Even amid a global pandemic, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is continuing to drive aggressive franchise developments nationwide with the expansion of 28 new locations in Q3, eight of which were virtual kitchens.

In August, the world’s largest barbecue concept expanded its franchise opportunities to feature an additional nontraditional model—virtual kitchens. Dickey’s ended the quarter with seven  virtual kitchen developments throughout California and one in Chicago.

The Texas-style barbecue brand also executed two franchise development agreements to bring four new Dickey’s locations to Evanston and Green River, Wyoming and Crestview and Niceville, Florida. In addition, Dickey’s inked 16 new deals to expand further into several states including Texas, Minnesota, Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada, Florida, Maryland and Rhode Island.

“We are very excited to have made such huge strides on the development side in Q3,” said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. “The launch of our virtual kitchen franchise option proved to be incredibly successful with the development of eight new locations. We look forward to continuing this momentum throughout the next quarter so we can finish out the year strong and adapt to the changing needs of the industry.”