DINING FEATURE Urban BirdHot Chicken &Chronic Fries Katy eatery, ghost kitchen share comfort food U rban Bird Hot Chicken opened in 2020 in Katy o of the Katy Freeway—and
BY ASIA ARMOUR
TWO BIRDS, ONE STORE
Urban Bird is also Chronic Fries, a virtual kitchen available for delivery through DoorDash and UberEats. Both are available in store with a ip of the menu. General Manager Alex Harris shows o the three most popular dishes from both concepts.
she likes the idea of having this specialized menu as a way for Urban Bird to explore out-of-the-box items. “It gives the company the oppor- tunity to do something totally random—a chance to be creative—and I dig that,” Harris said. The main menu at Urban Bird fea- tures the Tenders Sando, a Nashville hot chicken tenders sandwich on a toasted brioche bun from Ashcraft Bakery in Sta ord, Gawthorp said. The menu also includes regular chicken and meatless tenders in a basket and by the piece as well as Urban Fries and chicken and wa es. There are six heat levels spanning from Country to Fire in the Hole. Chronic Fries’ menu features categories such as meal fries, street fries, sides and desserts. One dessert is the $7 S’mores Fries—a basket of sweet potato wa e fries topped with Nutella, toasted marshmallow cream, graham cracker crumbs and mini marshmallows. Though the concept of having two restaurants wrapped into one seems like a complicated idea, both menus are centered around simplistic comfort foods, Gawthorp said. Harris commended Gawthorp on the way the two di erent concepts emerge from the same foundation. “I like the way he did it because it’s the same thing, but it’s di erent,” Harris said. “It’s still fries; it’s still chicken; but the way the menu mixes up di erent avors adds to it and makes it something new.”
on its front entrance, there are two logos. On the right is the restaurant’s namesake and main concept, and on the left is the specialized, virtual kitchen concept—Chronic Fries. Urban Bird owner Brandon Gawthorp hatched the idea for Chronic Fries in August 2021 from the popularity of the Urban Fries dish, which consists of a plate of fries topped with mac and cheese, two chopped Nashville hot chicken tenders and pickles and drizzled with the restaurant’s signature bird sauce. “I realized people really liked these loaded fries, so I created a separate concept that is mostly delivery based out of Urban Bird, but you can actually order inside,” Gawthorp said. “The frontside of the menu is Urban Bird, and when you ip it over, you will see Chronic Fries. We wanted to be very transparent about it.” Virtual, or “ghost,” kitchens are a business model restaurants have used since the rise of online delivery when stores could not o er dine-in seating during the height of the pan- demic, according to an article from the National Restaurant Association. It is a way for restaurants to capi- talize on digital revenue streams after the drastic shift in service from the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited restaurants to low- and no-indoor dining capacity, the article said. General Manager Alex Harris said
Urban Fries’ ($12) popularity was the inspiration for the virtual kitchen. The loaded fries are adorned with mac and cheese, chopped hot tenders, bird sauce and pickles. 3 dishes to try
Urban Bird’s signature Tenders Sando ($12) is two tenders on a toasted bun with kale slaw, bird sauce and pickles.
From the Chronic Fries side, the Tijuana Street Fries ($12) are topped with a collection of elotes toppings.
UrbanBirdHot Chicken&ChronicFries 21788 Katy Freeway, Ste. 500, Katy 346-388-2901 www.urbanbirdhotchicken.com • www.chronicfries.fun Hours: Sun.-Thu. 10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
MERCHANTS WAY
KATY FWY.
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STONE HILL TOWN CENTER 19116 LIMESTONE COMMERCIAL DRIVE Pfun comes to Pflugerville this spring!
GRAND OPENING!
*CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH DISCOUNT OFFERS. AVAILABLE IN STORE ONLY. SALES TAX AND DELIVERY EQUIVALENT CHARGES DUE AT TIME OF PURCHASE. MINIMUM PURCHASE $4,000. SEE STORE FOR DETAILS. SHOP NOW AT OUR KATY STORE AT 2811 W GRAND PARKWAY N
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