Owners of Bacon Bitch to open a second restaurant in downtown St. Pete
/A few weeks ago, we broke the news on Bacon Bitch, a breakfast and brunch spot, coming to St. Pete’s EDGE District. We’ve now learned that not only is Bacon Bitch moving into the former Bodega location at 1120 Central Avenue, but another Queen’s Hospitality concept will be joining the party as well.
Get ready to indulge in The Chicken Spot, where chicken sandwiches are king of the coop.
As with Bacon Bitch, The Chicken Spot has one other location on South Beach in Miami. However, despite their South Florida roots, the owners want to contribute to what makes St. Pete special.
“We don’t want to bring South Beach to St. Pete,” says Aaron Keene, Managing Partner at Queens Hospitality. “We are all about adapting to our space and the people around us and becoming part of the community.”
All of the sandwiches at The Chicken Spot are prepared with antibiotic-free, never frozen, fresh white meat chicken that is hand breaded and cooked to order and served on a fresh potato roll bun.
The menu will feature 13 chicken sandwiches and three chicken wraps, all of which can be made with grilled or fried chicken. The number one seller at the Miami location is the Wacky Jackie, which is a spicy chicken sandwich with sliced tomato, house-made coleslaw, and buffalo sauce. Another customer favorite is the Coco Gallego, which consists of a hand-battered crispy tropical coconut crusted chicken cutlet, lettuce, sliced tomato, pico de gallo, and sriracha mayo.
Although the St. Pete menu will be largely the same as the Miami location, Keene hinted that we may see a few St. Pete-specific sandwiches added to the menu.
Other menu items include nuggets, popcorn chicken, egg rolls, fried pickles, mac and cheese bites, cheese or chicken quesadillas, and wings (served dry or tossed in sauce). Sides include onion rings, skillet mac and cheese and waffle fries.
The skillet mac and cheese and the waffles fries can also be ordered as “loaded” with bacon or “exploded” with bacon and chicken.
Quench your thirst with a local beer. The Chicken Spot plans to have 5-10 Tampa Bay beers on tap. Even more local brews will be available in cans and bottles. A selection of wine will also be offered.
The exact layout of Bacon Bitch and The Chicken Spot are still being discussed, but The Chicken Spot will occupy the space Bodega used as their juice bar. Bacon Bitch will be nestled inside the old Bodega shack and the patio out back, in addition to the indoor space behind The Chicken Spot.
The interior of The Chicken Spot will be completely black. The walls, floor, ceiling, tables, benches and counters will all be black. The only pop of color will come from the crazy and over-the-top sandwiches.
“We always try to create a reaction and give people a really cool experience,” says Keene. “When people come in and get that experience, we want them to leave and go talk about it.”
In fact, all of the sauces at The Chicken Spot are vibrant colors. For example, the Açai Ranch is purple, the bleu cheese is blue, and the Spot Sauce is bright yellow. Other sauces include Bitch Sauce, Buffalo, Henny BBQ, Sweet and Sour, Lemon Pepper Parm, Spot Sauce, Honey Hot Sauce, and Truffle Aioli.
We’ve also learned that Drunk Bitch will be joining Bacon Bitch in St. Pete. As opposed to a completely separate concept, Drunk Bitch is the brand given to Bacon Bitch’s drink menu, which will offer an extensive selection of frozen alcoholic drinks.
These drinks will definitely make you feel like you’re on a tropical vacation. We can’t wait to try Emotions, which is a blend of Don Q Cristal Rum, J.F. Haden’s Mango Liqueur, mango and strawberry daiquiri, strawberry, and pineapple. The Mami also looks delicious with Reposado Mami Tequila, piña colada daiquiri, Don Q coco float, honey drizzle, and strawberry.
“We love St. Pete,” says Keene. “It’s incredible how everyone supports the local community and has such love and devotion for the city. We cannot wait to be part of it.”
The Chicken Spot and Bacon Bitch are both tentatively planning to open their doors in December at 1120 Central Avenue in the EDGE District. The Chicken Spot’s hours will be every day from 12PM to 12AM. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram for updates. For the first month or two, all menu items will cost just $5!