Bojangles, the North Carolina-based fried-chicken-and-biscuits chain with a die-hard following, plans to enter the Austin market over the next five to seven years with five locations.

Bojangles says it will target Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander, Pflugerville, and Round Rock for its first restaurants in the Austin metro area. Franchisees will operate these locations.

The move into the Austin market is part of Bojangles’ recently announced goal of opening a total of about 50 restaurants in the coming years in the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio areas — its initial push into the Lone Star State. The company sees the potential for more than 100 locations in Texas over the next seven to 10 years.

Franchised Bojangles locations will be scattered throughout the state’s four major metro areas, while corporate-owned restaurants will be built in DFW and Houston.

“We know guests in Texas are going to love the Southern flavor of Bojangles, and we look forward to working with our new franchisees to open these restaurants, as well as to seeding the market with corporate stores to quickly expand our footprint. This is just the beginning for us,” Jose Costa, chief growth officer of Bojangles, says in a news release.

Here’s what Bojangles has mapped out so far for franchised locations in DFW, Houston, and San Antonio:

• SAT Restaurant Group will bring three Bojangles restaurants to DFW — one each in Arlington, Irving, and Mesquite.
• Zenith USA Investments will add three Bojangles restaurants in DFW — one each Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Duncanville, and Cedar Hill.
• Lash Foods will build three Bojangles locations in the northern part of the Houston area.
• TXBO Group will develop five Bojangles restaurants in Collin County, Texas, including Allen, McKinney, and Plano.
• Copacetic Group will open three Bojangles locations in Northeast San Antonio.

“Growth is the name of the game, and we’re throwing our hat in the ring,” Costa says of the Texas expansion. “We’ve built a beloved, well-respected brand based on integrity, hospitality, and just plain good food, and now we’ve got our sights set on bringing that brand across the nation.”

Founded in 1977, Bojangles has more than 760 locations in 14 states. During its 45-year history, the chain has attracted cult-like adoration from fried-chicken fanatics.

The Insider website declares that Bojangles may be the best chain of fried-chicken restaurants in the U.S.

“Two things most set Bojangles apart in the world of fast-food fried chicken: its single style of chicken and heavy focus on the biscuit side of the menu,” USA Today proclaimed in 2014.