163 1st Ave. New York, NY, 10003.

Their Success…This summer a rising trend of Chicken sandwiches are evident. David Chang,
Founder of Momofuku Inc., is named a leader in this trend with his opening of Fuku NYC,home to an $8 spicy-fried-chicken sandwich. Since its opening on June 10th, Fuku has been on headlines and trending throughout social media because of its chicken sandwich. There is an obvious inspiration by Chick-fil-A which Chang grew up eating in suburban Virginia, and he also claims to be a fan of In-N-Out for its unique corporate culture as much as for its burger. Chang describes Fuku as “our attempt to sort of honor the great fried-chicken places and fast-food concepts out here, to do our version of that, and hopefully, to make it better.” With never-ending lines around the corner of the restaurant , one can say Chang has successfully started a fried-chicken culture and redefined “fast-food.”

Fuku NYC is located on 10th St. and 1st Ave. This location is also the original location of the Momofuku Noodle bar. After six months of intensive renovations and development, Fuku now boasts a very chic urban atmosphere. Utilizing their space to its full potential, an open kitchen, and bar side tables are available for those who are eating-in. Although no chairs or stool are available for consumers, customers are fully accommodated as a fast-casual restaurant.  After ordering, customers are given a number where then Fuku employees will bring their orders to customers whether it was to eat-in or take-away. Likewise, employees are constantly walking around the restaurant to take away trays.

Employees are also seen refilling their ketchup and ssam sauce bottles throughout the restaurant. The Ssam Sauce is Fuku’s’specialty’ sauce that adds more spice to the chicken burger. Ssam sauce is Fuku’s rendition of an already existing Korean chili sauce and is sold to customers separately. While most customers order a spicy chickenburger, Fuku does serve salads and fries. Fuku also offers a lunch special where customers can easily get a spicy chicken burger, fries and a drink for $12, potentially saving themselves $1 when buying them separately.

Take Aways…Fuku NYC does a great job with creating traffic and retaining customers. With Fuku only at 600 square feet and an open kitchen and bar, there is limited space for people to stand in line so customers are forced to wait on line outside. However, Fuku makes ordering very quick and easy. While one stationed register takes orders, another employee is seen walking down the lines to take orders through their iPads. This potentially retains customers on line by binding orders. Moreover, consumers feel well accommodated and less annoyed from waiting. Fuku only accepts credit cards which speeds up the ordering process.

Their chicken sandwich is simply a fried chicken, pickles and a buttered bun but consumers are attracted to Fuku’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich because of its large fried chicken at an affordable price of $8.

To read more about their grand opening, click here.