The Fast Casual Nation podcast offers exclusive interviews with experts ranging from top chefs and brand makers to executives and restaurateurs who work in one of the fastest-growing segments of the restaurant industry. In this episode, host Paul Barron chats with Joe Fontana, the owner and founder of Fry the Coop, to explore drive-thrus and the accelerated growth of chicken concepts in the fast casual space.

Fry the Coop is a Nashville hot chicken concept based in Chicago. Established in 2017, the chain specializes in Nashville hot chicken, fries, and a wide variety of chicken sandwiches. Mac and cheese, donut fried spicy butter, and a number of chicken combos are also featured on the menu.

“We are pretty new. We just opened up two drive-thru locations in the past five months, so we’re in the infant stages of our brand,” says Fontana. “We opened up pretty slow, but once we started getting media notoriety, the lines started forming.”

Fast casual chicken concepts have exploded in popularity in recent years. And since the pandemic, consumers have changed their dining habits—more people are ordering online or eating their food off-location, which pairs well with the fast casual model. Ghost kitchens have also seen success, though some operators are still hesitant to invest in the uncertain venture.

“The problem with ghost kitchens is you have to deliver food through a third party partner,” notes Fontana. “That’s 25 to 30 percent of your revenue. I think that makes sense when you have a lot of customers coming in and it’s an add-on, but if that’s your only business model it’s really hard to make a profit.”