Nashville-style hot poultry–the incendiary, iconic item that originated in Music City but has rapidly expanded to other areas including St. Louis- is still very popular. The latest example is Chuck’s Hot Chicken, which plans to open its third location in the former St. Louis Wing Co. building ( 9816 Manchester), in Rock Hill.
The Menu
Charles “Chuck”, Taylor, co-owner, explains that the restaurant “trims and hand-breads all of its chicken to order using fresh chicken breasts.” The result is a big, crunchy sandwich on the outside and juicy and tender inside. You can order chicken strips plain or with any of six dipping sauces. These range from “baby steps to “try your own risk” (which staffers describe as “crying uncontrollably warm”).
Chuck’s Hot Chicken offers bone-in chicken with sides
Bone-in chicken is leg, thigh, and quarter. It is only available after 4 p.m.
Side dishes include baked potato salads, garlic cheese curds and breaded corn fritters.
That’s all. This is the menu. The partners wanted the concept to be scalable and consistent.
The Background
After frequent trips to Hattie B in Nashville, Taylor became obsessed with Nashville’s hot chicken. After trying out different hot chicken recipes, and testing the concept’s viability at Cecil Whittaker’s Pizza in Nashville, Taylor opened St. Louis’ first Chuck’s Hot Chicken restaurant in Maryland Heights. They opened a new location at 2758 Highway K in O’Fallon (Mo.)
Rock Hill will be the first location to open the franchise. Caleb Lavezzi worked for Yaya’s Euro Bistro over many years. He was chosen by parent company PB&J for opening a new concept in Seattle called Ocean 5. After returning to St. Louis during the pandemic, he worked for a pharmaceutical company where he “saved all the money I could and put it all into a basket of Chuck’s Hot Chicken.” The former Wing Co. location is 1,900 square feet in size and can accommodate approximately 30 diners.
Taylor says that another franchisee was selected to open a store in West County next to Taylor. Talks are also underway to investigate the possibility of opening a small location inside Busch Stadium.
Taylor states that “we need to find the best move for us” and coordinate the timing. But the bottom line is Chuck’s expansion mode. We plan to stake our claim on Missouri and then move on.
