Chicken News
New Dallas restaurant brings handheld chicken & waffles to Deep Ellum
A novel restaurant concept has arrived in Dallas, tailor-made for those on the go. Called Chick'nCone, it does something you never knew you wanted: It allows you to eat chicken & waffles in an easy, convenient movable-feast cone.
Their signature dish is a house-made waffle cone, filled with boneless bite-size fried chicken tenders, drizzled with your sauce of choice, be it the signature Cinna-Maple, to approximate the full chicken & waffles experience, or the spicy Buffalo Blue.
And then off you go, to enjoy your chicken & waffle experience without fork, liberated from the constraints of a table or dining room.
Based in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, Chick'nCone — and yes, that's how it's typed, with an apostrophe, lower-case "n", and no space between the "n" and the Cone, which is vexing to say the least — was founded in 2016 by Jonathan Almanzar and Josh Lanier, first as a food truck before expanding to a fast-casual concept that could be franchised.
It made its Texas debut in Houston, then Austin, and there are now locations in Florida, California, Ohio, Kentucky, Colorado, plus Toronto and Dubai.
The concept is being brought to Dallas by Nate Walker and Yvonne Odimgbe, who just opened their first location in Deep Ellum in the thick of the action at 2656 Main St.
The couple both had day jobs that were affected by the pandemic, and were determined to come through with something positive on the other side.
"We also wanted to do something together," Odimgbe says. "Since this was our first venture, we loved that Chick'nCone had a limited menu that would allow us to focus on executing it well, and this seemed perfect."
"It's really appetizing, both in how it tastes but also how it looks," she says. "It photographs well, it's intriguing, and it's different."
In addition to the chicken in the cone, the menu features two other "chick'n" items: Chick'nTenders and a Chick'nSandwich.
Sides include Cajun fries (spelled Caj'nFries), spicy Cajun corn (aka Caj'nCorn), and mac & cheese (Mac'nCheese, of course). There are also Waffle Crunch milkshakes, topped with a candied waffle crunch.
Having your chicken in a portable version is well on its way to becoming a trend:
- In February, a concept called Buttercup Chicken Tenders opened at Legacy Hall, the food hall in Plano, with tenders that can be served in a cup or a cone.
- In mid-October, Surfin' Chicken, a new chain from Croatia known for serving chicken and fries in a uniquely portable package, opened its first location in the U.S. in the Dallas area in a Walmart in Mesquite.
The message is clear: People not only want their chicken tenders, they want them in a mobile manner.
