Chef and TV personality Guy Fieri is known for his loud and brash hot takes as he fawns over the food while visiting restaurants for “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Recognized and watched by millions of viewers over the course of a whopping 48 seasons, Fieri’s celebrity status is no doubt an attractive element of Chicken Guy, the fast-casual concept franchisee Sonu Chandi is developing in Northern California.
“Guy’s personality and his visibility will help in our tourist-heavy market,” said Chandi, who leads Chandi Hospitality Group and plans to open 10 Chicken Guy locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. But make no mistake, he continued, star power isn’t enough to succeed in a crowded chicken segment, not to mention a state rife with competition and a challenging operating environment to boot.
“I think the name drives a lot of traffic,” said Chandi. “And then it’s up to the franchisee to execute on operations.”
He plans to do exactly that, drawing on his experience and the infrastructure of Chandi Hospitality, a longtime operator of Mountain Mike’s Pizza with seven units of its own and supporting 10 more as the area developer. The company, which Chandi formed with brothers Joti and Sunny, also has two of its own concepts in Santa Rosa, Bollywood Bar & Clay Oven and Beer Baron.
Sonu Chandi, owner of Chandi Hospitality Group, breaks ground at the site of his group’s first Chicken Guy restaurant in American Canyon, California.
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Long on the hunt for another multi-unit franchise opportunity, Chandi said conversations began with the Chicken Guy team, including Fieri, who owns 50 percent of the brand’s parent company, and co-founder Robert Earl in 2019. The coronavirus pandemic put discussions on hold, but a 10-unit agreement was eventually finalized, followed by a lengthy site selection process. The right real estate, though, is worth the wait, said Chandi.
His first location—a double drive-thru slated to open in late summer—is under construction in a strong trade area of American Canyon, a city in Napa County Chandi knows well through his Mountain Mike’s operations. “We’ve always emphasized community involvement, and we’ll even go above and beyond that” with the first Chicken Guy unit, he said, as a way to establish a strong customer base.
Having evaluated plenty of chicken brands, Chandi said he sought a concept with high average unit volume potential, efficient operations and a commitment to product quality. He visited several locations, including the Disney Springs restaurant in Florida.
“It’s doing tremendous numbers,” said Chandi of the unit near Walt Disney World Resort. (Chicken Guy doesn’t disclose financial performance information in its franchise disclosure document.) Of the 12 open restaurants, all but two are in high-traffic locations such as malls, casinos and tourist spots, or operate in event and sports venues such as FedEx Field. Chandi’s is the first standalone restaurant in the system, and he’s aware of the demographic differences versus Disney Springs and pricing that will impact sales.
Robert Earl is the co-founder of Chicken Guy.
“We’re not going to be selling a $18 sandwich,” he said, a reference to the price of a Chicken Guy combo at Levi’s Stadium, home to the San Francisco 49ers. Still, he’s confident in the ability of Chicken Guy to turn out high volumes similar to Raising Cane’s or Chick-fil-A in his market.
“A new Raising Cane’s is seeing three-and-half-million,” said Chandi of the competitor’s sales. “High AUV, it’s possible as long as you do a good job on the product and the value.” The freshness of the products at Chicken Guy will stand out, he continued, as will the flavor of menu items such as a buffalo mac ‘n cheese chicken sandwich and panko-breaded hot tenders.
“People are looking for flavor these days—and Guy is known for flavor.”
Chandi acknowledged some nervousness about the pending development, especially in light of California’s minimum wage increase last month to $20 for fast-food workers. “We were very close to that number anyway in this market,” he pointed out, but the group will need to remain proactive in finding operational efficiencies and utilizing technology in the front and back of house.
Earl, meanwhile, is confident Chandi Hospitality is the right franchisee to introduce Chicken Guy more broadly in the San Francisco area. “They ticked all the boxes: locally based, knowledge of real estate and with their own infrastructure,” he said.
Also the founder and CEO of Planet Hollywood International and with other restaurants such as Buca di Beppo and Brio Italian Grille under his Earl Enterprises, Earl launched Chicken Guy with Fieri in 2018 and started franchising in 2019. The focus initially was on development in high-traffic venues, Earl noted, and he’s now building a team to push more traditional restaurant franchise growth. The company in February hired Ed Yancy, who was chief development officer at Blaze Pizza, as chief franchise officer for Chicken Guy.
Chicken Guy, which serves chicken sandwiches and panko-crusted tenders, has 12 locations open.