Chicken N Pickle was one of the pickleball pioneers, opening its first location 10 years ago, but food has always been as important as fun to the now 13-unit chain.
“The majority of guests are coming in to eat and drink, said Alex Staab, head of culinary for the eatertainment concept. “Office workers come for lunch, young professionals for happy hour, and families for dinner and brunch.”
The menu has been scratch-made and chef-driven since the first location opened in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2016, but both pickleball and consumers’ tastes have evolved since then.
“Kansas City is known for barbecue and heavier food, and as we expanded into other markets, it was time to lighten up the menu and introduce more global flavors,” said Staab. This year, he refreshed the menu, debuting 14 new dishes at the beginning of November—the first major overhaul since Chicken N Pickle’s founding.
Breaking out of culinary roots
The “chicken” in Chicken N Pickle relates back to the founder’s passion for rotisserie chicken. “We brine the chickens in a ton of fresh herbs with lemon, black peppercorns and garlic then air dry them so the skin crisps up during cooking,” said Staab. “We have giant rotisseries at each location where we cook the seasoned chickens over kiln-dried wood. That’s been our signature; what Chicken N Pickle was built around.”
That chicken is still core to the menu, and Staab thought long and hard before he introduced fried chicken items, thinking it would take away from that legacy. But two fried chicken sandwiches eventually made it onto the menu, and one of the new items is Honey Lime Chili Crunch Chicken ($15.99), a panko-crusted chicken breast coated in honey lime crunch on cilantro lime rice, then topped with pickled veggies and dill lemon yogurt.
Another newbie is the Bacon Bird ($14.99), a riff on a BLT featuring grilled chicken, Jack cheese, bacon, smashed avocado, lettuce, tomato and red pepper-lemon aioli on local 7-grain bread.
Staab is also proud of the new Wagyu Truffle Burger ($15.99) he developed, calling it “a umami bomb,” that delivers great flavor and great value. It’s made with a grilled Wagyu beef patty that’s layered with truffle aioli, balsamic caramelized onions, Jack cheese and arugula.
While that’s more on the indulgent side, it’s balanced with lighter options. Staab is bringing more vegetables into the mix, with the new Mediterranean Bowl ($15.99) a good example. It’s a combo of rotisserie chicken, red pepper hummus, roasted red peppers, chickpeas, sweet potatoes and cucumbers, tossed with tahini lemon dressing and served with naan. “You can eat that after playing pickleball and feel pretty good about yourself,” said Staab. Vegetarians can easily omit the chicken and make it meatless.
Shareables are also more abundant with the menu revamp. Tres Taquitos offers a choice of chicken tinga (made with pulled rotisserie chicken) or pork carnitas on mole sauce, topped with pickled veggies and aji verde. In just a few weeks, the Taquitos have become a fan favorite, Staab said. He introduces global flavors mostly through sauces like tahini, tzatziki and aji verde—flavors that can cross over into different genres, he said.
For the less adventurous there’s a trio of Table Fries to share—Street Fries, Spicy 7 Chili Fries and Truffle Fries—as well as shareable Chorizo Queso and Fried Pickles.
Shareables play a bigger part on the new menu.
One item in development that didn’t make the cut was a shrimp appetizer, said Staab. It was composed of shrimp with peppers and grape tomatoes dressed with arugula pesto and served with baguette for dipping. “It was a little messy and maybe too Italian an influence, but I think it will find a home on our catering menu,” said Staab.
He’s also making an effort to get more regionality into the menus, as locations are now spread out from the chain’s Kansas City headquarters to Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Oklahoma. Staab is aiming for 10%-15% of those menus to be based on local favorites.
The cocktail selection is also lightening up. There’s a new Spritz Cart at brunch service and the addition of a Prosecco-and gin-based French 75 to the main list along with four mocktails. Those are balanced with more alcohol-heavy drinks like the Old Fashioned and Espresso Martini, but all cocktails are moderately priced at around $12.
Up next: A catering revamp
Events have become a large part of the business, said Staab, and he builds custom catering packages around customers’ cravings, such as Taco Night or Italian Feast. “We can fan out from the core menu to create these packages, and keep prices lower than our competition,” he said.
For example, the rotisserie chicken can only be held for 1½ hours once it’s cooked, but the kitchen pulls or cuts it up to cross-utilize in tacos, Indian dishes and other catered items.
Chicken N Pickle locations can hold anywhere from 800-1,600 people, and for catered events, a customer can buy out the entire complex or spaces can be set aside for smaller parties.
While catering has been successful for the concept, Staab is ready to give the catering menu a makeover, too, also incorporating more global flavors and local tastes, he said.
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