Photo credit: Marin Hamataj
C
SWEET VIBES
liché Magazine had the
opportunity to interview John
Seymour, co-founder and CEO of
Sweet Chick, a New York based
restaurant that serves up classic dishes like
chicken and waffles and other comfort food
staples. He talked the branching of Sweet
Chick to new locations, what diners crave
when they come in, and why Sweet Chick is
a truly unique NYC experience.
Cliché: When did your doors first open?
Have you always been at this location?
John Seymour: It was 5 years ago, so 2013.
The original location in Williamsburg, we
opened our doors in February of 2013. Since
then, we’ve opened four other units, four
other restaurants.
Williamsburg was the first location.
Then this location on the Lower East Side,
we opened up about a year and a half later.
Then, that was when I met Nas, and bought
it with Nas, and opened one in Los Angeles
a year after that, then Prospect Heights, near
the Barkley’s Center, and most recently, we
opened up in Queens, Long Island City.
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Any plans to open new locations?
The latest plan was to open up three
restaurants, and we did that within the
past year, and now we’re looking at other
opportunities. So now we’re looking at other
opportunities potentially overseas, looking at
other cities in America itself. To me, I think
that Sweet Chick really could be in every
major city. So, we’ll see if the opportunities
come along and we’ll definitely be ready for
it when that time comes.
What is the most popular dish here?
Does it vary via location?
I’d say definitely the most popular dish,
probably without question, is the original
chicken and waffles. One of my favorite
dishes is the Nashville chicken and waffles.
But yea, shrimp and grits are up there,
obviously mac and cheese as a side, but
most people are coming here for chicken
and waffles. Typically what happens is they
look around and they see that there are other
menu items and they’ll come back on their
second visit and try something different.
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What set’s you apart from other
restaurants in NYC?
The restaurant menu is built around chicken
and waffles, so we kind of own that as
something that we do the best. But, I just
think from the vibe, the experience of
coming to the restaurant, our hospitality,
just the overall vibe of the restaurant is very
unique. I don’t necessarily look to other
restaurants for inspiration, so we kind of
found our own lane and I think it makes us
unique. When it comes to hospitality, it’s
just being friendly. I think a lot of places
forget that you’re actually just supposed to
be friendly, and our staff is kind of able to
use their own unique personalities to make
friends with the customers that come in, the
customers that eventually become family, and
I think that’s just kind of the way we do it.
Have you had any celebrities eat here?
Who was the most high profile?
Even before Nas partnered with us, we had a
lot of celebrities come in. We still do. We get
a lot of people come in all the time, people
from Scarlett Johansson, Cameron Diaz, T.I.,
the list goes on. There’s a lot.