In December 2019, King of the Coop owner Joe Dodd connected with Creative Loafing Tampa to spill the beans on launching a second location in Wesley Chapel. A little over a year later, Dodd and his Nashville hot chicken crew are ready to open doors at the Grove shopping center located at 27835 Wesley Chapel Blvd.
Upon opening, the location will have limited seating indoors and plans on offering outdoor seating in the future. When it comes to eats, The Grove joint is set to feature a menu that mirrors the OG location in Seminole Heights—including a gluten-friendly fried chicken recipe.
If you’re unfamiliar with KOTC’s selection, guests can choose from three different basket options including catfish, chicken, and waffles or the traditional three tender basket tossed with your choice of heat. Each basket is served with crispy fries, potato bread, homemade pickles and King sauce.
Don’t be a hero, if your tolerance for heat is low, go with The Biddy which gives you all flavor and no heat. If you’re down for a little nose running action, opt for Midway or the next level up, and the signature heat Nashville Hot. Coop’s Fury can and will leave your butt burning with a blend of Nashville Hot and Habanero Powder. Choose wisely.
Speaking of choices, there’s also a selection of sandos like The Dirty Bird (pictured at top), The Hen, Nashville Hot, and The King Mac made with two hand-breaded tenders tossed with your choice of heat, mac and cheese, bread and butter pickle, shredded slaw, drizzled in King sauce on a toasted potato bread bun. You can substitute chicken for a half-pound slab of catfish.
Side items include collard greens, fries, hush puppies, mac and cheese, and slaw. King of the Coop keeps it simple with the sips, offering Kool Aid, lemonade, tea, and the Coop’s Juice made with a half and half blend of Kool Aid and lemonade. For dessert, you can get a helping of Not Yo Mama’s Nana Puddin’ with Nilla wafers, fresh banana, vanilla creme, and a bourbon banana jam.
Dodd said that motivation for a move to a gluten-friendly recipe was two-fold. For one, it’s healthier, but the new chicken also stays crispier in to-go boxes that have become the norm in pandemic-era eating.
“Flour holds moisture. At home, if you don’t seal your flour, it gets hard and it becomes stale. I can’t stand that,” Dodd explained in a previous interview with CL. “So this new recipe doesn’t hold any of the moisture from the oil. We’ve left it covered for an hour, and it was as crispy as when it came out of the fryer.”
If you can’t wait for Wesley Chapel to open, check out KOTC’s original location at 6607 N. Florida Ave. in Seminole Heights.
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This article appears in Jan 7-13, 2021.
