Guy Fieri News

Chicken Guy restaurant from Guy Fieri comes to Texas with Dallas debut

fried chicken from Chicken Guy!

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A new chicken concept is coming to Dallas, hatched by celebrity chef and food personality Guy Fieri: Called Chicken Guy!, it's a restaurant chain specializing in chicken tenders, and it's opening its first Texas location in Dallas, at Preston Hollow Village, the same center as Trader Joe's, at 7859 Walnut Hill Ln. in #190, a space that was previously a model home center.

According to a spokesperson, the restaurant will open in early 2024.

Chicken Guy! is a collaboration between Fieri and restaurateur Robert Earl, former CEO of Hard Rock Cafe and current chairman of Earl Enterprises (Buca di Beppo, Bertucci's, Brio Italian Grille, Bravo Italian Kitchen). Earl and his son Robbie have been on the vanguard of virtual kitchens and delivery-only concepts, and have already teamed with Fieri on Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen, a delivery-only concept featuring wings and burgers, which operates out of Brio Italian Grille and Buca di Beppo locations.

Fieri also has Guy Fieri's Taco Joint, a restaurant at Texas Live, the entertainment district in Arlington.

He and Earl debuted Chicken Guy! in 2018, when they opened the first location at Walt Disney World in Florida. The concept is about tenders: solo, or in sandwiches and salads, accompanied by the plethora of sauces that are a trademark of chicken tender spots. What Chicken Guy! has that no one else has on the sauce front is Fieri's famous Donkey sauce which he happily divulges contains mayo + garlic + mustard + Worcestershire + lemon.

The chicken gets brined, which keeps it moist; Fieri adds pickle juice to the brine along with lemon and buttermilk.

Their other distinctive technique is to cook the tenders in presure fyrers, said to keep the chicken moist inside and crispy outside.

Sandwiches come with two tenders, fried or grilled, and include:

BLAT - a BLT with avocado crema
Hot Honey - Nashville hot honey, American slaw, pickles, and HOT tenders
Buffalo chicken mac & cheese - Mac & cheese, bacon, buffalo, "smc" (in Fieri talk, that's "super melty cheese"), garlic parmesan
Korean BBQ - sticky Korean BBQ sauce, Asian slaw, pickles

There's also a chopped salad with tenders, Romaine, slaw, chickpeas, peppercioni peppers, cheddar cheese, bacon, tomato, red onion, and Italian dressing.

There are decadent shakes including not only van-choc-straw but also Oreo cookie, triple double mint, and Apple Cinnamon Cereal shake with vanilla soft serve, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Apple Jacks cereals.

Chicken Guy! currently has 11 locations across the U.S. in a variety of settings, from LAX Airport to Miami's Dadeland Mall to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, plus seven more in the works including Hollywood Boulevard and Dallas.

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Shawarma News

Kebab concept Doner Shack comes to Texas with location in Prosper

Doner Shack

A new doner kebab chain is coming to town: Called Doner Shack, it's a quick-service restaurant concept based in the U.K. which is opening its first location in Texas in Prosper. The restaurant has yet to be built, so the opening date is still TBA. But according to a release, it will open in a shopping center at the intersection of Teel Parkway and University Drive, on the northwest corner, kitty corner from the PGA Golf Resort.

Doner Shack says it was built with one goal: to become the world’s leading kebab brand. No mention of the food, but what they're really pushing is franchising. Founders are chef Sanjeev Sanghera and Laura Bruce, who own three stores in the U.K., and who were inspired after an "epic 48-hour trip to Berlin" where the culture and kebabs blew their minds "in the best way possible." Hopefully that means the food is good.

Doner kebab is the dish of Turkish origin made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. It's popular in Germany because there's a large Turkish population there. Competitors — many of whom have expanded to DFW — include Halal Guys, Nick the Greek, The Great Greek, Spitz Mediterranean Grill, Soulard Gyro, and German Doner Kebab.

Doner Shack's menu features the original doner kebab with beef on Turkish bread and salad, and then varieties such as chicken, or beef with chili sauce, or a vegetarian with fried halloumi cheese.

In addition to doner kebabs, there are also chicken tenders served with crinkle cut fries; slider-size sandwiches with fried chicken or with shaved beef; and loaded fries, topped with the same assortment of meats.

Bringing it to Texas is franchisee group Gyro N Philly LLC, led by Hassan Zaman who says in a statement that they're delighted to bring Doner Shack to Prosper.

"With the new PGA headquarters across the street, a high school with over 30,000 students, and the upcoming Universal Kids Theme Park just minutes away, we believe this is a home run location," he says. For good food, one hopes.

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