The George-Anne newspaper was partially responsible for Zaxby’s as we know it.

In the late 1980s, a small restaurant was erected in the middle of a parking lot in College Plaza in Statesboro. It was run by a local man whose practices at the restaurant — setting aside wilted salads and scorched steaks to be served to “special” patrons —  were intended to drive away black customers.

The restaurant’s wait staff and a few others, fed up with the open bigotry at the eatery, told their story to some reporters at the college paper. The editors same to me with their story. As adviser, I counseled the student journalists to make sure they had gathered all the facts and given all the parties a chance to respond. Once they convinced themselves they had exercised due diligence in gathering information, and that what they were reporting was true, then they could decide whether or not to go with the story.

The G-A went with the story.

Once these allegations of racist treatment of patrons surfaced in print, the response on campus was quick. Students topped patronizing the establishment. Within weeks, the previous restauranteur was forced out of business, leaving a building for lease.

Here is where the Zaxby guys come in.

Because of this reporting Zax guys in 1990 were able to take over the lease of the little shack — and by shack I mean that this restaurant was essentially a double wide that was propped on top of concrete blocks — for a song.

Once they had a roof over their heads, the Zax lads were able to work out their secret formulas and get it all figured out.

The rest is chicken history.