows into new markets.
For now, Spartanburg diners curious about health inspection scores for any local restaurant, including the new Lee's location, can check the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's SC Food Grades tool, which publishes risk-based inspection results for facilities permitted under state food-safety regulations.
