A red-hot industry: A local restauranteur’s take on the quick serve restaurant trend and the hot chicken craze
By Stephanie Meador, posted Aug 11, 2026 on BizFayetteville.com
Chicken is the fastest-growing protein in U.S. fast food and has been for over a decade. With chicken wings being a fan-favorite for feeding large groups, snacking on during sporting events and adding some spice into your diet, it doesn’t seem like the hot chicken hype is going away anytime soon.
One local entrepreneur is hoping his carefully curated quick-service restaurant concept can deliver exactly what customers want.
Wing Company was founded in 2011 in Fayetteville, N.C. by Mark Bhatti. Bhatti and his wife enjoyed hosting people for dinners and cooking for them, and that passion for seeing people enjoy good food naturally led to an interest in owning a restaurant. Bhatti shared that he considered franchising with a few well-known brands, but ultimately decided he wanted to create his own restaurant.
The Wing Company brand now boasts eight locations across Cumberland, Robeson, Harnett and Hoke counties. Across all of the locations, the company employs around 200 people.
As trends in the restaurant industry shifted, Bhatti expanded his initial concept of Wing Company Sports Bar & Grill to include a new fast-casual version of the brand, Wing Co. Express.
Part of the shift towards fast-casual dining and less of a traditional full-service, sit-down restaurant was brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the restrictions placed on restaurants during that era. Even once restrictions were lifted, many people were no longer drawn to dine-in options.
The first Wing Co. Express location opened in downtown Fayetteville in March of 2026.
2026. This location is the first of the Wing Company’s new quick-serve concept.
“This is not something new. We early on identified that everybody eats chicken…how could you go wrong around a military town with hot wings and cold beer,” shared Bhatti.
Many national brands are capitalizing on the trend as well. Bhatti has studied the restaurant industry intensely, analyzing success stories like Dave’s Hot Chicken, Raising Cane’s and Wingstop, and continuing to perfect his own recipe and business model to meet the needs of consumers and set himself apart from competition.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘What are you going to do when Raising Cane’s and Dave’s Hot Chicken come?’Absolutely the same thing I’ve been doing. I’m not going to change anything. They’re going to come in and spend a bunch of money around public awareness around hot chicken, and then people will realize Wing Company has been doing it for 15 years already. So I’m not worried about them. I’m just happy that they have finally seen the potential here in Fayetteville as well,” shared Bhatti.
The Wing Co. Express menu features bone-in and boneless chicken wings, chicken tenders, chicken fingers and chicken sliders. The meat is fresh, never frozen. The chicken is available in 15 different flavors ranging in levels of spiciness, with plain offering a no-heat option to people with a more sensitive palate and 911 creeper reaper offering a challenging level of spice to those who are looking for intense heat. Between the two extremes are a variety of other flavors such as lemon pepper, sweet chili, spicy honey barbecue, Buffalo and more.
Something Bhatti shared that he has learned from the quick service restaurant trend is: “Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t try to have too many things for everybody…the bigger the menu, it’s harder to keep the quality consistent.”
Looking forward, Bhatti is preparing to open the second Wing Co. Express location in west Fayetteville near Seventy-First High School. That location is expected to open in September.
Bhatti hopes that he can help aspiring entrepreneurs and people just getting started in their careers find their path to success.
“That’s what wakes me up, to help the next struggling young either entrepreneur or person who’s starting in their career and kind of share my experiences. Most of my managers are sort of homegrown. Organically, they move up. The gentleman who’s running all of our kitchens right now, he started as a fryer with me at the first store, and here it is, 15 years later. He’s the director of operations for the back end of all the stores,” shared Bhatti. Bhatti is also working towards establishing the business as a franchise, opening the door to more regional growth and expansion throughout the state and eventually across the Southeast.
Bhatti has been working with a lawyer and a marketing company to prepare to offer licenses to franchisees.
“It’s very important for me to make sure that if a young entrepreneur or somebody who’s looking to retire…and they have the dream of owning their own business that we provide them with every possible tool,” shared Bhatti.
Bhatti shared that giving back to the community has been a core part of the business since its inception.
“Ever since we became a restaurant, whether it was in Pembroke or Hope Mills, we enjoyed doing fundraisers and stuff. Whether it was a little league or fundraiser for a family in need,” remarked Bhatti.
The team is working on deepening community roots through partnerships like their relationship with UNCP Athletics.
Additionally, another goal for the company is to open a location with a drive-through to further cater to the trend of convenience and quick service. Bhatti continues to monitor trends within the restaurant industry at both the local and national levels, and by analyzing patterns and taking note of what works, he aims to take Wing Co. to the next level while maintaining the quality and consistency the brand has been known for since 2011.
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