Bojangles returns to Central Florida with Sanford location, breaks sales record

Sanford residents who gottawannaneedagettahavea Bojangles are in luck once more. The Carolina chicken chain is back open in Sanford after they beat a hasty retreat from the area several years ago.

The Sanford Bojangles opened on Aug 30 and quickly broke sales records for the company, similar to the crazed demand at Orlando’s first White Castle. That pressure will no doubt be eased a bit by time and the opening of further franchises in Kissimmee and Clermont as part of a planned re-entry into the market.

“This is the highest volume demand we’ve had in any of our locations,” operating partner Jeri Workman told the Orlando Sentinel. “We opened on a Tuesday. … Tuesday to Monday, we did a lot of money.”

Bojangles is stepping back into a market with significantly more chicken chains than the last time around. Guy Fieri’s Chicken Guy!, Nashville-style Dave’s Hot Chicken, Arkansas’ Slim Chickens and Louisiana’s Raising Cane’s are all opening or have opened restaurants in Orlando in the interim.

Still,  when you want a BoBerry biscuit there are precious few other places to turn.

This article appears in Sep 14-20, 2022.