The group behind NoDa restaurant The Goodyear House is getting into the fried chicken game. They’re kicking off a ghost kitchen concept named Scratch House Chicken, according to executive chef Chris Coleman, with hopes of finding a brick-and-mortar space in the near future. The restaurant will begin taking orders on Saturday, June 6.

Fried chicken is seeing a boom in Charlotte right now, with some of the city’s most successful restaurateurs — including Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown (Haberdish), Jim Noble (Bossy Beulah’s), and Bruce Moffett (N.C. Red) — opening fried chicken spots. 

“Fried chicken has become everyday food; it used to be celebratory food,” Coleman says. “And it’s just extremely, it’s just delicious. Anything that’s battered and fried or coated in breading and fried is really, really good, but I think that for our particular time as well, people are just kind of craving comfort food.”

Coleman, executive chef at Stoke, The Asbury, and The McNinch House before joining the team at The Goodyear House, says Scratch House is a play on words, relating to both chickens scratching dirt in the coop and the fact that nearly everything on the menu will be made from scratch.

When it debuts as a ghost kitchen, the to-go and delivery restaurant will be operated out of The Goodyear House’s kitchen. The menu will include fried chicken sandwiches and bites, as well as grilled chicken sandwiches for healthier options. Salads can be ordered topped with fried or grilled chicken. 

The chicken will be pickle-brined and breaded with a custom seasoned breading created by chef Troy Gagliardo’s Motown Spices. The basic sandwich, called Simply Put, includes pickles on a seeded bun. Other sandwiches add cheese and slaw or hot chicken. Ny’s Fries are a dish we’re especially looking forward to trying: fries topped with avocado, herb verde, Parmesan, and The Goodyear House’s beloved comeback sauce. 

The dishes will be available to order from Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grub Hub, as well as directly from The Goodyear House. Despite current backlash over the cost of third-party delivery services, Coleman said using them is worth it for the exposure — at least initially. 

“A lot of people still go to the big three to get their food delivered and, you know, if we can get our names in front of them then it’s going to bode well for when we’re back into a bit of normalcy, or what normalcy might look like, and we could put Scratch House in a brick and mortar.”

To make up for the added cost of using the big delivery services, prices will be slightly higher on delivery apps than when ordering for pick-up. Ordering will be available here. We wrote about whether ghost kitchens will become a trend in Charlotte due to a change in dining habits from Covid-19, and it looks like that trend is starting.—Kristen Wile 

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