Now on 11th Ave (Image: Mt. Joy)

Meanwhile, at Dave’s Hot Chicken (Image courtesy a CHS reader — we owe you a shake)

If you are a chicken, you are going to want to stay the fuck away from Capitol Hill. Over the weekend, two new-era fried chicken chains debuted in the neighborhood amid viral video-driven block-long lines, free fries, and lots and lots of spicy hype.

On 11th Ave, they were celebrating “001” — the first of what could end up a thousand-strong location of Seattle-based sustainable chicken sandwich chain Mt. Joy.

On 12th, the line was an hour long for the Tik Tok-y tenders and shakes of Nashville fried chicken by way of Pasadena super chain Dave’s Hot Chicken.

Both join a flock of chicken-focused fast casual restaurants around the Hill bolstered by the booming popularity of 2023 era KFC — Korean fried chicken.

(Image: Mt. Joy)

Mt. Joy is taking a different approach. CHS broke the news way back in December of 2022 on tech investor Robbie Cape’s plans to team up with prolific Capitol Hill and Seattle-wide restaurateur Ethan Stowell to launch Mt. Joy with the first of what could be a 1,000 or more chain of the new chicken sandwich chain shops at 11th and Pine in a portion of the space formerly home to the massive Stout Pub.

Cape’s says Mt. Joy was hatched after he watched a documentary, Kiss The Ground, about the benefits of pasture-raised chickens for the chickens and the environment.

Mt. Joy says it sources the bulk of its ingredients from within 200 miles, and all of its meat from just five local farms. Grant Jones of Hungry Hollow Farms, a Mt. Joy co-founder and the farmer charged with sourcing more chicken as they expand, told CHS their biggest challenge is finding people to process their birds. “There is a very small venn diagram of people who pasture raise chickens and are willing to kill and process those chickens,” Jones said.

“Pasture-raised” is an informal designation in animal husbandry. Mt. Joy’s chickens are rotated to a new field each day and feed off the land, rather than being kept indoors or fed artificial foods. Jones’s farm is planning on upscaling from 20 to 60 thousand chickens in the next two years. His farm keeps only the Freedom Ranger breed of chickens, which Jones says are slower growing and healthier than the industry-standard factory-farm breed.

Earlier this year to help it prepare for its debut, Mt. Joy parked its food truck on the barbed wire-fence surrounded E Olive Way property where Starbucks abandoned ship in a row over public safety in 2022. With the 11th Ave restaurant finally opening, the food truck is “relocating” the company says.

Mt. Joy sees its 11th Ave debut as a flagship and a testing ground — “This brick and mortar promises to engage, feed, and inspire customers who are hungry for food that is good for people, planet, and animals,” the press release reads. Mt. Joy’s spicy and “classic” sandwiches are $13 for light and $15 for dark meat, $6 for shakes (vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry) and $4 for fries.

The new era chain launched with one of the oldest promos in the book — free fries.

(Image: Dave’s Hot Chicken)

The hype at the latest Dave’s Hot Chicken to come into the universe was much higher. Bolstered by an aggressive mix of franchising and social media hype, Dave’s has opened dozens of new locations in the past year. CHS broke the news on the planned Seattle expansion over the summer. Portland-based Little Big Burger closed in the corner space of the Beryl mixed-use development late last year after about three years of business.

The Dave’s concept was born in LA in 2017 as a street food project from a group of friends including Dave Kopushyan, a chef with Napa Valley bonafides from a stint at The French Laundry on his resume who cooked up some spicy fried chicken recipes, set up a couple picnic tables in East Hollywood, and hit Instagram hard. Six years later, there are way more than 100 DHCs around the country, Canada, and the Middle East thanks to the aggressive franchising effort.

In Seattle, Dave’s Hot Chicken is being taken under the wing of father-daughter franchise team Ajay Keshap and Sana Keshap with plans for 10 of the chicken joints around the city. The franchisees are “one of the largest Denny’s operators in the world,” one industry journal reports, with 36 restaurants open or in development across the West. The duo also operate 16 Papa Johns locations. CHS reported here on the brewing Papa Johns-Dominos war on Capitol Hill’s southern border.

Whatever spices they are using, the recipe is working. Customers were lined up around the corner at 12th and Pine to for $12.50 orders of chicken tenders and $7.50 shakes.

Mt. Joy is located at 1531 11th Ave. Learn more at mtjoy.com. You can find Dave’s Hot Chicken at 1200 E Pike. Learn more at daveshotchicken.com.

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