Tampa-based Nashville hot chicken chain restaurant King of the Coop is expanding with a new takeout-only location in South Tampa.
On Friday during a taping for Cooking Channel’s “Food Paradise,” Coop founder Joe Dodd told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the 1,000 square-foot location is eying a Sept. 1 opening at 500 S Howard Ave.
Dodd said the location will be open for lunch and dinner, much like other SoHo walk up restaurants, and stay open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
When the South Tampa location opens it’ll be the third King of the Coop restaurant in the Bay area, including the flagship Seminole Heights location as well as the Wesley Chapel location where Cooking Channel was filming on Wednesday.
Dodd said previously announced King of the Coop locations in Ybor City and Westchase are moving forward.
Together with investors in his Taste Buddz company, Dodd first opened King of the Coop in Seminole Heights back in 2019 after a short stint inside a stall at Tampa Armature Works.
During downtime at Wednesday's filming, Dodd was flanked by Sam Ochstein and Westshore Pizza CEO Travis Masters—his partners in King of the Coop’s Westchase and South Tampa locations. Dodd, his Taste Buddz partners, along with Masters and Ochstein plan to open more locations in a move to grow King of the Coop into a Tampa-born chain that retains the local, down home feel of the Seminole Heights location.
UPDATED: 07/01/21 9:55 a.m. Updated because June 30 was Wednesday, not Friday, unfortunately.
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