Chick'nCone

Chick'nCone is a fast-food restaurant brand based in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley and focused on a portable interpretation of chicken and waffles. Its signature product combines breaded chicken strips with a waffle cone, allowing the meal to be eaten by hand without a fork or knife. The format distinguishes the brand from conventional chicken-and-waffles restaurants, where the components are generally served on a plate and eaten with utensils. The business was founded and is owned by Jonathan Almanzar and Josh Lanier. Before developing a permanent restaurant footprint, the founders operated Chick'nCone primarily through food trucks and catering. This early model allowed the company to test its product, serve events, and build awareness around a visually distinctive meal format before expanding into brick-and-mortar locations. The brand subsequently established locations in the Lehigh Valley, New York City, and Kentucky, and later expanded through a wider domestic and international location network. Chick'nCone's central proposition is portability. Chicken strips are placed into a waffle cone and paired with sauces or flavor combinations, creating a product positioned between a handheld fast-food meal and a novelty comfort-food experience. Media descriptions have variously characterized the concept as a hybrid food, "hipster" food, "frankenfood," or fork-free chicken and waffles. These labels reflect the brand's emphasis on an unusual presentation as much as on the underlying ingredients. The concept is designed for quick-service occasions, including casual meals, takeout, events, and food-court or high-footfall environments. Its product architecture is comparatively focused: the namesake cone is the principal offering, while variation is created through chicken preparation, sauces, toppings, sides, and beverages. This concentration gives the brand a clear identity but also makes execution, food quality, portioning, and the portability of the cone central to the customer experience. In 2016, one of the founders stated an ambition to reach 50 stores within five years. The company did not achieve a permanently documented footprint of that exact size in the cited material, but it continued to expand beyond its original Pennsylvania base. As of 2024, reported locations included numerous U.S. cities as well as Toronto, Canada, and several sites in the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Sharjah. The international locations indicate that the brand has pursued franchising or other location-partner expansion models, although the available reference material does not establish the precise corporate structure. Chick'nCone remains a specialized casual fast-food brand rather than a broad-menu restaurant chain. Its differentiation rests on the combination of familiar fried chicken and waffle flavors with a distinctive, utensil-free serving format. The brand's public identity is therefore closely tied to portability, visual novelty, customization through sauces, and the social-media appeal of its cone presentation.

Chick'nCone was established by Jonathan Almanzar and Josh Lanier as a restaurant concept centered on a portable version of chicken and waffles. Rather than serving fried chicken and waffles on a plate, the brand places breaded chicken strips into a waffle cone. The format eliminates the need for a fork and knife and makes the product suitable for eating while walking, at events, or in other quick-service settings. Before opening a substantial number of permanent restaurants, Chick'nCone operated mainly as a food truck and catering business. This phase was important to the concept's development because it allowed the founders to bring the product to different audiences without the fixed costs of a conventional restaurant. It also positioned the brand as an event-friendly and visually distinctive food offering. The product's combination of familiar comfort-food elements and unusual presentation attracted attention from media outlets that described it using terms such as hybrid food, "hipster" food, "frankenfood," and fork-free chicken and waffles. The company later moved into permanent retail locations, including sites in the Lehigh Valley, New York City, and Kentucky. In 2016, a founder publicly expressed the goal of opening 50 stores within five years. The statement reflected an ambition to move the concept from a regional food-truck and catering operation toward a scalable restaurant chain. The available sources do not provide a complete account of the company's financing, franchise arrangements, or the exact number of stores opened during that period. Chick'nCone's expansion continued into multiple U.S. states. By 2024, the reported U.S. network included locations in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. The chain also reported international locations in Toronto, Ontario, and in the United Arab Emirates, with sites in Dubai and Sharjah. The geographic spread suggests an effort to develop the brand beyond its original Pennsylvania base, although the cited material does not specify whether each location is company-operated, franchised, licensed, or operated by a local partner. Throughout its development, the brand has maintained a narrow and recognizable product identity. The waffle cone is both a serving vessel and a core part of the food experience, while sauces and related menu components provide variety around the central chicken-and-waffles idea. Chick'nCone's business proposition consequently depends on simple preparation, portability, a memorable visual format, and the ability to serve the product efficiently in casual restaurant, food-court, takeout, and event settings. As of the latest cited information, Chick'nCone is an active fast-food chain with a presence in the United States and selected international markets. Its history is defined less by a succession of broad menu categories than by the commercialization and geographic expansion of one distinctive handheld product concept.

1. 2024Reported North American and Middle Eastern footprint

   The company reported locations across multiple U.S. states, Toronto in Canada, and several sites in the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Sharjah.

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2. 2016Ambition to reach 50 stores

   A founder stated a goal of opening 50 stores within five years, signaling an intended transition from a regional concept to a larger restaurant chain.

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3. Founding of the Chick'nCone concept

   Jonathan Almanzar and Josh Lanier founded Chick'nCone around breaded chicken strips served in a waffle cone, creating a portable alternative to plated chicken and waffles.

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4. Food-truck and catering phase

   Before developing permanent retail locations, the brand operated primarily through food trucks and catering, using mobile and event-based service to introduce the concept.

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5. Expansion into permanent restaurants

   Chick'nCone established permanent locations in the Lehigh Valley, New York City, and Kentucky after its initial mobile-food phase.

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A portable, novelty-oriented fast-food concept that turns chicken and waffles into a handheld, fork-free meal.

• Chick'nConeHandheld fast food

  The signature product consists of breaded chicken strips placed into a waffle cone. It is designed to be eaten without conventional utensils, combining the flavors and components associated with chicken and waffles in a portable format. The cone functions as both packaging and part of the meal, while sauces or flavor variations can alter the profile of the chicken.

• 2016Set a target of 50 stores within five yearsStrategy

  After developing the concept through food trucks, catering, and early permanent locations, the brand faced the challenge of scaling a highly specialized restaurant format.

  What changed. A founder publicly stated an ambition to build a network of 50 stores within five years.

  Aftermath. Chick'nCone subsequently expanded its reported presence across numerous U.S. states and into Canada and the United Arab Emirates, although the cited sources do not confirm whether the five-year target was met.

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1. Chick'nCone