DISH MAGAZINE MARCH 2020
THIS COP’S GOT A
Full Plate!
Dirty Bird food truck
owner opens brick
and mortar store on
Buffalo Avenue
R
BY CHRISTINA PARKER
aul Parker gives new meaning to the
phrase “he’s got a lot on his plate!”
Parker, who is a full-time Niagara
Falls Police officer, is also the owner of
the Dirty Bird Chicken N’ Waffles food
trucks you may have seen around the
Western New York region, including
communities on the Niagara Frontier for
the past five years.
Those who have tried it seem to agree
that his recipe for fried chicken and waf-
fles was popular right out of the gate.
To the delight of his fans, Parker has
opened a brick and mortar store on Buf-
falo Avenue. When you ask him how busi-
ness is going since he opened a few weeks
ago, he replies with a smile, “busy, busy.”
“I love cooking, and I wanted to be my
own boss,” Parker explained to a visitor
at his new restaurant when asked why he
wanted to be in the food service business.
He recalls traveling down south as
a kid and says the one thing he always
loved to eat was chicken and waffles.
When he decided to make his cooking
dreams a reality, he wanted to create the
perfect chicken and waffle combination.
“A lot of hours” went into creating
his chicken recipe,” Parker said. There
was a lot of trial and error and a lot of
friends tested his dishes. It took a couple
of months trying out different flours and
batter ingredients until he finally settled
on what is now the award-winning recipe
for his chicken and waffles. His specialty
won him the Pat Sardinia Comfort Food
Award at the Taste of Buffalo in 2018.
When asked how he balances his
police work with his food businesses,
26
Dirty Bird owner Raul Parker holds some of his menu items at his new Buffalo Avenue restaurant including chicken and waffles,
up front, and a his specialty sandwiches.
both of which require a lot of unique at-
tention, Parker credits a strong personal
support system for his success.
He purchased his first truck in 2015,
and with the help of his uncles, he began
fixing it up and turning it into a working
food truck. With the food truck business
established and running smoothly after
four years, Parker focused on the open-
ing of Dirty Bird restaurant.
His long time buddies, including sev-
eral high school friends he has known for
more than 20 years, work with him daily.
He calls them his “crew.” They share a nice
rapport with one another, enjoying each
other’s company and joking and laughing
while Raul tells his story to a visitor.
The father to three-year-old Mia,
Parker gives a lot of credit for his success
to his mom, Luz Parker.
“My mom is awesome. She watches the
baby for me. She goes shopping for me if I
need to go shopping. She does everything.
Whenever I need her, she is there.”
The original bestselling Dirty Bird
dish, which is made of deep-fried slices of
chicken breast served with sweet, crispy
waffles, tops the menu at the restaurant.
Other items include a spicy chicken
sandwich, Po’Boys, chicken and waffles
on a stick, chicken wings, pork ribs, as
well as Friday fish fries, and Sunday
specials of barbecue chicken, and classic
soul food such as corn bread, yams, and
macaroni and cheese.
Dirty Bird restaurant is located at 6004 Buffalo
Avenue, in Niagara Falls, and is open 11 a.m. to
7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On
Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant opens at
11 a.m. and stays open through 2 a.m. the next
morning. Visit Dirty Bird on Facebook or call
564-7161 for more information. Dirty Bird is also
delivering in the Niagara Falls area via doordash.
com or the DoorDash App.