‘Fried chicken is always a win’ at Hayes Common
Hayes Common Hamilton is hard to find.
It’s tucked away on Jellicoe Drive, off Grey St in Hamilton East. What’s more, there’s currently a massive wooden wall surrounding the business as roadwork commences on the intersection outside.
But regular (and satisfied) customers keep the cafe alive. Their favourite meal and Hayes Common current bestseller is the gluten-free fried chicken. Duty manager Emily Chambers told the Waikato Times why she thinks people love it so much.
Tell us about your bestseller
“Probably our bestselling product foodwise is the fried chicken we’ve just added. It’s completely gluten free, it’s got a nice crispy coat on it with togarashi. Our head chef has his own spices he makes for the coating, it’s completely celiac friendly, and we run out of it all the time.”
“One of the owners is celiac so all of our gluten-free products are celiac friendly, just so there is that comfortability for people coming in with celiac needs.”
Why do you think it's so appealing?
“Standard fried chicken is always a win anyway. If you can do fried chicken really, really well, you’ve nailed it. Everyone’s got a different take on it, different flavours that they put with the fried chicken, so everyone’s curious about what your take on it is.”
“So having it gluten-free and celiac friendly on top of that, it’s an easy sell. It’s also a nice portion to share with friends.”
“I think we did something similar in the past with cauliflower, we didn’t really market it as a fake chicken, but it was really yum.”
Who's attracted to it?
“Super broad range. Because we’re tucked away down here, we have a lot of customers who are regulars. And they’ll see something new on the menu and they’ll have to try. Then they tell everyone about it and all their friends will come in and try it.”
“But yeah, pretty broad. Young families come in, it’s a nice small thing for kids to get their hands on. If you’ve come in for cocktails, it’s great to snack on while you have an afternoon cocktail in the sun. Everyone wants to give it a try.”
How much is it?
“The fried chicken is $20. Kind of midrange pricing for our menu.”