A new ‘virtual restaurant’ has entered the Lexington chicken wars. And it’s Hot As Fire
.jpg "Tender Shack offers chicken tenders and sandwiches in two spice levels, Dang Good Seasoned and Nashville Hot AF (As Fire) but they are only available online through DoorDash.")
There’s a new stealth entry into the spicy chicken battle in Lexington: Tender Shack is here.
Where? Well, nowhere. But you can get it just about anywhere.
Tender Shack is virtual restaurant concept, sometimes called a “ghost kitchen,” with no brick-and-mortar location. As its web site says, “You can’t find Tender Shack on a map. It’s not even a real place. But we still hope to bring people together one freakin’ delicious chicken tender at a time.”
You can choose from two signature seasoning options – Dang Good Seasoned or Nashville Hot AF (As Fire) – and five sauces – Tender Shack Sauce, Honey Mustard, Buttermilk Ranch, BBQ or Buffalo.
You order on DoorDash, which delivers Tender Shack’s chicken tenders, sandwiches, fries, drinks and chocolate chip cookies. That’s the entire menu. The food is actually prepared in a Carrabba’s Italian Grill or an Outback Steakhouse, which are both under the same parent, Bloomin’ Brands.
Bloomin’ Brands began testing the Tender Shack concept in September 2020 in Tampa Bay, Fla., before expanding to an additional dozen markets late last year.
And now they’ve arrived in Lexington, according to a news release.
The idea, according to Restaurant Business, is to target customers searching online for a particular item – in this case chicken tenders or sandwiches – and boost sales without having to actually build, staff and advertise a whole new restaurant.
Lots of other chains launched virtual concepts during the coronavirus pandemic to capitalize on the increase in online ordering and delivery: Fazoli’s has Wingville and Wow Bao, Chili’s parent has It’s Just Wings, Applebee’s has Neighborhood Wings and Chuck E. Cheese has Pasqually’s Pizza.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 1:44 PM.
