improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . october 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . october 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message for the animatronic gorilla see aaron fechter and the rock afire explosion . fatz industry casual dining restaurants founded 1988 headquarters taylors south carolina united states number of locations 48 key people jim balis president and ceo website www.fatz.com fatz stylized fatz is a regional casual dining restaurant chain with locations in the southeastern united states . it is operated by cafe enterprises inc. with headquarters in taylors south carolina . 1 contents 1 history 2 menu 3 awards and recognition 4 community involvement 5 references 6 external links history edit the first fatz opened november 1988 in a converted peach shed in spartanburg south carolina ; until 2011 it was known as fatz cafe . 2 the chain avoids locations in large metropolitan areas and as of 2011 the chain has 48 locations in south carolina north carolina georgia tennessee and virginia . 2 menu edit the main menu features chicken pasta steaks ribs and seafood . the menu also includes salads soups sandwiches and burgers . specialty entrees are both traditional and new american food . 3 the chain uses trans fat free canola oil for frying citation needed and can accommodate special dietary needs . 3 not in citation given awards and recognition edit in 2004 fatz was ranked 316 on the restaurants & institutions magazine s top 400 list of restaurant chains in the united states . 3 in 2010 bruce dressler operating partner of fatz irmo was recognized by the sc hospitality association as one of the stars of south carolina s hospitality industry earning the restaurant manager of the year award . 4 community involvement edit fatz sponsors the clemson tigers the south carolina gamecocks and the georgia bulldogs . fatz in shelby north carolina sponsors gardner webb runnin bulldogs club hospitality area during all home football and men s basketball games . besides contribution from the chain to the communities in which the company operates individual location operations also contribute to local causes . 5 6 references edit fatz says rebranding paying off nation s restaurant news a b fatz restaurantnews.com . restaurantnews.com . retrieved 2012 06 19 . a b c fatz cafe foodservice equipment and supplies . e ditionsbyfry.com . retrieved 2012 06 19 . fatz cafe 2010 stars of south carolina s hospitality industry . schospitality.org . retrieved 2012 06 19 . bill fox 2012 02 15 . upstate based restaurant chain raises over 1 million for local communities the greenville news . data.greenvilleonline.com . retrieved 2012 06 19 . foodservice equipment and supplies . e ditionsbyfry.com . retrieved 2012 06 19 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title fatz & oldid 703496216 categories companies based in south carolinaregional restaurant chains in the united statesrestaurants established in 19881988 establishments in the united stateshidden categories wikipedia articles with possible conflicts of interest from october 2012articles with a promotional tone from october 2012all articles with a promotional toneall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from october 2012all articles with failed verificationarticles with failed verification from october 2012 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 5 february 2016 at 21 47 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view