First Chick-fil-A food truck in US coming to Houston
No wonder Chick-fil-A picked Houston to roll out its first food truck in the U.S.
There are 74 Chick-fil-A restaurants in the Houston area. We have the Nos. 1 and 2 busiest Chick-fil-A restaurants in the country, and six in the Top 10. To find one, just look for a line of cars backed out of the drive-through, spilling into the street.
To show you the power of the Houston market, Chickfil-A corporate pulled the Spicy Chicken Biscuit off its national menu earlier this year. Houston franchisees squawked. “Hey, our customers like spicy food!”
Result: Houston Chick-fil-A restaurants still serve Spicy Chicken Breakfast Biscuits.
“My food truck will be ready in a couple of weeks,” said Chick-fil-A franchisee Jesse Chaluh. He’s been with the company since 1987. Today he operates the Chick-fil-A restaurant on the Southwest Freeway between Buffalo Speedway (No. 2 in the U.S.) and the one on Beechnut by Meyerland Plaza (No. 8).
He also runs Chick-fil-A stands at UH and Rice football games, the George R. Brown Convention Center, NRG Center, Minute Maid Park (behind the right field “fowl”
pole) and a bunch of public and private schools.
“The truck was delivered to us last month. We’re still looking into where food trucks can go in Houston. We worked with a foodtruck manufacturer who understands our rigorous food safety and quality standards. In fact, we’re in the process of going through safety and health inspections now.”
The Chick-fil-A food truck will have four pressure cookers and a reach-in refrigerator. The menu will be limited to the Original Chicken Sandwich, the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, one or two cold entrée products and waffle fries. The drinks will be sweet tea, unsweetened tea and lemonade.
Chaluh is putting the finishing touches on the paint job. There will be the familiar Chick-fil-A logo, but no picture of a cow.
In other Chick-fil-A news: On the heels of killing it with its new protein-packed Egg White Grill breakfast sandwich, Chick-fil-A is tinkering with additional healthful products, including a grain bowl featuring quinoa, butternut squash and goat cheese. Don’t push me, Chick-fil-A.
“Better coffee a millionaire’s money can’t buy”
In his obsession to make Kenny & Ziggy’s the authentic New York-style deli in Houston, owner Ziggy Gruber is now pouring Chock full o’ Nuts coffee, the iconic Big Apple brew.
In the ’50s and ’60s, Chock full o’ Nuts had one of the great jingles on TV:
“Chock full o’ Nuts is that heavenly coffee, better coffee a millionaire’s money can’t buy.”
The singer was Page Morton, a New York cabaret entertainer. She also was the wife of Chock full o’ Nuts founder William Black.
Pethouse Pet of the Week
Name: Shelby (as in Lynne and Hodge)
Birthdate: March 29, 2017, still a pup, but I have a fake ID that gets me into adult kennel clubs.
Ethnicity: I’m half terrier, half retriever and a smidge of something else. I’m a girly-girl dog, and I’m not crazy about men. So I’d be better off in a house with a mom and kids.
Shelby’s brain: I’ve been looking forward to this show for months. Friday night at Dosey Doe on I-45 in The Woodlands — a battle of the bands between Abbey Road, a fantastic Beatles cover band, and Satisfaction, an acclaimed Rolling Stones cover band. They’ll each do a set, then come together for the encore. My Beatles buddies say the show is pretty amazing. Ticket information at doeseydoe. com.
What I did on my vacation last week: Binge-watched “Impractical Jokers.” The Staten Island pranksters are coming March 25 to Revention Music Center.
Somebody may have to show Dave Matthews where the stage is when he plays the new Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land on Jan. 25. For the past two decades, Matthews had a home at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. He holds the record for most concerts there: 23. The pavilion has been open only 26 years.
Three U.S. tennis standouts have joined the field for the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship (that’s got to be the longest name for a tennis tournament), coming April 8-16 to the River Oaks Country Club.
Top-ranked American and former River Oaks champ John Isner, and big servers Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson join Spain’s Feliciano Lopez as early singles entrants. On the doubles side, Lopez and partner Marc Lopez, the reigning French Open champs, are in. Also committed: the Bryan brothers, winners of more Grand Slam titles than any duo in tennis history.
Individual session tickets are now on sale online at mensclaycourt.com/ tickets or by calling 713-529-4321.
I don’t like to point out mistakes in the sports section, but instead of saying:
“UT Athletic Director Mike Perrin announces hire of Tom Herman” … it should have been:
“Father of Hunter Perrin, the guitar player in John Fogerty’s band, announces hire of Tom Herman.”