UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — On opening day of Al's Hot Chicken this past October, there were cars loaded with customers waiting for hours down the street, the traffic wrapped twice around the restaurant. There were tents in the parking lot and people wrapped up in blankets waiting for the doors to open.
Burhan Saleh and Kasey Gano, owners of the first LA-based franchise to make its debut in Western Washington, were shocked.
"They slept outside essentially and they had a really good time doing it," Saleh said.
The crowd showed up thanks to a promotion promising the first 100 customers a free chicken sandwich a week for an entire year.
Jullian Pandell camped out in a tent with his brother and friends.
"It was so worth it!" he said.
"First off they said free chicken for a year! Who doesn't want free chicken, you know?" asked Kellan Hutchinson, who came for the free food and wound up getting a job serving up chicken with a kick.
"A lot of people love spicy food and they just don't have that option elsewhere," Saleh said.
One customer described her first bite.
"It ain't even that hot, but it's still spicy. Got a real good kick."
"I think it's magically delicious," another said. "It does have a little kick but nothing too bad, like my eyes aren't going to water."
Only now are the owners able to predict how much chicken they need to stay open from 10 a.m. to midnight.
"Like the first month and a half, we were selling out at like 7 o'clock. 7 p.m..," Gano said. "And we were having to basically walk down the street and say, 'Hey we're sold out. I'm sorry.'"
Customers are still lining up at the drive thru at lunch and dinner.
Angelina Alejandre and India Smith bought nearly $40 worth of chicken for lunch.
"I heard they had some really good chicken and waffles," Alejandre said.
It's trending everywhere," Smith added. "And we just have to see what the hype was about."
The star of the show is of course the chicken.
"The chicken is Halal, meaning that the chickens are raised cage-free, no antibiotics, and it's also never frozen," Saleh said. "It's fresh chicken".
The heat is up to you, ranging from "Country", or no spice, all the way up to "LA's Hottest," which comes with a waiver that reads, in part, "I acknowledge that eating it can cause harm, including, but not limited to, bodily injury, emotional distress, or even death."
How do most people react after a bite?
"Crying," Gano said.. "Eyes watering. Face beet red."
We tried Level Two, or "Mild" and realized even that level of spice was a lot to swallow.
At Al's Hot Chicken, they never run out of heat.
Al's Hot Chicken is located at 2102 Mildred St. W., University Place, WA 98466 and is open from 10 a.m. to midnight, unless they run out of chicken.
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