In celebration of yet another food holiday — Nov. 16 was National Fast Food Day — we recognize a few of our favorite Southern fast-food restaurant chains.

From burger joints to chicken shops, these are some of our regional establishments that we think ought to be nationwide, but just haven’t quite gotten there yet.

You’ll notice that a couple of iconic Southern chains aren’t on our list. Chick-fil-A, while still firmly rooted in the South, has grown so far and wide that we consider it a national brand now. And Kentucky Fried Chicken — or KFC, as it is has become known — well, it’s international.

So here, in alphabetical order, are eight more chains that one day could be — maybe should be — the next Chick-fil-A or KFC. But if they don’t ever grow any more, that’s OK, too. We love them just the way they are.

Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits

This Charlotte, N.C.-based chain canvases the South with more than 600 locations in 11 states. As the name suggests, Bojangles’ signature menu items are its breaded chicken tenders and flaky biscuits. We strongly recommend the slightly spicy Cajun Filet Biscuit, which is so good that Bojangles’ has a trademark on the name.

Chicken Salad Chick

One of the South’s fast-growing restaurant chains, Alabama’s Chicken Salad Chick, which founder Stacy Brown started in Auburn just eight years ago, is perhaps more fast-casual than what typically think of as fast food, with 15 different varieties of chicken salad made fresh daily. Each of the salads – from “Nutty Nana” and “Mimi’s Mix” to “Jazzy Julie” to the “Kickin’ Kay Lynne” is named for a friend or family member of Brown.

Jack’s

In Birmingham, we’ve been going back-back-back to Jack-Jack-Jack’s for more, more, more since its founder and namesake Jack Caddell began selling his 15-cent burgers in 1960. Now with about 130 locations in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, Jack’s is just as famous these days for its made-from-scratch biscuits as it is for its hamburgers and milkshakes.

Krystal

Founded in Chattanooga, Tenn., during the Great Depression, Krystal was serving sliders way, way before sliders became cool. The thin, square burgers — served on steamed buns that more closely resemble dinner rolls — are so distinctive, in fact, that regulars just call them “Krystals.” And to get the true experience, you need to order at least four. After all these years, though, Krystal remains just a regional institution — the Southern cousin to the Midwest’s White Castle — with about 350 locations in a dozen states.

Milo’s

One of the smallest chains on our list, Milo’s is strictly an Alabama enterprise, with 14 locations in the Birmingham metro area and another in Tuscaloosa. The saucy burger that founder Milo Carlton started serving out of his little cinder-block shop on Birmingham’s north side in 1946 has changed very little in nearly 70 years, but everybody also goes to Milo’s for the seasoned, crinkle-cut fries and the super-sweet tea.

Waffle House

While this 24-hour bastion of bacon and eggs and burgers and hash browns remains firmly entrenched in the South, the Norcross, Ga.-based Waffle House chain now has more than 2,000 locations in roughly half of the 50 states. World traveler Anthony Bourdain became a recent convert, visiting his first Waffle House and treating himself to pecan waffles slathered with butter and swimming in syrup for a recent episode of his CNN series “Parts Unknown.” “It is, indeed, marvelous,” Bourdain decreed. Indeed, it is.

Whataburger

As little kids on family vacations to Florida, we were mesmerized by Whataburger’s familiar orange-and- white striped A-frame drive-in, which we could spot from a mile away. While Krystal prides itself on how tiny its burgers are, Whataburger has always taken the opposite approach, offering a two-fisted burger that, while not as enormous as we remember from our childhood, remains an old-fashioned classic, with mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions. Still based out of its home state of Texas, Whataburger has more than 700 locations across the Southeast and Southwest.

Zaxby’s

Co-founders Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley opened their first Zaxby’s in Statesboro, Ga., in 1990. Now, the Georgia-based chain serves its “indescribably good” chicken fingers, wings and salads in nearly 700 locations in 16 states, and is one of the Top 10 fastest-growing chains in the country. The go-to menu item is the chicken finger plate, with also comes with crinkle-cut fries, coleslaw, Texas toast and Zax Sauce.