Business

Cook Out on U.S. 64 East before end of the year

Cook Out will soon be under construction.

By Bill Moss, Published: March 1, 2018

Those who thought Cook Out had pulled plans to open a restaurant in Hendersonville can breathe a sigh of relief.
The cheeseburger, barbecue and milkshake drive-thru specialist, another fast-growing purveyor in the highway interchange market, has pulled a permit for its store at 2548 Chimney Rock Highway next door to the Golden Corral and across from drive-in competitor Sonic.
The Lightning first reported the Cook Out lease of the property from Boyd L. “Bub” Hyder in December 2016. Fourteen months later, Mlb Construction Services is ready to start work. A car wash that occupied the property has already been cleared. The contractor plans a 4,000-square-foot building worth $1.4 million, according to a building permit.
Started in Greensboro in 1989, Cookout has more than 200 locations in the Carolinas and eight other states in the South. The privately held company is known for its “never frozen” burgers, chicken sandwiches and hotdogs grilled “outdoors style” and a menu of 40 milkshake flavors, including chocolate cherry, mocha, peach cobbler, fresh watermelon (in the summer), egg nog (in December), walnut, peanut butter banana and candy bar flavors. Unlike many of its competitors, Cook Out ranges beyond grilled burgers and hot dogs to offer barbecue sandwiches, BLTs, hushpuppies and chili cheese fries.
A Cook Out spokeswoman said it doesn’t take contractors long to put up the building. The Cook Out on U.S. 64 East will be open “definitely by the end of the year,” she said.