Joella’s Hot Chicken will soon expand into the Lexington, Kentucky, market, having secured an iconic Lexington restaurant location and pursuing a rapid build-out and remodel. Joella’s opened its wildly popular inaugural location in Louisville just this past September, and lines have been forming out the door ever since. This second brick and mortar expansion makes Joella’s the first hot chicken restaurant to grow into multiple new markets as planned for a multi-state region.
“Expanding to Lexington is a natural next step for Joella’s, as we hope to share and make our Southern-inspired, hot chicken varieties a natural craving for guests across the Bluegrass region,” says Tony Palombino, founder/CEO of Louisville-based EAP Restaurant Concepts, an award-winning, multi-concept restaurant company that not only includes Joella’s, but also BoomBozz Craft Pizza & Taphouse and Manny & Merle. “The response from local customers here in Louisville has been overwhelming, and we can’t wait to introduce our hot chicken to Lexington locals.”
Joella’s Hot Chicken, the newest restaurant addition to Palombino’s portfolio, is considered as creating the super-premium category of chicken restaurant concepts, and places its own spin on Nashville’s classic hot chicken, which takes your traditional Southern fried chicken and gives it “spirit” by adding various spice blends. Using 100 percent, all-natural Kentucky pastured chicken, Joella’s Hot Chicken varieties are offered in six spice levels: Traditional Southern, Spiked Honey, Ella’s Fav, Tweener, Hot and “Fire in da Hole,” while also offering customers freshly made in-house sides such as mac and cheese, sweet-vinegar slaw, garlic fries, kale crunch salad, and a southern favorite, black-eyed pea salad. Guests will also have access to another craft staple, Boylan Soda, as all Joella’s restaurants will include fountain Boylan soda machines. Local craft beers will be offered by the can.
So who is Joella?
“Back in the late ’70s my parents owned a restaurant that specialized in southern fried chicken. The chicken was made daily by two long time employees, Joe and Ms. Ella,” Palombino says. “Watching how hard they worked every day made a huge impression on me as a young boy, and I wanted to bring them back to life, in spirit, and honor them.”
Bruce Rosenblatt will serve as managing partner for Joella's Lexington location, helping to lead the aggressive market expansion that makes Joella’s the first hot chicken restaurant to grow into multiple new markets across the region.
