Jersey-born hot chicken brand Iffy’s Hot Chicken is preparing to debut its award-winning chicken in Philadelphia. According to coverage by the Philadelphia Business Journal, the restaurant will replace the former Hatch & Coop at 122 S 12th St.
Iffy’s award-winning menu centers on chicken sandwiches made with tenders, along with wings, and (also quite popular) tenders tossed in the brand’s Wow Sauce.
“We’ve been in the fried chicken business for more than 35 years,” owner Iftikhar “Iffy” Shah told What Now on Thursday. “We wanted to a create sandwich that’s crispy, juicy, with no oily coating. So we started making our own spices, our own breading, even our own buttermilk.”
With the exception of one $100 social media ad, says Shah, Iffy’s Hot Chicken’s growth has been entirely word-of-mouth, expanding to its current three restaurants in New Jersey. In fact, Shah says, “we’re not really in growth mode yet. This is just a deal here, a deal there, when something is too good to pass up. In Q1 or Q2 next year, we’ll start to focus more on expansion.”
After the first location exploded in popularity, Shah says Iffy’s was considering expanding through franchising but eventually decided against it.
“We just realized that if we grew too quickly, the quality would go downhill. And we weren’t willing to do that.”
Slow and steady is the name of the game, then! But that doesn’t mean the Philly debut will be a long time coming.
“We’re still in construction,” Shah says. “But we’re hoping to open in about 60 days.”
You can keep up with all things Iffy’s Hot Chicken by following @iffyshotchicken on Instagram.
