Billy D’s Fried Chicken, chef William Dissen’s restaurant in the Asheboro zoo, is now popping up at Haymaker on Sunday nights. Diners in the Uptown restaurant’s bar area can order off a menu that includes fried chicken sandwiches and sides, as well as Haymaker’s regular menu. You can also get the fried chicken on the patio.

The idea is to give a more casual option to diners in Uptown who may be headed to a Knights or Panthers game or spending the day in the park.

“For a lot of clientele we have in Uptown, there’s a lot of folks who come to town on weekends,” Dissen says. “Sunday nights I feel like in Uptown Charlotte have turned into — and I think in Charlotte in general — it’s a big night to go out, but it’s a very casual night and a very early night.”

The chicken is brined with a pickle brine, made using salt, sugar, and vinegar. It’s a quick brine, but the acidity helps the brine soak through the meat. The chicken is then dredged in buttermilk and breaded. You can order it regular or hot; the hot chicken is drizzled with a spicy oil after coming out of the fryer. Like all of Haymaker’s dishes, the chicken is sourced locally and sustainably from Joyce Farms. The sandwich is made of chicken thigh meat and topped with celery seed slaw, a smoked white barbecue sauce, and pickles, housed in a potato bun made by Haymaker pastry chef Charlotte Jenkins.

“When you bite into it, it doesn’t taste like you’re eating a pickle, but you get the nuances of the salt, the sugar, the vinegar,” Dissen says. “It almost makes your mouth juicy while you’re eating it.”

Side options include celery seed slaw, hand-cut fries, smoked collards, and mac and cheese. The sandwiches cost $13 and is served with house-made chips.

Billy D’s was born out of a family meal at Dissen’s first restaurant, The Marketplace in Asheville. The staff told Dissen the chicken was so good, he should open a fried chicken restaurant. When the opportunity at the zoo came up he finally did. He named the place Billy D’s, a nickname from Dissen’s friends from West Virginia who thought calling their buddy Chef Billy D was humorously similar to Chef Boyardee.

The chicken will be available from 5 p.m. until sold out, with 30 or 40 portions served to start. Is this a sign that Dissen’s testing the market for a Billy D’s here in Charlotte?

“We’ll see what happens,” he says with a laugh. —Kristen Wile

 

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