The artwork is funky, the staff are friendly and the chicken is fried. Inside Duluth’s colorful new restaurant, Chicken n’ Whaaat?!, owner and local restaurant veteran Louis Hanson is serving up a chicken sandwich and tenders menu just as fun as the building’s exterior would suggest.
The new Spirit Valley establishment is the latest venture in a long line of successful businesses for the Duluth Grill Family, which Hanson operates, in part with his parents Tom and Jaima.
Opening just before the start of 2025, Chicken n’ Whaaat?! joins the ranks of other local eateries like OMC Smokehouse, Corktown Deli and of course, the company’s pioneering restaurant, the Duluth Grill.
“It took us some time to establish a foothold of making things homemade, making things from scratch and offering a warm and friendly environment,” said Hanson. “When we decide to expand, we’re wanting to keep that going.”
A native Minnesotan, Hanson has lived in Duluth since he was a kid and his family is no stranger to the restaurant scene. In 2001, the Hanson family first got involved with the Duluth Grill, known at the time as The Duluth Grill Embers. Since then they’ve established a company — also including owners Jeff Petcoff, a childhood friend of Hanson’s, and Dan LeFebrvre, who brought his business management degree and love of the restaurant industry to the group in 2006 — which has helped create a “foothold for from-scratch food,” on Duluth’s west side.
“There’s a commitment to the guest experience and a commitment to food quality unlike anything else,” said LeFebrvre, who has worked in and around the restaurant industry for the majority of his life. “You see it in the way we treat guests and the way we treat each other, as employees, as teammates…There’s a sense of care about every little detail.”
Evidently, that care has paid off. The company has seen a series of expansions through the years since splitting from their Embers partnership in 2008. Adding to their portfolio has allowed owners like Hanson and LeFebvre to branch off from their original management roles at the Duluth Grill restaurant and offer new leadership opportunities for employees.
Alongside businesses like Frost River, Bent Paddle and Damage Boardshop, this resurgence of restaurants in the last 20 years has helped make the Lincoln Park craft district what it is today, Hanson said.
“We felt like the bones of the neighborhoods were always good,” he explained. “The buildings are there… They just needed a little TLC, and the community and the people around are very positive about the neighborhood and moving forward.”
The Duluth Grill Family has expanded beyond just food service, growing to include hospitality and retail ventures like Minnesconsin Merch, with more than 300 employees companywide. While it’s taken a while to get here, though, a chicken place has long been in the cards for the family-owned company.
“We’ve always wanted to do a chicken-style restaurant,” Hanson said, adding that it could have happened with OMC Smokehouse, before the Lincoln Park establishment settled on southern-style barbecue. “It’s been on the back burner for a while, and we’ve done a lot of sandwiches and sauces throughout our whole company, kind of preparing for one day that this could happen.”
That “one day” came in early September of 2024, when Hanson and other owners of the Duluth Grill Family toured the small space attached to a gas station, just off I-35. Previously home to Charleys, a cheesesteaks chain, the space had just the sort of potential Hanson and his partners were looking for.
They signed a lease and got to work. Artists Kevin Ballecer and Mela Nguyen were brought in to help give the space a new twist, decorating the walls with bright colors and zany depictions of chickens chilling on a massage table, or soaking in the sun on a hot oil beach while a porcine lifeguard looks on. If the style seems familiar, it’s because Ballecer and Nguyen helped decorate the walls of Burger Paradox, another Duluth Grill Family restaurant, where the artists doubled as servers.
The team worked quickly to pull together the necessary equipment to open up the grab-and-go chicken spot, hiring a dedicated team and picking out a name for their newest venture.
“We kind of just said ‘This is kind of funky; the artwork is a little bit out there’,” Hanson said. “It’s got some fun characters, it’s a fun space, now let’s make the name funky, too.”
By December 2024, just approximately 90 days after the initial tour, Chicken n’ Whaaat?! was opening their doors. There were no expectations, that opening week, for how business was going to go. But not long after the kitchen was up and running, Chicken n’ Whaaat?! had a line outside the door. On any typical day, most of the Duluth Grill owners can be found operating out of one of their various venues, but opening week saw the whole crew back behind the counter.
“I think it was the first time we had worked together since 2016,” said LeFebrvre, recalling that first big rush. “It was very reminiscent, because… we had all worked together at the Duluth Grill, but we were all standing shoulder to shoulder again, slinging chicken. It was a lot of fun.”
The Duluth Grill team had figured it would take a little time for Chicken n’ Whaaat?! to find its footing. After all, the Spirit Valley location was a little outside their regular bubble of Lincoln Park, but the community has continued to be nothing but welcoming and supportive, LeFebvre said.
“We see all the good bones that were in Lincoln Park here in Spirit Valley,” Hanson added, highlighting the other businesses surrounding their new location, like Zenith Bookstore, among other local staples. “We’re just here to come and help support the groundwork that has already been laid. Hopefully we can make an impact and help contribute to this neighborhood.”
Operating with a counter service for a tightly packed room of tables and booths, Chicken n’ Whaaat?! is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. While any one of the owners might be seen checking in on business or lending a hand in the kitchen on a given day, there’s about 20 regular staff members working out of Chicken n’ Whaaat.
“The team that we have here came together faster than any team that we’ve had in our opening groups. The chemistry that they have, the willingness to work with our company, our culture, it just was seamless.” said LeFebrvre. “I think you go into a new restaurant opening anticipating the worst…but it came together really fast, and it’s a testament to the group of people that joined our team, their commitment to seeing this thing be successful.”
Now, with a couple months under their belt, there is a good number of regular customers coming in and foot traffic and word of mouth bring plenty of first-timers to the fried chicken joint, looking to try what the new kitchen is serving up.
While the Chicken n’ Whaaat?! menu is focused around fried chicken sandwiches and tenders, there’s still plenty of options to choose from. There’s The Classic, served with lettuce, pickles and mayo on a toasted brioche bun, or the titular Chicken n’ What?! sandwich, which comes with the signature Whaaat sauce, a white barbecue horseradish aioli.
While that’s a favorite among the staff, the Nashville Hot, Bourbon Bar-B-Que and Cluckin’ Dill-icious sandwiches are just as tasty, and don’t forget to get an order of their delicious crinkle-cut fries.
“I don’t want to overcomplicate the process,” Hanson said. “We’re doing fried chicken tenders and sandwiches, but it’s like, how can we do it really well? How can we take the time and care to make sure it’s the best it possibly can be?”
It’s a simple premise — good food, done well, and the crew at Chicken n’ Whaaat?! is sticking to it. Their chicken thighs, sourced from a family-owned Colorado company, get brined in buttermilk and tabasco before being hand-dredged in flour. Then, the chicken gets fried up in beef fat, which is filtered multiple times a day to make sure customers are getting the best quality food, straight from the kitchen.
“At the end of the day, it’s just about putting out a really nice product in a friendly atmosphere,” Hanson said. “It’s kind of really fun and surreal, because we’re just in a gas station in Spirit Valley, but it’s still all about the food, and I think we’re making something good here.”
Emma McNamee is a Duluth-based freelance writer.
