When well-known chef personality Guy Fieri and business partner Robert Earl got together to create a Planet Hollywood menu, they realized they wanted to collaborate on something bigger, too. Enter Chicken Guy, a chicken tender concept that has started popping up in theme parks, stadiums, and malls this year.
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The menu is simple: chicken tenders—fried or grilled—in a sandwich or by themselves, to be topped or dipped in one of the brand’s 22 sauces. Sauces include Guy’s Donkey Sauce (mayo, roasted garlic, mustard, Worcestershire, and lemon), Wasabi Honey (wasabi, honey, and lime), Bourbon Brown Sugar (Kentucky bourbon, brown sugar, molasses, and apple cider vinegar), and Nashville Hot Honey (honey, red chilies, cayenne, garlic, and onion).
“We concluded chicken for a multitude of reasons, including prices and health components, against beef,” Earl says. The first Chicken Guy opened in Disney Springs in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, next to Disney World. The second was set to open at the Washington Redskins’ stadium, and the plan is to have six or seven open by year’s end. “I’m a massive fan of Shake Shack,” Earl says, “and I definitely have visions of us being the Shake Shack of chicken. That’s our aspiration.”