Cheetos-themed popup eatery huge hit
A POPUP restaurant devoted to Cheetos is about to make a whole lotta cheese.
The Spotted Cheetah opened in Tribeca Tuesday night with a waiting list of more than a thousand people.
The three-day popup eatery led by celebrity chef Anne Burrell is serving a bevy of dishes featuring the orange puffed snack that’s loved by some and loathed by everyone else.
“I’ve had friends reach out to me asking, ‘Can you get me into the restaurant?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I can’t,’ ” a stunned Burrell told the Daily News.
Foodies snatched up the eatery’s roughly 300 reserved spots within six hours of the announcement of its opening last week.
The cheesy menu items run from $8 to $22, including a Flamin’ Hot and White Cheddar Mac N’ Cheetos, Cheetos meatballs, Cheetos grilled cheese and yes, Cheetos-crusted fried pickles.
“This for us was a concept to bring to life and see what it does,” said Ryan Matiyow, senior director of marketing at Cheetos.
“We thought the concept was pretty cool, a little out there, but this kind of follows with what we’ve done the last couple years of trying to bring a Cheetos experience to life in a way that is beyond the core product experience.”
Those previous projects included a Cheetos perfume and Cheetos-inspired clothing and jewelry, Matiyow said.
The restaurant, which set up shop at the home of Distilled NY on West Broadway at Franklin St., is adorned in Cheetos regalia.
The tables feature Cheetah-print cloths. The walls are covered in pictures of Chester the Cheetah.
There’s a cutout of the mascot, his legs crossed, and a tree decorated with dangling cheese puffs.
Even Burrell expressed surprise over the eatery’s megapopularity.
“It’s like a cult almost,” Burrell said. “But Cheetos just make people smile.”