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Move over In-N-Out Burger, and step aside Whataburger. There’s a new burger chain coming to town. One with a similar cult-like following in different sectors of the United States. However, unlike the other two, this chain has a very small presence here in Arizona. In fact, there is just six spread across the entire state (five of which are in metro Phoenix). That number is about to grow by at least one.
Rally’s, a burger chain that also goes by the name of Checkers in many Southeastern states, is best known for its double drive-through design, where guests don’t stop and eat instead the restaurant, but simply pull on through. Rally’s first opened in Louisville, Kentucky back in 1985, while Checkers opened a year later in Mobile, Alabama. Eventually, the two restaurants went on to merge, and now the two restaurants have the entirely same menu, same design, and nearly the same logo, outside of the name presented to customers.
It wasn’t long ago that Rally’s had almost no presence at all in Arizona. Having opened its fifth statewide location just a few months ago, the burger chain has set its sights on metro Phoenix and now wants to begin expanding more rapidly around the Valley. In fact, while there are plans to open at least two new Rally’s in metro Phoenix over the course of 2022, there is a whopping total of 13 other restaurants in the works that will open around the region, spreading everywhere from Queen Creek to Goodyear. The target number is to have at least 15 Rally’s restaurants open and sling burgers via drive-through windows by the end of 2025. So for guests who haven’t yet tried a Rally’s burger yet, there will be plenty of opportunities to do so in the near future.
The first of the two new restaurants has an August 9 target opening date and will be located at 1935 West Northern Avenue. Another restaurant will come on its heels, opening at 7890 West Thomas Road in West Phoenix across the street from the new Valleywise Health Community Health Center by the end of the month.
For guests who are new to Rally’s and Checkers, the menu includes the Big Buford burger, the Triple Big Buford, the Triple Smoky BBQ Bacon Buford, the Triple Baconzilla, plus a number of hot dogs, chicken wings, french fries, and other sides, all available via the drive-through window.
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