A chain restaurant closed after 30 years in Fayetteville. Here's what's coming in its place

A North Carolina fast-food restaurant is eyeing a Boston-based chicken chain’s old spot in Fayetteville.

Plans were submitted to the city on March 20 to convert the former Boston Market at 1909 Skibo Road into a Cook Out. Documents show a proposed addition of two drive-thru lanes to the 3,000-square-foot building.

Known for late-night hours, low prices, over-the-top milkshake flavors, burgers and corn dogs, the proposed Cook Out would be the Greensboro-based chain’s fifth in Cumberland County. Others are on Ramsey Street, Owen Drive and Cliffdale Road in Fayetteville and on Bragg Boulevard in Spring Lake.

The former Boston Market is situated on a .8-acre out parcel in Cross Pointe Center, across Morganton Road from Cross Creek Mall. The restaurant served its signature rotisserie chickens and homestyle sides from the site for nearly 30 years.

Boston Market long had a roost in Fayetteville

Known as Boston Chicken when the Fayetteville location opened in 1994, the chain changed its name to Boston Market the following year.

In 2012, an episode of the CBS reality series “Undercover Boss” was filmed at the Fayetteville Boston Market and aired the following year. In the episode, the chain’s former chief brand officer, Sara Bittorf, pretended to be a new employee and was trained by April Hubbard, a Fayetteville State University student who worked as the restaurant’s assistant manager.

At the end of the episode, Hubbard was rewarded for her hard work with a promotion to general manager of a Miami Beach Boston Market, $20,000 to help pay off her student loans, $10,000 to help pay for her son's college education and $5,000 toward a vacation, WRAL reported in 2013.

Since then, some publications have described Boston Market as dying a “slow death” and have predicted that it will cease to operate by the end of the year.

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Boston Market closes stores as it faces lawsuits from employees, vendors

At its peak, Boston Market had more than 1,200 locations, Mashed reported in December, and now the chain has just 310.

Boston Market closed 30% of its stores across the country last year, Restaurant Business reported in January, and the Fayetteville store was among them. The Skibo Road location is no longer listed on the company website, and it appears to have closed as early as September.

Deputy Health Director Tamra Morris said in an email Thursday that the county health department does not have a record of why the restaurant closed. The department first noted the closure in late October, Morris wrote, and later verified it in mid-November.

Boston Market locations have closed as the chain faces lawsuits from vendors and former employees in several states, Nation’s Restaurant News reported in August. A Greensboro store closed after employees were paid late or incorrectly and managers were forced to stock the store with food from grocery stores to stay open, WFMY reported in July.

Related: Longtime Fayetteville Mexican chain to close original restaurant, open a new one next door

The chain that may take over the former Boston Market in Fayetteville seems to be thriving.

Cook Out’s website lists 10 locations headed soon to Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and its home state of North Carolina. Last year, the chain ranked No. 9 on a list of best fast-food restaurants in the country based on a reader survey by USA Today.

Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com or on Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cook Out plans to take Boston Market’s spot in Fayetteville, NC