EAST FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — Bojangles, a Southern fast-food staple, is back in Brooklyn after a decades-long absence.
Bojangles recently opened at the corner of Ralph Avenue and Church Avenue in the heart of East Flatbush.
It’s the first modern New York City location in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, following a previous short-lived presence in the 1980s, making this a significant return for the chain.
Marshall Scarborough is the vice president of menu and culinary innovation at Bojangles. He says his love for the brand started very early.
“My love affair with Bojangles began at a very young age. I was a youngster, I got to grow up with Bojangles,” Scarborough said.
Habib Hashimi says his family working in the restaurant industry inspired him to become a franchise owner of Bojangles.
“My family has been in the restaurant business for decades,” Hashimi said.
“I wanted to find a brand that was exciting and had amazing food, and I saw this crazy following behind it. And I looked on social media, I looked on TikTok, I looked on Instagram, and people were so excited about the brand, it was part of their daily lives, and when I tried the food, I understood why that was.”
According to Scarborough, Bojangles is known as the Carolina legend.
“I like to describe it like, we are cooking like grandmas, but we also appeal to her grandson. Our culinary north star is being authentically Southern with a modern twist,” Scarborough said.
Bojangles is not your typical fast-food restaurant. The chain cooks on stove tops, and all the chicken is hand-breaded.
The biscuits are also hand-made and scratch-made, taking a total of 49 steps to make them.
“They’re soft, they’re buttery and delicious,” Hashimi said.
At Bojangles, one of their signature menu items is the Bo’s chicken biscuit. It’s tender, juicy, crispy chicken between a soft, fluffy buttermilk biscuit.
“We’re using marinated chicken and hand-breading it to order,” Scarborough said.
You can also order just chicken tenders, which is the flagship product on Bojangles’ menu for lunch and dinner. They’re made from thick pieces of tenderloin marinated with Bojangles seasoning and batter-breaded in a buttermilk coating system.
Scarborough believes Bojangles is different from other fast-food chains.
“I can’t speak to a whole lot of fast-food restaurants where they’re taking the time and energy it takes to produce such high-quality food,” Scarborough said. “I think it’s cool that we’re bringing the Southern culture, the Southern traditions of food to you guys to share what we’ve been keeping our secret this whole time,”
CCG
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