who's your daddy?

California chicken sandwich restaurant flies into Houston for flagship Texas outpost

Daddy's Chicken Shack is coming to Houston.

A Southern California chicken sandwich restaurant's nationwide expansion plans run through Houston. Daddy's Chicken Shack will open its first franchised location in a former dry cleaners at the corner of 11th Street and N. Shepherd Drive.

Founded by Chef Pace Webb and her husband Chris Georgalas, Daddy's blends classic Southern flavors with Asian touches, a nod to Georgalas being half-Japanese.

Daddy's Chicken makes its sandwiches with birds that are hormone-free, antibiotic-free, and free range, according to a release. Spice levels range from mild to Nashville-style hot with Buffalo and sambal also available.

In addition to sandwiches, Daddy's Chicken offers chicken and waffles, breakfast sandwiches, nuggets, and salads. The restaurant's vegan option, coconut curry-brined cauliflower, distinguishes it from other chicken sandwich concepts.

Daddy's Chicken also sets itself apart with its use of technology. Customers have a dozen ways to order for dine-in, pick-up, or delivery.

“It’s all about quality, convenience, speed and accuracy —whether dining in, ordering on the app and picking up, or getting delivery —we’ve built our systems to execute the highest quality product no matter how the customer chooses to order,” Georgalas said in a statement. That convenience drew the attention of Dave Liniger, the founder and chairman of real estate firm RE/MAX, who has invested in the brand's nationwide expansion through franchising.

Houston will serve as a flagship location and training facility for Daddy's Chicken. It will feature design elements the brand hopes to replicate elsewhere, such as self-ordering kiosks and a dedicated pickup lane for both customers and delivery drivers.

“We’ve worked with hundreds of local and national brands and after meeting Chris, we were very excited about the opportunity for Daddy’s Chicken to enter the market in one of our projects," said Dan Braun, president of Braun Enterprises, which owns the property Daddy's Chicken leased. "With their focus on quality ingredients and consistency, Daddy’s will shine in the Heights, and we are pleased to be part of it.”

See renderings of the future location as well as clips from Webb's TV appearances in the video below.

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the more things change

Houston's essential Jewish diner looks better than ever after refresh

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

It’s tricky to renovate a restaurant that’s as essential to its community as New York Deli. A staple of Houston’s Jewish community for almost 50 years, the tiny restaurant near Meyerland will serve as many as 400 people during a busy Sunday brunch.

Still, the time had come, as the tape on the deteriorating banquettes and peeling wallpaper illustrated. With the restaurant’s lease up for renewal, co-owner Michael Saghian saw an opportunity for some updates.

“I couldn’t be the new guy who ruined the place by moving it,” he tells CultureMap. “We worked out a deal with the landlord [to stay] and did a big refresh.”

The most noticeable change is the removal of the restaurant’s front door and vestibule. Instead, diners enter through the restaurant’s companion bagel shop. Separate entrances made sense when the bagel shop was certified kosher by local religious authorities, but now that designation only applies to the Bellaire location that opened in 2020. Not only is the new setup easier for people with mobility issues to navigate, it allows more light into the dining room, brightening the place considerably..

Saghian and co-owner Riana Sherman worked with interior designer Erin Hicks on the refresh. Tables, chairs, and banquettes are all new, but the color scheme remains the same. The process yielded 10 more seats, and the furniture is a little more durable, too.

“People have flipped chairs because they’re so lightweight,” Sherman says. “We got a sturdier chair.”

Behind the scenes, an expanded kitchen allows for the restaurant’s cooks to work faster and more efficiently. An additional egg cooker should cut down the amount of time people wait for their food to arrive.

“The kitchen had one of everything. Now we have two of everything. We can pump out a lot more food,” Saghian says.

Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers such as the “bagel girls,” a group of woman who’ve eaten breakfast at the restaurant since the ‘80s. A piece of old wallpaper has been framed and hung on the wall, too, as a nod to the space’s history.

New York Deli interior changes Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers.Photo by Sergio Trevino

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

Saghian says he suffered from sleepless nights as he worried about people’s reactions to the changes, but so far his customers have been effusive.

“It still feels like an old school diner,” Saghian says. “It has pieces you remember. Even the new stuff is old school.”

While the physical environment is new, the staff remains the same. To ensure he kept the same team of cooks and servers, Saghian paid their wages for the two weeks the restaurant was closed for renovations.

Even more importantly, the prices are the same. That’s something that will make even the oldest regulars happy.

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