By Scott Cronick
Atlantic City certainly has its share of celebrity chefs, from Iron Chef Jose Garces at Ocean Casino Resort to Gordon Ramsay and Nobu Matsuhisa at Caesars to Bobby Flay and Buddy “Cake Boss” Valastro at Harrah’s.
One of the most popular chefs on the planet – and perhaps the biggest Food Network celebrity of all time – Guy Fieri is certainly no stranger to Atlantic City. Having lent his name to the former Guy Fieri’s Chophouse at Bally’s, a stellar steakhouse that just closed last year, Fieri also has Guy’s Bar-B-Que Joint at Caesars.
Fieri’s empire continues to grow as he recently opened his second Chicken Guy! in Atlantic City, this time at Resorts Casino Hotel, following one at Harrah’s that opened a couple of years ago.
If you haven’t had Chicken Guy! yet, do yourself a favor and head to Fieri’s latest creation. If you are a fan of chicken tenders and sandwiches, Chicken Guy! blows competitors like Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s out of the water.
Why?
“Quality and lots and lots of time dedicated to prep and doing things right,” said Antoine Holt, the general manager of Chicken Guy! at Resorts, which is located right on the boardwalk. “Even though this is a quick-serve concept, we don’t take any shortcuts here.”
The Founding Feathers
Chicken Guy! is actually the brainchild of two successful restaurateurs: Fieri and Robert Earl, best known as the founder of Planet Hollywood, Earl of Sandwich and more.
It all started at Disney Springs in Walt Disney World in Orlando in 2018 as the two businessmen teamed up to offer “one-of-a-kind, all-natural chicken tenders paired with a wide selection of delicious sauces.”
Sounds simple, right?
Well, no, but the formula has worked as Chicken Guy! is growing rapidly. With 16 current locations including two in A.C., one in King of Prussia as well as Los Angeles International Airport, the stadiums where the Washington Commanders and San Francisco 49ers play, Caesars Palace and others.
Resorts’ location is franchised by Momentum Hospitality Group. Founded by Bill White, Momentum operates Resorts’ food court that features restaurants including Ruby’s Diner, The Original SoupMan and others. Momentum also operates Johnny Rockets at Bally’s in Atlantic City, as well as operations across the Northeast, including the acclaimed Bistecca by Il Mulino and Guy Fieri’s Mt. Pocono Kitchen at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Pennsylvania.
“Momentum as a company is just amazing,” said Holt, an Atlantic City food and beverage veteran who has served in managerial roles at Harrah’s Resort, multiple locations on Tennessee Avenue (Rhythm & Spirits, Cuzzie’s Pizzeria and Bar 32 Chocolate) and others. “(Momentum Director of Operations and Tennessee Avenue Co-Owner) Lee Sanchez is my great friend and has been telling me about Momentum for years. He always raved about them. Now that I am working for Momentum, I get it. They are all about family and treating people right and growing together with their employees. It’s been an amazing adventure so far.”
Hatching a new concept
Now to the best part: the food!
Chicken Guy! offers some of the best chicken tenders I ever had. And when Holt describes the process, it makes total sense.
“It’s all made from scratch every day in house,” Holt said. “It’s not like most quick-serve places where things are frozen and dumped out of a bag. Everything from the chicken to the mac and cheese are made in house daily. We even make all of the sauces. No shortcuts here.”
All-white, hormone-free and antibiotic-free chicken is brined for up to two hours in buttermilk, pickle juice, lemon and seasonings. For the crispy, fried chicken, it is dipped into a wash and seasoned flour, then the seasoned breading before being pressure cooked to seal the moisture in. The grilled chicken option features the same process minus the wash and breading.
All of the produce like the lettuce, slaw mix, pickles and onions are meticulously cut to 1/16th of an inch while tomatoes are cut to 1/8th of an inch.
“It’s all very particular for every step,” Holt said. “I was surprised because it’s so labor intensive with all of this prep work. But when you taste it, you realize why these steps are in place. We make sauces every single day. We cut produce every single day. We bread chicken every single day. The expectations are high here.”
Chicken Guy! is so attentive to detail that if someone has an allergy, the manager personally takes care of the order, including cooking it.
“If someone comes in who needs their order to be gluten free and I am working, I make their meal personally,” Holt said. “That is unheard of.”
Whether you order tenders or a sandwich, Chicken Guy! only prepares tenders that are served in a basket or placed on a toasted brioche roll.
Popular sandwiches include The CG Classic with lettuce, tomato, pickle and special sauce, which Holt describes as a garlic mayo concoction with ketchup and other ingredients; the Bourbon Brown Sugar BBQ with pepper Jack cheese, bourbon brown sugar BBQ sauce, special sauce, slaw, pickles and some BBQ kettle chips for a nice crunch; and the Buffalo Mac ’n’ Cheese with homemade mac and cheese, smoked bacon, buffalo sauce, Fieri’s famous super melty cheese and garlic parmesan sauce.
“The kids like the one with the mac and cheese,” Holt said. “It’s not super spicy because the mac and cheese balances it out. But if they don’t want the buffalo sauce, they can get it without it or swap it with another sauce. And that goes for all of our sandwiches: If you want to swap out sauces, we are happy to do that.”
That mac and cheese, by the way, is made fresh with cavatappi pasta and Fieri’s SMC, which is a blend of six cheeses. It’s also available as a side, along with American slaw, fried pickle chips and fries
If you are in the mood for just tenders, you have the option of getting them “hot” with a Fieri-created dry rub that brings the heat. Holt said that it registers about a 7 or 8 on a heat scale of 1 to 10.
And, of course, those tenders come with choice of 11 sauces. Add a few to your order to really experience as many as you can.
Popular sauces include the aforementioned special sauce; Fieri’s popular Donkey sauce with mayo, roasted garlic, mustard and Worcestershire; garlic parm; avocado crema; bourbon brown sugar BBQ; and Nashville hot honey.
Tenders can also be had on Guy’s Chopped Salad with romaine, slaw, chickpeas, pepperoncini peppers, cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, tomato, red onion and Italian dressing.
Something to drink?
Chicken Guy! features a full bar. There are also a half dozen milkshakes that can be had with or without booze, with popular flavors including the Oreo, Apple Cinnamon Cereal with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Apple Jacks cereals for crunch, the Triple Double Mint, and for a limited time, the Sunshine Shake, which is like an orange creamsicle.
Seating is available inside and outside, including on the boardwalk with umbrellas. Next year, a gorgeous bar will be constructed to make Chicken Guy! an even more attractive Boardwalk hang than it already is.
Don’t forget happy hour is available 3 to 6 p.m. daily – including weekends – with crazy deals like $5 margaritas and draught beer.
“They are deals you won’t find anywhere else on the boardwalk, especially in the summer and on weekends,” said Holt, who added that the open container law in Atlantic City allows customers to grab a drink and keep walking with it if they desire.
So, make sure you check out Chicken Guy! at Resorts like thousands of people already have done.
“The response has been great,” Holt said. “People seem to really love it. They are actually surprised they can get such great food so fast. It’s been busy, which is nice to see – packed inside and outside even on weekdays, and I see this place blowing up and becoming more and more successful as people learn we are here. We love the Chicken Guy! brand, and so do our customers!”
Chicken Guy! is located at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. Current hours, subject to seasonal change, are 11 a.m. to midnight Sundays to Thursdays, til 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com, and he also co-owns Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, while working on various projects, including charitable efforts, throughout the area. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
