The Time Church's Chicken Tried To Get In The Burger Business

Church's Chicken is one of those places you can head to without batting an eyelid if you're looking for a bit of nostalgia and want to feast on comfort food. As per the brand's official website, Church's Chicken takes its roots seriously. A description on the site reads, "It's all about big portions, bold flavors, warm welcomes and saving plenty of room for seconds. Because we know that's how our guests like it – so that's the way we make it."

The brand's focus, is, of course, offering high-quality chicken to its customers but the restaurant does have other options for guests such as fries, biscuits, mashed potatoes, jalapeño poppers, fried okra, apple pie, cheesecake, corn, and more. But did you know that Church's Chicken once experimented with burgers, too? Unfortunately, things didn't quite go as planned, and the brand eventually ended up sticking to its signature dishes. Read on for the full lowdown.

Back in the 1970s, Church's Chicken founder George W. Church had an ambitious idea to offer burgers to his customers. He didn't simply introduce burgers as a new item; he launched a completely new chain of eateries that focused on burgers. Called G.W. Jrs, the brand expanded quickly after its inauguration in 1979. In fact, there were as many as 62 outlets by 1982. Not a long time at all, eh?

Sadly, things took a turn for the worse and all the outlets were shuttered in 1985. The reason? A conflict that couldn't be resolved among certain key players in the company led to G.W. Jrs completely shutting down. How tragic.

Fans haven't forgotten about the burger chain. In fact, there's a petition online to get Church's Chicken to relaunch G.W. Jrs. The description reads, "Everyone remembers those chili burgers, avocado burgers, chili dogs! With all of these fast food joints coming into town, why not bring back a great place?" What do you reckon?