Who Owns Cook Out?

By Jahanzaib · Updated October 11, 2026 · 7 min read

That makes Cook Out one of the few large burger chains in the country that is still entirely in the hands of the family that started it. It is also one of the hardest to find out anything about, because the family almost never speaks in public.

Morris Reaves and the Wendy’s years

Morris Reaves did not come to Cook Out as a newcomer. He started out as a short order cook at Waffle House, then moved into Wendy’s, reportedly becoming one of the chain’s youngest franchisees at around 20 after appealing directly to founder Dave Thomas.

His family went on to run more than a dozen Wendy’s restaurants in North Carolina’s Triad region, the area around Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point. Those restaurants were sold back to Wendy’s in 1979.

His next venture did not work. In 1982 he opened a sit down Southern cooking restaurant called the Sunday House in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and it closed after a few years. The concept he tried after that was a drive thru burger stand in Greensboro, opened with his parents on Randleman Road, across the street from one of his old Wendy’s locations. That was the first Cook Out.

The Wendy’s influence is easy to see if you know the menu. Fresh beef, a burger built to order, and a value driven lineup are all things Reaves would have run at Wendy’s for years. How Wendy’s itself is owned today is covered in who owns Wendy’s.

Who runs it now

Jeremy Reaves became president of the company in his late twenties and has led it through almost all of its growth. By one account his last substantial press interview was in 2007.

Why it never franchised

Cook Out has grown to more than 300 restaurants without selling a single franchise. That is unusual. Most burger chains of this size grew by letting local operators buy in, which brings in cash quickly but hands control of each store to somebody else.

Owning every restaurant is slower and needs more of the company’s own money, but it lets the family decide everything, from prices to what plays on the speakers. It also explains how the chain kept its religious touches, like the scripture printed on its cups, which is covered in why Cook Out has Bible verses on its cups.

Why you never hear from the owners

Cook Out is famous among restaurant reporters for saying nothing. The company has no public spokesperson, neither Morris nor Jeremy Reaves gives interviews, and press inquiries typically go unanswered. The billboards say little more than COOK OUT in large letters, and its social media mostly announces new openings.

There is no investor to report to, so there is no earnings call, no annual report and no published sales figure. For a chain with this many restaurants, that is almost unheard of, and it is the main reason the ownership question keeps coming up.

The family beyond the burgers

A few details show how closely the business and the family are tied together.

How it compares with other family chains

Only a handful of large chains are still controlled by their founding families. Chick-fil-A is the best known, and it stayed private in much the same way, as covered in who owns Chick-fil-A. Culver’s is still family controlled but sold a minority stake in 2017, and Whataburger’s family sold the majority in 2019.

Cook Out has done neither. What it shares with Chick-fil-A is a refusal to hand over control. Both grew on their own money and both stayed in family hands. Current prices and the full tray lineup are on the Cook Out menu.

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