BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Get ready North Buffalo. There is a new restaurant coming to the area that plans to spice up the local food scene.
Hen House Nashville Fried Chickenis in the final stages of opening a new restaurant at 690 Hertel Avenue.
The hope is that the new location will be open by the end of December.
"It's going to have counter service so you can sit down. We will also do take-out there," says Sal Andolina, Founder of Hen House. "It is going to have a big dining room to seat around 40 people and a patio that hopefully be open by the summer."
The new location is a big step for the team behind Hen House which started serving it's specialty fried chicken out of a food truck in the spring of 2021.
Hen House also operates kitchen space at Dome Stadium in the City of Tonawanda, but Andolina believes that the new location on Hertel Avenue will be perfect to bring it's celebrated Nashville Hot Chicken to the masses.
"It's a style, it's the way we season the chicken," says Andolina. "It's a mixture of hot fryer oil, butter, and our Nashville hot seasoning which is primarily cayenne pepper, brown sugar and other spices."
It's been a recipe for success. Hen House offers hungry customers hand breaded chicken tenders and fried chicken sandwiches along with several other creations ranging from burritos to loaded fries.
The "Hot Hen Sandwich" is perhaps the most popular item. It's essentially heaven on a toasted brioche bun featuring two Nashville Hot Chicken tenders, house made slaw, dill pickles and a secret "Hot Hen" sauce.
"It's awesome," says Andolina. "It's very hot. Our medium is not your standard Buffalo Chicken medium."
Andolina, who grew up working in family restaurants, says he came up with the idea for Hen House during the pandemic.
"I saw some spots on the West Coast that did Nashville Hot Chicken. There were a couple of places around town that had it on their menu, but no one really specialized in it," says Andolina. "We saw a market at we went for it."
So Andolina worked with family and friends to purchase an used food truck from Potsdam, New York and the rest is history.
"It's been going great. We have had a lot of growth and in two years, not even, we have two locations and a food truck running."
Nashville Hot Chicken enthusiasts can currently catch the food truck at Briar Brothers Brewery which is located at 50 Elk Street in South Buffalo. The team is cranking out fried chicken everything from the truck every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday during normal brewery hours.
So if you are looking for a great way to warm up during the cold months ahead Hen House Nashville Hot Chicken has you covered and has no plans of slowing down.
"Our goal is to open up a couple more stores across Western New York and eventually we would like to start franchising out to other areas in New York," says Andolina. "Hopefully down the line we also expand outside of New York."
