logo used since 2012 type restaurant chain founded 1991 1991 number of locations 156 worldwide 1 area served malaysia philippines china indonesia singapore bangladesh brunei cambodia dubai owner berjaya corporation 2 website kennyrogersroasters.com international krr.com.my malaysia kennys.com.ph philippines krr.com.bd bangladesh kennyrogersroastersme.com dubai kenny rogers roasters is a chain of chicken based restaurants . it was founded in 1991 by country musician kenny rogers and former kfc ceo john y. brown jr. who is a former governor of the u.s. state of kentucky . john y. brown jr. had also been an investor in kentucky fried chicken from 1964 to 1971 . country singer kenny rogers who founded the restaurant chain the menu of kenny rogers roasters was originally centered on wood fired rotisserie chicken . after closing all of its u.s. operations and a series of ownership changes kenny rogers roasters now operates principally in asia and is now part of malaysian conglomerate berjaya corporation berhad . the kenny rogers roasters brand comes under a worldwide franchise owned by kenny rogers roasters international corporation a subsidiary of roasters asia pacific cayman limited which itself is owned by berjaya corporation berhad . 3 contents 1 history 2 restaurant concept and menu 3 number of restaurants and countries of operation 4 in pop culture 5 awards and recognition 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit the first kenny rogers roasters restaurant in coral springs florida . in 1991 country singer songwriter kenny rogers ventured into the fast food business and co founded kenny rogers roasters with former kentucky governor john y. brown jr. kenny rogers roasters opened its first restaurant in coral springs florida in august 1991 . 4 by 1995 the menu had expanded to include turkey ribs and various side dishes . the chain eventually grew to over 350 restaurants including locations in canada the middle east and asia . the establishment became so well known an entire episode of seinfeld the chicken roaster was dedicated to kramer s love of kenny rogers roasters chicken which started after he and jerry seinfeld switched apartments due to a bright red neon light shining through kramer s window so he could not sleep . roasters found itself in competition with boston chicken later boston market and several smaller roasted chicken chains . 5 kentucky fried chicken also introduced a roasted chicken line of products called rotisserie gold to compete with roasters and boston chicken . 5 in december 1992 clucker s a smaller player in the roasted chicken market sued kenny rogers roasters claiming the chain had copied its recipes and menus . 6 the lawsuit continued until roasters purchased a majority stake in cluckers in august 1994 . 6 brown expanded it to a chain of more than 425 restaurants before selling his interest in the franchise to the malaysia based berjaya group in 1996 . 7 in 1996 it was reported that the chain was to open in the united kingdom having purchased locations in various cities . at this point annual sales topped 300 million . however the planned openings in britain never materialized . 8 a former kenny rogers roasters in saginaw michigan . the company entered chapter 11 bankruptcy in march 1998 9 and was bought by nathan s famous inc. for u.s. 1.25 million 10 11 us 2 million in more recent terms on april 1 1999 ; as a result of restructuring many locations closed . by 2000 the chain was down to 90 franchised restaurants 40 of those in the u.s. 10 nathan s famous divested itself of the chain in 2008 selling it to their asian franchiser roasters asia pacific cayman limited 12 a company which is owned by berjaya group of malaysia . 2 the last kenny rogers roasters operating in north america was located in the ontario mills mall in ontario california ; it closed on december 31 2011 . 13 the 2008 purchase agreement allowed for 14 nathan s famous and miami subs to continue selling kenny rogers roasters items in their restaurants . 15 nathan s continues to serve kenny rogers roasters items in select locations such as its flagship location on coney island 16 miami subs since sold off by nathan s no longer has a kenny rogers section on their menu . 17 a branch of kenny rogers roasters in sm city clark angeles city philippines . despite the chain s end in the united states kenny rogers roasters continues to flourish in asia under the ownership of berjaya group . an article published by time.com in 2011 18 reported that kenny rogers roasters had grown to almost 140 restaurants across asia with continued expansion in malaysia 19 the philippines 20 and more recently southern china . in malaysia the kenny rogers roasters chain of restaurants is developed and operated by berjaya roasters m sdn bhd. under a corporate exercise by berjaya corporation berhad in 2011 berjaya roasters m sdn bhd became a wholly owned subsidiary of berjaya food berhad . 21 in march 2011 berjaya food berhad listed on the main board of bursa malaysia . effectively berjaya food berhad is responsible for the establishment operation and expansion of kenny rogers roasters restaurants in malaysia . this includes the development of the kenny rogers roasters brand management of menu items and acting as central procurement agent for kenny rogers roasters restaurants across malaysia . kenny rogers roasters started operations in bangladesh in december 2012 with a restaurant in gulshan dhaka . the company also has an outlet in jamuna future park with other outlets on the way . restaurant concept and menu edit as a brand kenny rogers roasters advocates healthy eating as reflected in its brand tag line less fat ... less salt ... less calories . 22 kenny rogers roasters restaurants offer a casual dining environment with rotisserie roasted chicken as the main core item while complemented by a variety of hot and cold side dishes . these dishes include muffins jacket potatoes vegetable salads pastas soups desserts and beverages . fresh chickens are marinated with citrus herbs and spices . they are then rotated in a wood fired rotisserie allowing fat to escape while sealing in the roasted flavor . number of restaurants and countries of operation edit kenny rogers roasters berjaya times square kuala lumpur in its 2012 annual report berjaya corporation berhad reported that as at april 30 2012 kenny rogers roasters restaurants numbered 74 in malaysia and 8 in indonesia . 23 it was also mentioned that the countries in which roasters asia pacific hong kong . limited have operations include the united states malaysia singapore indonesia china and philippines . in addition roasters asia pacific had also been undergoing expansion in other international territories which include india and the middle east . in 2013 kenny rogers roasters opened its first outlet in brunei on january 2013 . 24 the second outlet for brunei was opened at tanjung bunut in june 2015 . in june 2014 kenny rogers opened in phnom penh cambodia in the aeon mall . it is its first location in cambodia . the kenny rogers roasters expansion to uae happened in june 2015 at al karama dubai . in pop culture edit in 1996 an episode of the american television sitcom seinfeld centered on the opening of a kenny rogers roasters location . the character kramer at first opposes the establishment due a gigantic neon light of chicken display causing issues in his apartment before he later became obsessed with the chicken with newman quoting the tagline it s the wood that makes it good . in the episode of archer baby shower lana confuses kenny loggins with kenny rogers . in the beastie boys song long burn the from hot sauce committee part 2 adrock raps i ll make you sick like a kenny rogers roaster . awards and recognition edit kenny rogers roasters has been a recipient of the following awards 22 american s choice award for the best chicken chain by restaurants and institutions magazine for three consecutive years 1996 1997 & 1998 . master franchisee of the year by the malaysian franchise association for two consecutive periods 2000 2001 and 2002 2003 and also for 2009 . the brandlaureate award for best brands in food & beverage in 2011 and 2012 . 25 roasters asia pacific also received the asia pacific international honesty enterprise keris award for 2006 and 2007 . 26 see also edit list of fast food chicken restaurants references edit branches . philippines kenny rogers roasters . retrieved 2009 11 03 . a b berjaya group berhad group structures food & beverages . berjaya group . september 8 2009 . archived from the original on august 12 2011 . retrieved 2009 11 03 . berjaya corporation berhad food & beverage division . berjaya.com . retrieved 2013 08 09 . about kenny rogers roasters the beginning . kenny rogers roasters international . retrieved 2013 08 13 . a b stouffer a high stakes game of chicken a b seline clucker s is first casualty in chicken wars hutt kenny rogers wants to take name with him from bankrupt roaster chain https www.thecaterer.com articles 24901 kenny rogers ready to roast in uk katherine hutt march 28 1998 . roasters lays an egg files for chapter 11 . south florida sun sentinel . sun sentinel.com . retrieved 2010 12 16 . a b frumkin paul march 27 2000 . nathan s is red hot for growth serves up diversity with new brands . nation s restaurant news . new york city lebhar friedman inc. retrieved 2009 11 03 . nathan s bid up for vote . south florida sun sentinel . sun sentinel.com . january 6 1999 . retrieved 2010 12 16 . kenny rogers roasters purchase agreement techagreements . retrieved on 2009 06 29 ontario mills big food gets much much smaller john plessel insidesocal.com december 31 2011 section 2.13 a of kenny rogers roasters purchase agreement techagreements . retrieved on 2009 06 29 section 2.13 c of kenny rogers roasters purchase agreement techagreements . retrieved on 2009 06 29 dinner at kenny rogers roasters on coney island . fast food nyc . retrieved on 2009 06 29 . miami subs grill menu via miami subs website . last updated november 18 2008 retrieved 2009 11 03 brenhouse hillary july 26 2011 . the secret second life of kenny rogers roasters in asia . time.com . kenny rogers roasters malaysia . krr.com.my . retrieved 2013 08 09 . kenny rogers roasters philippines . kennys.com.ph . retrieved 2010 06 14 . berjaya food berhad . berjaya.com . retrieved 2013 08 11 . a b kenny rogers roasters menu . berjaya roasters m sdn bhd. retrieved 2013 08 13 . berjaya corporation berhad 2012 annual report p24 25 . berjaya corporation berhad . retrieved 2013 08 20 . kenny rogers roasters opens outlet in giant rimba . the brunei times . march 15 2013 . retrieved 2013 09 11 . kenny rogers roasters brand laureate award . the brandlaureate awards . retrieved 2013 08 14 . roasters ap keris award . kenny rogers international . retrieved 2013 08 14 . external links edit kenny rogers roasters international kenny rogers roasters malaysia berjaya corporation berhad kenny rogers roasters philippines kenny s honey spicy v t e chicken based restaurant chains global chester s chicken cottage church s texas chicken dixy chicken kenny rogers roasters kfc nando s pollo campero popeyes southern fried chicken wienerwald regional africa chicken licken za chicken republic ng tastee fried chicken ng asia al baik sa al tazaj sa bacolod chicken inasal ph bonchon chicken kr california fried chicken id the chicken rice shop my dicos cn home original chicken cn jollibee ph klg tw kyochon kr marrybrown my max s of manila ph mang inasal ph pelicana chicken kr scr my tkk fried chicken tw europe chicken cottage uk dixy chicken uk morley s uk sam