While some restaurant chains are filing for bankruptcy and closing up multiple stores, others are well-positioned for expansion. Fazoli's falls in the latter category—and it's bracing to open new locations in Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas next year.

Fazoli's already has 220 restaurants in 28 states. At the end of October, the fast-casual Italian-American chain announced it had onboarded six new franchisees, which will add 12 new restaurants in the aforementioned states.