Table of Contents
Cook Out operates in 11 states, and Texas is not one of them. Houston has no Cook Out, and neither does any other Texas city: the chain runs from Florida to Maryland and west only as far as the Mississippi Gulf Coast. ScrapeHero counted 381 restaurants on August 19, 2026, and with Florida's two newest corrected from news reports the total is 383.
- 11
- States with a Cook Out
- 383
- Restaurants
- 39%
- In North Carolina
- 19
- New sites listed Oct. 2025
None west of Mississippi
ScrapeHero Aug. 2026, Florida corrected
About 150 stores
In six states
How many Cook Outs does each state have?
| State | Restaurants | Share of chain | First store |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 150 | 39% | Greensboro, 1989 |
| South Carolina | 52 | 14% | Spartanburg, July 30, 2010 |
| Georgia | 46 | 12% | New locations in 2013, per Wikipedia |
| Virginia | 45 | 12% | Blacksburg and Radford, end of 2011 |
| Tennessee | 44 | 11% | Not confirmed in our sources |
| Alabama | 16 | 4% | Tuscaloosa, 2016 |
| Kentucky | 12 | 3% | Bowling Green, serving since 2014 per its Facebook page |
| Mississippi | 9 | 2% | Oxford, 2016 |
| Florida | 4 | 1% | Pensacola, July 9, 2025 |
| West Virginia | 4 | 1% | Beckley is one |
| Maryland | 1 | 0.3% | Salisbury, 1115 S. Salisbury Blvd. |
Is there a Cook Out in Texas or Houston?
No. Texas appears in none of the state lists we checked, including Wikipedia's and ScrapeHero's. The closest Cook Outs to Houston are on the Gulf Coast: Gulfport, Mississippi, opened June 23, 2026, and the Alabama stores in Mobile and Foley. A 2022 poll let fans vote on the next city, and the options we found named were Tallahassee, Louisville, the Outer Banks and Ocean City, Maryland; Texas was not among them.
Where is Cook Out opening next?
| State | Planned sites in Oct. 2025 | Cities |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 8 | Charlotte (3), Fayetteville, Kill Devil Hills, Locust, Richlands, Zebulon |
| Virginia | 4 | Chesapeake, Roanoke, Salem, Yorktown |
| Tennessee | 3 | Antioch, Hermitage, Nashville |
| Alabama | 2 | Dothan, Foley |
| Georgia | 1 | Oakwood (listed as Gainesville) |
| South Carolina | 1 | Greenville |
Florida's sites in Tampa Bay and Milton came after that list. See the locations page for city guides and the Nashville guide for Tennessee.