Ezell's Chicken facts for kids
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Ezell's Famous Chicken is a popular Seattle fast food restaurant. It is known for its delicious fried chicken. The very first Ezell's opened on February 3, 1984. It was in Seattle's Central District neighborhood, close to Garfield High School.
Today, there are 12 other Ezell's restaurants in the Puget Sound region. One special location is on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, which opened in 2006. In 2015, Ezell's opened its first restaurant outside of Western Washington, in Spokane. They even opened an international location in June 2015, in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, though that one has since closed.
Ezell's became even more famous when talk show host Oprah Winfrey said it was her favorite fried chicken. People even say she sometimes has the chicken flown to her in Chicago when she wants some!
How Ezell's Started
Ezell's Famous Chicken was started by two friends, Ezell Stephens and Lewis Rudd. They opened their first restaurant on February 3, 1984. Both Ezell and Lewis came from Scottsville, Texas. They first talked about opening a restaurant way back in 1978. This was after Ezell left the Coast Guard and Lewis left the Army.
To learn about business, Stephens and Rudd went to night school. They later got a loan from the Small Business Administration to help them open their first store. In 1988, they opened a second location in the University District. However, this store closed in 1994 because of money problems. But Ezell's started to grow again in 1998.
In 2021, Ezell's started a special program called the "R.U.B.B. (Raising Up Black Businesses) Initiative." They gave 20 grants of $2,500 each to Black-owned businesses or groups in Washington state. The next year, this program grew to include a leadership conference.
Changes for Ezell Stephens
After a disagreement, Ezell Stephens left the company he started with his business partners, Lewis and Faye. Ezell then opened three new restaurants. These were in Everett, Lake City, and Renton, Washington.
In November 2011, Ezell Stephens changed the name of his three locations to Heaven Sent Fried Chicken. This was because he no longer had the right to use the "Ezell's" name. However, he was able to keep his original chicken recipe. In February 2019, the Heaven Sent location in Renton closed.
See also
- List of fast-food chicken restaurants
