A Chuck’s Hot Chicken restaurant is expected to open by the end of this month at 231 Arnold Crossroads Center, said co-owner Ken Kimball, 41, of Collinsville, Ill.
The restaurant serves Nashville hot chicken with heat levels ranging from level 1, described as “just a taste (of spiciness),” to levels 5 and 6, described as eat “at your own risk,” according to Chuck’s Hot Chicken website, chuckshotchicken.com.
Kimball, who will own and operate the Arnold location with Jamie Mieger, 40, of Wentzville, said chicken also may be ordered at level zero, a non-spicy fried chicken.
“There is an option there for everybody,” Kimball said. “If you just like standard fried chicken, we have that, and we have the best of that. If you like spice, come try our chicken and try the next level and then the next level and see where you can get.”
The restaurant chain was established in 2021 and has locations in Maryland Heights, O’Fallon, Rock Hill and Tower Grove in the St. Louis area and in Wichita, Kan.
Kimball said he became a fan of the product when his family started eating at the Rock Hill location.
“It immediately became my family’s favorite place to go,” he said. “Commercially, you can’t find anything as spicy as what you get there. I happened to talk with the owner who was there one day when we were all eating there, and the rest is history.”
Kimball said Mieger was a frequent customer at the O’Fallon location.
“When we both found out we liked it and went with frequency, it became a thing we decided to tackle together,” said Kimball, who has worked in the restaurant business for 22 years, including at the Texas Roadhouse, Raising Cane’s and Applebee’s chains.
Kimball said restaurant chains like those often go to their Arnold locations to train new staff members because those restaurants have high sales volume.
“Arnold is either their No. 1 or No. 2 best performing store in the market,” he said. “I have worked in Arnold for those other companies, and I knew this would be a good place to start.”
Chuck’s Hot Chicken serves chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, bone-in wings and a chicken and waffles option.
“You have never seen the size of the tenders that we put out,” Kimball said. “They are double the size of other chicken joints. The sandwiches and toppings are an experience that you can’t really get anywhere else.”
The restaurant also offers a variety of sauces and side dishes, like French fries, loaded potato salad, coleslaw, green beans and mac and cheese, as well as shareable snacks, like corn fritters and garlic cheese curds.
Kimball said the restaurant is approximately 1,400 square feet, but there won’t be inside dining, just takeout or delivery, at least for the first month or so.
He said the restaurant has deals to deliver through all of the major third-party delivery services.
“Once we get through the initial growing pains, we will revisit putting tables in,” he said.
Kimball said Chuck’s Hot Chicken will employ between 12 to 15 people.
The restaurant will be open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays and Tuesdays through Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. It will be closed on Mondays.