Marrybrown was founded by Lawrence Liew and Nancy Liew in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. The couple faced many challenges and obstacles to opening their first store, from borrowing from friends and relatives to the difficulty of renting space as many of the shop owners are reluctant to lease their premises.

The first restaurant was opened in 1981 from a small shop lot in Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Johor Bahru. The couple named their restaurant as “Marrybrown”, three-syllable name, as it was perceived that the simple name has an international-concept, easy to pronounced and remembered. The three-syllable name is also common in the fast-food industry, as can be seen in KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King and A&W.

After Marrybrown moved into franchising module in 1985, the chain began to experienced rapid growth; currently its franchise outlets formed a majority of its operation. After tapping the Malaysian market, the restaurant operated its first overseas branch in China by 1996.

To differentiate from the other early quick service restaurant in Malaysia that largely based on the American-menu — such as fried chicken and burgers, the restaurant began to introduced and combined Malaysian flavours to compliment the western-meals offered in the restaurant. It was the first Malaysian fast-food restaurants that included rice, with the introduction of Nasi Marrybrown in 1986, followed by Nasi Lemak in 1989, Chicken Porridge in 1990 and Curry Noodles in 2006.

 Being one of the largest global halal fast food-establishments, the chain has since expanded to over 500 locations throughout Malaysia and across 15 countries.

According to Wikipedia