Walter E. Johnson and Rex E. Sanders had met working together as teenagers at a restaurant in Oak Cliff, Dallas.

In 1969, Host International purchased the 14 outlets to use for their expansion of Jim Dandy Fried Chicken.

[3] In the late 1990s, Grandy's, now over 20 years old, began to close older locations and remote markets that were underperforming.

They retreated to the core markets of Texas and Oklahoma with a strong presence in southern Indiana and northern Kentucky.

[10] As of April 2024, the company operates 23 locations in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.