McAlister’s Deli, a fast casual restaurant chain known for its sandwiches, spuds, soups, salads, desserts, and McAlister’s Famous Sweet Tea, recently announced it has signed agreements with four franchise groups to develop 21 new restaurants in 7 states. Founded in 1989, McAlister’s now has more than 315 restaurants in 23 states.

Over the past two years, McAlister’s has undertaken initiatives to strengthen its brand, including upgrading menu offerings and improving speed of service. According to McAlister’s Deli President and CEO Frank Paci, the company is experiencing strong same store sales growth which is driving interest in additional development.

The 21 new restaurants will be developed by three new franchise groups and a current McAlister’s franchisee.

• LLD Investments, Inc. will develop four restaurants in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana with the first location scheduled to open this fall in Evansville, Ind.

• Five restaurants will be developed in North Orange County, Fla., by Abundant Endeavors, Inc.

• WNY Restaurants, Inc., will open five restaurants in Buffalo, N.Y.

• Southern Deli Holdings, LLC, a current franchisee with 34 locations, plans to open another seven restaurants throughout North and South Carolina with Clemson, S.C. slated for an August opening.

McAlister’s was recently recognized by FastCasual.com as No. 2 on the Top 100 “Movers and Shakers” list of 2013, and Paci was named one of the “Top 20 People” in the industry to watch.

Technomic also recognized McAlister’s as the top chain in the fast casual industry for food and beverage and as one of consumers’ Top 5 Favorite Chains in the country.