sneakybird, a family-owned restaurant that opened its doors in Scottsdale in 2022 and offers a quick, craft, casual approach to signature oven-grilled chicken sandwiches, tenders, wings complemented by handcrafted flatbreads, tater tots, and fresh chilled veggies, announced its plans to expand across Arizona. The brand, led by veteran restaurateur Dan Chaon and his son, Nathan Chaon, is partnering with J2E Investments, LLC a family-owned business located in Gilbert, to open six new locations across Maricopa County over the next 18 months.
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“Our family – the team behind J2E – discovered sneakybird while on vacation in Scottsdale last summer,” said Jordan Strasser, managing member of J2E Investments, LLC. “We were looking for a healthy alternative to fried food – chicken in particular – and could not believe the quality. It kept us coming back day after day. By our trip’s conclusion, we set up a meeting with Dan and his team and made plans to open operations of J2E in Arizona to start the expansion process with him.”
The first location will open at Verde at Cooley Station in Gilbert later this spring, with sister restaurants set for Hudson Station in Queen Creek as well as Prasada in Surprise targeted for opening by fall 2024. sneakybird also has plans for locations in Arcadia, Dove Valley, and additional Southeast Valley restaurants over the next 18 months.
“Together, our families are going to work together to create a haven for diners where flavor meets health, and tradition meets innovation. This is the first in what we expect to be a slew of partnership announcements that will expand the brand statewide and then across the country in key markets over the next five years,” said Dan Chaon, who in addition to serving as founder and chief executive officer of sneakybird is the former partner and CEO of Native Grill & Wings as well as a leader with Brinker International, where he developed the Chili’s brand across the Southwest for more than a decade
Chaon created the sneakybird brand after investing in technology that allows a specially designed oven to bake chicken on all sides while locking in juiciness and flavor.
“I also developed a proprietary recipe for breading that uses panko flatbread as well as aged parmesan that together combine to give the crunch and flavor of fried chicken,” said Chaon, who named his restaurant sneakybird using all lowercase letters by design to underscore its sneaky-good and sneaky guilt-free product. He also copyrighted his mission statement to be Never Ever Fried®.
The brand currently features signature chicken in a sandwich, wings, or as tenders with the guests’ choice of eight dry rubs – all of which are gluten-free – plus their choice of 10 sauces, making the flavor combinations nearly endless. Guests may also choose to have their chicken “naked, “meaning simply grilled sans the breading with salt, pepper, and our garlic dry rub. There are also a slew of handcrafted flatbreads, tater tots, and fresh chilled veggies that complement the chicken menu.
“We are proud to be on the ground floor of what we believe is a revolutionary concept, and beyond Arizona, we are already eying a timeline that will allow us to expand the brand into the Midwest in the next few years,” said Strasser.
