Franchise of The Day: This Savory Restaurant's Best Known for Its Midwestern Comfort Food Its options range from biscuits, burgers and chicken.

By Lindsay Friedman Mar 24, 2016

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Founded in 1960, Hardee's was opened by Wilber Hardee in Greenville, N.C. In just five months, he had his first franchisee.

The company was acquired by another entity -- California-based CKE Restaurants Inc., franchisor of Carl's Jr. Restaurants -- in 1997.

The fast-acting business man, along with his roots and acquisition played a big part in why Hardee's is ranked as No. 12 in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 list.

Lindsay Friedman

Staff writer. Frequently covers franchise news and food trends.

Lindsay Friedman is a staff writer at Entrepreneur.com.

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