In the city that is home to chicken heavy-hitters like Chick-fil-A and Zaxby’s, a local husband-and-wife team is preparing to introduce their own chicken concept. Douglas Hines and Mei Lin, the team behind fine-dining restaurant The Consulate and tea shop Honey Bubble Tea, plan to bring Mama Lin’s Chicken Delight to a dual-concept space alongside Honey Bubble Tea at 935 Memorial Drive. The space was formerly a Hoots Wings.
Though they are just developing a space for Mama Lin’s now, they crafted the idea about five years ago when Lin cooked a meal for their team at The Consulate. She made a simple chicken sandwich inspired by family recipes, and Hines felt that they had struck upon a new concept to bring to the Atlanta community.
“It was so good and so unique,” Hines told What Now Atlanta. “I convinced my wife that this has legs of its own to be a concept.”
They developed the concept but shelved it at the time. However, when they began touring spaces for a second Honey Bubble Tea and came across this 2,000-square-foot location at Madison Yards they discovered it already had five fryers in place.
“A light bulb went off,” Hines said. “It was a great opportunity to incorporate the Mama Lin’s concept and co-brand it with Honey Bubble.”
Hines and Lin decided it was time to make the Mama Lin’s concept a reality. Hines feels that the Madison Yards community is somewhat underserved in terms of food offerings, and he hopes Mama Lin’s will help fill the gap.
“The universe was saying this was it,” Hines said. “We often listen to the universe when it speaks to us and we ebb and flow with things.”
They plan to keep the menu simple at Mama Lin’s. Expect to see a hot chicken sandwich with Chinese-inspired flavors alongside a tornado potato inspired by Korean cuisine. Customers will also be able to order from Honey Bubble Tea at the same time.
The space will house both concepts, featuring a design that blends the personalities of both brands. They will focus on takeout orders but will also have some seating, with about 20-25 seats indoors and some outdoor patio seating.
They currently are designing and building out the space and are targeting a mid-November opening.
Eventually, Hines said they might want to expand, but they are focusing on this first location for now.
“We’re just creating something that is fun, that we enjoy and that we want to provide to the community,” Hines said. “If it takes off to the point where we offer franchises, we will. If we decide to open two or three locations in Atlanta, we will. We’ve learned in 20 years of business to just go with the flow.”
