Guy Fieri: ‘I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly in the world of chicken’
Chicken Guy restaurant opens in South Florida
Guy Fieri, the self-appointed mayor of Flavortown, is expanding that fandom into South Florida with the opening of Chicken Guy restaurant, which has been assembling inside of Aventura Mall since spring.
The fast-casual eatery should open this weekend inside the mall’s Treats FoodHall, according to management. It’s a partnership with the tattooed and spikehaired host of five shows on the Food Network — including the mega-popular “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” — and restaurateur Robert Earl, the man behind PlanetHollywood.
“South Florida is awesome,” Fieri says. “I love Florida. And it’s a great place to do it. I loveMiami. I love the [Food Network South Beach Wine and] Food Festival. I love DJ Irie Weekend. You name it. I’m always finding an excuse to say, ‘I got to go to work in Miami.’ My wife thinks it’s a bit of a coincidence that I always have to work down there. But what it is [about South Florida] is you have people who love food and people who appreciate other cultures. Our menu has 22 sauces, all different from South African Peri-Peri to curry to all-American things like barbecue to sweet and sour. And it kicks ass.”
The first Chicken Guy opened last August in Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort,
and plans are to expand throughout the region. Fieri has his name on 10 restaurant brands.
SoFlo’s sneak peek at ChickenGuy: Local foodies may already have an idea of what Chicken Guy will be serving up in Aventura. Back in February, at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, Fieri decided to debut a little taste of the eatery’s fare at his hot-ticket beachside barbecue.
“It was out of control,” Fieri recalls. “We’re holding this barbecue event and I’m the host, so how can we not have the barbecue fried chicken sandwich, which is one of the great menu items? Like I said, itwas out of control. We were trying to get our heads wrapped around it — the lines, the people, the volume of food.” So what did he learn? “I learned I should have brought about 4,000 more pieces of chicken,” Fieri says. “I saw people getting the sandwich and putting it in their purse. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And they would say, ‘I have got to take this home to my husband. He is going to be out of his