Pick Up Stix

Pick Up Stix is a "" restaurant chain that serves fresh Asian cuisine through corporate-owned restaurants and franchises in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Pick Up Stix restaurants serve both dine-in and take out customers, and Pick Up Stix offers offsite catering and some delivery services. Pick Up Stix also supplies meals to public and private schools as part of the Pick Up Stix School Lunch Program.

Southern California consumers have consistently scored the company high for the freshness of the meals and the convenience of the many locations throughout , San Diego, Los Angeles, and the . Pick Up Stix' cook-to-order process allows guests to customize each entree, and the company pioneered the offering of both brown and white rice options to health-conscious guests. In the June 2008 issue of San Diego Magazine Pick Up Stix was named the "Best Takeout" in San Diego.

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History

The first Pick Up Stix restaurant was opened in Rancho Santa Margarita, California in 1989 by Asian-American entrepreneur Charles Zhang. In July 2001, the company was acquired by Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, a unit of the Carlson Companies.

Pick Up Stix was the first large-scale, cooked-to-order Asian-themed chain concept to penetrate the California market. All Pick Up Stix food is cooked-to-order over high-heat burners using traditional woks. Pick Up Stix is headquartered in San Clemente, California and owns and operates its own food-processing facility, allowing fresher produce to be used in its stores.

Closings

In early 2008 26 Pick Up Stix restaurants were closed in California, Nevada, and Arizona in order to "focus on stronger markets".