The founders of Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer, husband-and-wife duo Chris Barish and Julie Mulligan, who introduced the world to the over-the-top milkshakes known as CrazyShakes, have made their way over to the chicken tenders segment.
Last week, Barish and Mulligan opened their first New York City location of fast-casual concept Tender Crush in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, showcasing a menu of both grilled and battered chicken tenders and other creations, many of which have kitschy, New York City-related names like the Williamsburg Waffle fries and the Staten Island Crunch (a chicken sandwich topped with Staten Island hot sauce, pickled banana peppers, brine, parmesan cheese, and roasted garlic).
This is the first standalone Tender Crush restaurant outside of a food hall location, which opened at the Canteen Food Hall at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev., in January as a chicken-centric ode to the five boroughs of New York City.
“We're taking a menu item that has probably most been enjoyed in a fast-food setting and add in a layer of quality and ‘chef-iness’ to it,” Mulligan said. “It’s an ode to New York as a melting pot with cultures represented from all over the world. You know about Southern fried chicken and Korean fried chicken, but we're kind of trying to make New York flavor a thing because it's the blend of all these different elements that exist in in one place that I think makes the city so special.”
Tender Crush was first conceived as a possible ghost kitchen concept during peak COVID days, but by the time Barish and Mulligan were ready to launch it, New Yorkers were allowed to dine in again, so it was put on the back burner. Then, they were approached by the hotel owners behind the Venetian and the Rio Hotels to take the concept to Las Vegas, so that’s how a New York-centric chicken tender concept got its start outside of New York.
“It's clearly such a New York story, and really was designed to be this New York brand, so we wanted to find a way to bring it here sooner rather than later, and make sure it had a home,” Mulligan said. “One of the tenants next door to us upstairs moved, so we thought, what better way to bring Tender Crush to New York than by having it right next door to our original Black Tap location on Broome Street.”
Chicken tender fans can choose either the classic fried chick tender that is brined in a club soda and buttermilk batter then fried extra-crunchy or go for the grilled chicken tender, instead, that is marinated in lemon and other spices. Available dipping sauces include buttermilk dill, sweet chili pop, and lime honey mustard. The chicken-centric menu is topped off with soft serve vanilla custard plus toppings, as well as local craft beers from breweries like Coney Island Brewery and Brooklyn Brewery. The brand also showcases its Coney Island Cooler creation, which tops off a frozen slushie cocktail with a dollop of soft serve custard.
Inside the venue, Barish and Mulligan wanted to be thoughtful about the design as an ode to authentic New York:
“We had a lot of fun with the space and we put a lot of thought into it,” Mulligan said. “It feels a little like a nostalgic corner store, but also kind of brings in some of the themes of the subway, which is another thing that connects New Yorkers and is a big part of who we are.”
Moving forward, Barish and Mulligan hope to open more locations soon, starting with a smaller footprint location at Terminal 8 at JFK Airport in Queens. Currently, Tender Crush is focusing on establishing New York City as a homebase, but they both see opportunity in locations in other markets globally.
Contact Joanna at [email protected]
