The chain that claims it invented the chicken finger just opened its first Colorado location

Move over, Raising Cane’s. Colorado is about to meet the chain that says it did the whole chicken-finger-only thing first — and it’s brought a Southern accent and a family tree to prove it.

Guthrie’s, the Alabama-born restaurant that bills itself as America’s original chicken finger chain, opened its first-ever Colorado location today (July 14) at 1520 S. Nevada Ave. in Colorado Springs. The 50-seat restaurant is being run by third-generation family members Tanner and Garrison Guthrie alongside their father, Joe Kelly Guthrie, making this less of a corporate franchise play and more of a family road trip that ended with a lease. “Growing up, Guthrie’s has always been part of our family’s story,” Tanner Guthrie said. “Colorado Springs stood out for its strong sense of community, its continued growth and the opportunity to serve the many military members and families who call this city home.”

The first 100 in line this morning got free Guthrie’s weekly for a full year, and the next 100 got it monthly. The restaurant is now open for regular hours — 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The chain expects to create about 50 jobs in Colorado Springs.

So what exactly is Guthrie’s? The company was founded in 1965 in Haleyville, Alabama, and claims it “revolutionized the fast-food industry” in 1982 by opening the first restaurant that served nothing but chicken fingers. The menu hasn’t changed much since: hand-breaded chicken fingers, crinkle-cut fries, buttery Texas toast, coleslaw and a signature dipping sauce the company says has been “often imitated but never duplicated.” It now operates more than 70 locations in 14 states — and Colorado just became No. 15.

As for whether Denver is next, don’t hold your breath just yet. Tanner Guthrie told the Colorado Springs Gazette the family would “love” to add more Colorado locations, but for now they’re focused on getting the first one right.