King Daddy's Chicken
Restaurant · Asheville
1020 Merrimon Ave suite 106, Asheville, NC 28806
Highlights
King Daddy’s serves up gluten-free waffles and boneless chicken with house-made sauces, plus poutine and bourbon mac ’n’ cheese.
King Daddy’s serves up gluten-free waffles and boneless chicken with house-made sauces, plus poutine and bourbon mac ’n’ cheese.
"When the original King Daddy’s Chicken & Waffle in West Asheville, owned then by Early Girl Eatery founders John and Julie Stehling, announced it was closing in late 2018, Asheville carb lovers let out a collective wail of anguish. The reinvented King Daddy’s Chicken, launched this fall by new Early Girl Eatery owners Cristina and Jesson Gil with executive chef Howard Pickrel, retains many of the OG restaurant’s beloved menu items, with a few changes. Replacing the bone-in chicken is boneless breasts and tenders, and the breading is now gluten-free, as are the selection of day-leavened, small-batch waffles. There are bone-in wings, however, with a choice of eight house-made sauces as well as poutine, chicken sandwiches, salads, and an array of sides, including rice with gravy, sesame tofu in Korean sauce and bourbon macaroni and cheese. To ensure that the food would hold up to the rigors of a carry-out format, the Gils spent two months testing the entire menu repeatedly — from the first bite to the last — in all kinds of packaging. “It’s taken years to get the recipes where we want them, and I just didn’t see me changing that for packaging,” says Jesson. “I told everyone I wouldn’t open if we couldn’t get it right. Ordering is available by phone or via the website’s online menu." - Gina Smith
Philip Priddy
