By Ashley Jones, Arts & Entertainment Editor  

On March 27, Valdosta’s Zaxby, located on North Ashley Street, celebrated the first anniversary of its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Deck of Dealz (a year full of free food) for the first 100 guests, free Birthday Cake milkshakes for everyone that purchased food and, lastly, a spinning wheel comprised of coupon and merch prizes.  

The Valdosta restaurant opened the anniversary celebration with a ribbon-cutting ceremony taking place around 9:45 a.m. 

Before cutting the ribbon, Horace Williams, the Vice President Operations at Zaxby’s Inc., gave a speech about the anniversary of the grand opening, “…it seems like it’s not been a year since we’ve been here. This is ourthird time opening a store down here in this Valdosta market,” he said. “We not only love the customers who have come in and the team members that we have, but they have been our biggest jewel.” 

After the ribbon cutting ceremony, the line to the entrance started to quickly wrap around the building.   

The Deck of Dealz given to the first 100 guests featured a deck of coupon cards of free Zaxby’s food items for every week starting March 30, and ending in March of 2027. The coupons are only available for use at the North Ashley Street  location and during specificized week. 

An example of the free menu items includes free fried pickles, a free kickin’ chicken meal, a free zalad, five tenders free and additional Zaxby’s menu items.  

The president of the Valdosta Lowndes Chambers of Commerce, Christie Moore, commented on the anniversary of the grand opening and the ways in which this specific Zaxby’s has helped the Valdosta-Lowndes community over the last year by explaining “…Ashley Street has been in a bit of a kind of resurgence.” 

“We’ve seen multiple businesses really invest in this quarter over the last year, which we love, and we’re hoping to continue that investment,” she said. “So, when you see a business that has such as great brand like Zaxby’s, invest in a new space, that really signals to other businesses it’s a good place to invest as well.”  

Moore continued “…even beyond that, the partnership they have with hiring VSU students, hiring community members, “she said. “I was talking with one of their lead people from Atlanta who explained to me that here and Statesboro are places where they really recruit people into their management and into their leadership.”