Here are the details, in Tony Palombino's news release. Joella's will open Tuesday in the Frankfort Avenue space near Cannons Lane that has long housed a Boombozz.
JOELLA’S HOT CHICKEN OPENING ON FRANKFORT AVENUE
Free Chicken for a Year for First 100 Customers!
Joella’s Hot Chicken will open at 3400 Frankfort Avenue on Tuesday, Sept, 1, giving away more than $60,000 in free chicken meals to the first 100 adults in line.
A one-year supply of free Joella’s Hot Chicken (52 coupons) will be awarded to each of the first 100 adults, age 18 and older with identification, The line can begin forming up to 24 hours prior to the opening, with the prizes being given away Sept. 1 between 8 and 8:30 a.m.
Joella’s is the newest concept of Louisville restauranteur Tony Palombino, who is also the Founder/CEO of Boombozz Craft Pizza & Taphouse and Manny & Merle on Whiskey Row.
Palombino, an avid fan of Nashville’s classic hot chicken, which takes your traditional Southern fried chicken and gives it “spirit” by adding various spice blends, thought it would be a great menu addition to the Manny & Merle honkytonk theme. “We experimented with several recipes and tested them, and I was amazed how it took off. Hot chicken now represents 35% of our food sales,” Palombino said. With the popularity of the hot chicken at Manny’s, Palombino was inspired to open a stand-alone location featuring the fiery bird.
For those who are not into a “bird that bites back”, Joella’s will serve traditional Southern fried chicken. Whole wings and jumbo-sized tenders will also be offered with the tenders grilled upon request. But for those who seek heat, the all-natural, Kentucky Proud chicken will be offered in five spice levels: , southern, spiked honey, hot, hotter and “fire in da hole” which incorporates the Carolina Reaper pepper recently named as the hottest pepper in the world.
Sides will also be king, with each one made fresh in-house. They include five mac & cheese, sweet- vinegar slaw, garlic fries, kale crunch salad and a southern favorite, black-eyed pea salad. Wood-fired flat sandwiches, house-made desserts will round out the food menu. Another first for Kentucky will be the addition of a Boylan’s fountain soda machine which will dispense small batch carbonated beverages made from pure cane sugar. Flavors include Black Cherry, Ginger Ale, Crème, Root Beer, Cane Cola, Lemon Lime, Birch Beer, Creamy Red Birch Beer and Diet Cola. Local craft beers will be offered by the pint, pitcher or cans.
So who is Joella? “Back in the late 70’s my parents owned a restaurant that specialized in southern fried chicken. The chicken was made daily by two long time employees, Joe and Ms. Ella,” Palombino explained. “Watching how hard they worked every day made a huge impression on me as a young boy, and I wanted to bring them back to life, in spirit, and honor them.”
