PDQ

What PDQ does

PDQ (legally Captiva MVP Restaurant Partners LLC, d/b/a PDQ Chicken) is a privately held fast-casual restaurant chain headquartered in Tampa, Florida, founded in 2011 by Bob Basham (co-founder of Outback Steakhouse) and Nick Reader (CEO of MVP Holdings). The company operates a single-concept chicken-focused menu built around hand-breaded buttermilk chicken tenders, nuggets, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and hand-spun milkshakes, and serves dine-in, takeout, drive-thru, online, and catering customers through 40+ company-owned locations across Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey.

The business generates revenue through three primary streams: in-restaurant food and beverage sales, a formal catering channel (tender/nugget/sandwich platters, boxed lunches at $9.99/person, and delivery from $30 with a $100 minimum), and e-Gift Card sales. Distribution is anchored by company-owned physical storefronts with an owned online ordering site (order.eatpdq.com), a separate catering portal (catering.eatpdq.com), and back-of-house integrations with Olo (ordering) and Paytronix (loyalty). The PDQ Rewards loyalty program — including a Gold tier at 3,000 points with 1.2x multipliers and exclusive perks — is the company's principal retention vehicle, while community fundraising and donations (reported at $6M to date) underpin local brand affinity.

Customer segments span individual consumers and families (primary), corporate and event catering buyers (primary), and schools/community organizations (secondary, via fundraising). The company employs over 2,000 team members, has no disclosed funding rounds or institutional investors, and in Q2 2025 sold 13 Florida restaurant leases to Yum! Brands, which is using them to accelerate its Saucy by KFC chicken-tender concept — a transaction that highlights the strategic value of PDQ's real estate without implying any change of control of the operating company.

Name

PDQ

Legal name

Captiva MVP Restaurant Partners LLC

Website

https://eatpdq.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

PDQ is a privately held fast-casual chicken restaurant chain operating 40+ company-owned locations across Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey, serving dine-in, takeout, catering, and online customers from its Tampa headquarters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fast-casual restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Direct-to-Consumer Meal Kit Subscriptions (CRAHAJAA)

Keywords

• Fast casual dining
• Chicken tenders restaurant
• Catering services
• Restaurant loyalty program
• Quick service meals

Headquarters

HQ city

Tampa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Food and Beverage Sales: PDQ generates revenue through the sale of food and beverages at its restaurant locations, including chicken tenders, nuggets, sandwiches, salads, sides, drinks, and milkshakes. Sales occur through dine-in, takeout, drive-thru, and online ordering.
2. Catering Services: PDQ offers catering services for events including tender platters, nugget platters, sandwich platters, boxed lunches, and side platters. Catering orders can be placed for pickup or delivery with a $100 minimum for delivery.
3. Gift Card Sales: PDQ sells e-Gift Cards which generate revenue upfront. Gift card purchases do not earn loyalty points but purchases made with gift cards do earn points.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

PDQ operates a fast-casual chicken restaurant chain selling hand-breaded buttermilk chicken tenders, nuggets, sandwiches, wraps, salads, sides, and hand-spun milkshakes across more than 40 company-owned locations in Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey. The company complements dine-in, takeout, drive-thru, and online ordering with a catering service for events and a spend-based loyalty program (PDQ Rewards) featuring a Gold tier for repeat customers.

Product overview

PDQ is a fast-casual chicken restaurant chain founded in Tampa, Florida in 2011. The company operates a unified restaurant concept offering hand-breaded buttermilk chicken tenders, nuggets, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and hand-spun milkshakes as its core product. The portfolio includes PDQ's main restaurant offering, supported by a proprietary loyalty program (PDQ Rewards with Gold tier status) and a catering service (PDQ Catering) providing various platter and boxed lunch options. The company generates revenue through dine-in, takeout, drive-thru, and delivery channels across its Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PDQ Gold: Elite loyalty tier within the PDQ Rewards program offering a 1.2x point multiplier, boosted point days, monthly offers, exclusive giveaways, and additional rewards. Achieved at 3,000 points and resets annually.

Products and services

• PDQ Chicken Restaurant Fast-casual chicken restaurant concept offering hand-breaded buttermilk chicken tenders, nuggets, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and hand-spun milkshakes, along with sides such as waffle fries, mac & cheese, and parmesan broccoli. Available through dine-in, takeout, drive-thru, and online ordering at 40+ locations across Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey.
• PDQ Catering Catering service offering tender platters, nugget platters, sandwich platters, salad platters, side platters, boxed lunches, cookie platters, and half-gallon beverages for events and gatherings. Available for pickup or delivery with box lunches starting at $9.99 per person, platters ranging $10-$15 per person, and delivery starting at $30.00 with a $100 minimum order for delivery.
• PDQ Rewards Loyalty Program Spend-based loyalty program allowing members to earn 10 points per dollar on eligible orders, redeem points for free food items, and achieve Gold tier status for elite perks including a 1.2x point multiplier, boosted point days, monthly offers, exclusive giveaways, and additional rewards (Gold achieved at 3,000 points and resets annually). Includes a referral bonus and a 3 Free Tenders sign-up incentive after the first loyalty visit.
• PDQ e-Gift Cards Digital gift cards sold through PDQ's online guest account portal that generate upfront revenue and can be redeemed for in-store purchases; gift card purchases themselves do not earn loyalty points but purchases made using gift cards do earn points.

Quantifiable outcome

• $6,000,000 donated to community partners

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wingstop: Wingstop is a chicken-focused fast-casual chain with comparable unit economics, off-premise/dine-in mix, and a heavy Southeast presence, competing for chicken-centric occasions.
• Bojangles: Bojangles is a Southeastern chicken-and-biscuits fast-casual chain with overlapping geographic concentration in the Carolinas and Florida, where PDQ also operates.
• Chick-fil-A: Chick-fil-A is the dominant fast-casual chicken chain in the US, directly competing with PDQ for chicken-tender and sandwich occasions across the same Florida and Southeast trade areas where PDQ is concentrated.
• Culver's: Culver's is a Midwest-rooted fast-casual chain offering made-to-order food with a similar quality-and-convenience positioning, comparable check sizes, and a multi-state growth profile relevant to PDQ's expansion trajectory.
• Popeyes: Popeyes is a major chicken QSR chain owned by Restaurant Brands International, competing with PDQ in the same chicken sandwich and tender category across Florida and the broader US.
• Raising Cane's: Raising Cane's is the most directly comparable peer: a fast-casual chain singularly focused on chicken tenders with a similar single-product, high-quality positioning, dine-in/takeout/drive-thru model, and loyalty-driven repeat customer base.
• Zaxby's: Zaxby's is a Southeast-focused chicken fast-casual chain with a comparable menu (tenders, wings, sandwiches) and dine-in/takeout model, often cited alongside PDQ and Raising Cane's in chicken QSR rankings.
• KFC: KFC is a Yum! Brands chicken QSR; its new Saucy by KFC chicken-tender concept is being rolled out into former PDQ Florida locations, making it a direct Florida competitor in the same tender niche.

Others

• Outback Steakhouse: Outback Steakhouse is the prior flagship concept of PDQ co-founder Bob Basham, sharing the Tampa origin and a similar playbook of disciplined unit growth and operational excellence that informs PDQ's strategy.

Emerging players

• Shake Shack: Shake Shack is a premium fast-casual chain with comparable dine-in/off-premise tech stack, loyalty program design, and catering business, providing a useful comp for PDQ's digital and catering build-out.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PDQFreshFood
• Facebookfacebook.com/eatpdq
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pdq-restaurants

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PDQ