The first Hardees restaurant had neither a dining room nor a wait staff. There were a limited amount of menu items, but Hardee was certain that he would succeed. The net profits of the restaurant were $1,000 a week, which was big money for that time. This success attracted the attention of both Leonard Rawls and Jim Gardner, who became Hardee's business partners and created Hardee's Food Systems Inc. On May 5th, 1961, the first company owned Hardee's opened in North Carolina. The Hardees menu featured coffee, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and soft drinks. In 1969, there existed 200 Hardee's restaurants. In the 1970s, Hardee's opened its 1,000th restaurant and in 1980, its 2,000th restaurant opened, which marked the start of immense success for the company.
 Hardees restaurant is famous for its made from scratch biscuits, which are considered to be a favorite breakfast of many people. The biscuits were first introduced in 1970 and soon became a hallmark of the brand. In 2003, Hardees restaurant stopped being famous for only their biscuits because it introduced its ThickBurger, which is made from high-quality Angus beef. The Thickburger marked a new stage for the company's development, establishing itself as a leader in the quick-service industry. Thickburgers are offered in three sizes: ½, 1/3, and 2/3 pound. Its immense popularity urged Carl's Jr. to introduce the Thickburger to their menu. It was renamed the "Six Dollar Burger" because it was the same quality as a traditional burger that you paid six dollars. In November, 2004, the MonsterThickBurger was introduced, which is considered to be the largest hamburger on any fast food menu.
 Today, Hardee's is remodeling its restaurants into "Star Hardee's." These changes are due to the starfish logo, which has been used by Hardee's restaurants for years. "The Hardee's Starfish" appeared in a series of commercials, but lost its popularity after the Thickburger was introduced.
 The commercials during the Thickburger campaign showed adults, who preferred to eat large-high-quality burgers instead of the small burgers that were offered by most fast food restaurants. Early commercials were designed to persuade customers that the poor quality of Hardee's cuisine was in the past. All of the commercials referred to Hardee's chief rival McDonald's, which is targeted at children. The chain was boycotted by some Christian groups, after an advertisement, featuring Paris Hilton wearing a bikini was shown on television.
 Currently, Hardees restaurant chain owns a system of about 2,400 quick-service restaurants in 32 states and 11 foreign countries. These countries include: Korea, Costa Rica, and countries in the Middle East.
 Its headquarters are located in Saint Louis Missouri. The official name of Hardee's parent company is CKF Restaurants. The president of Hardee's Food Systems is Andrew Puzder, who joined CKF Restaurants in 1997, as its Executive Vice President. In 1998, he was appointed to oversee the franchising of Hardee's. Puzder has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Santa Barbara Restaurant Group.