Kennedy Fried Chicken and Crown Fried Chicken are common restaurant names primarily in the New York–

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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and

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areas of the United States, but also in nearby smaller cities or towns along the Northeastern United States. Kennedy Fried Chickens typically compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in the

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

neighborhoods of several states along the East Coast. There are also a number in the West Coast, primarily in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. A number of these restaurants, located in other states, are named New York Fried Chicken, essentially designed in the same manner and offering the same general menu as Kennedy and Crown Fried Chicken. It is not an actual franchise in the typical manner; every "Kennedy" named chicken restaurant is independently owned and operated by different individuals but consist of essentially the same menu.

History

Kennedy Fried Chicken was founded on May 16, 1969, with its first restaurant on

Nostrand Avenue South end in Sheepshead Bay Nostrand Avenue () is a major street in Brooklyn, New York, that runs for north from Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay to Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg, where it continues as Lee Avenue. It occupies the position of ...

in the Flatbush section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. There is a dispute among the people involved in the business over who is the actual founder. Some claim that it is Abdul Karim while others say Taeb Zia was the early founder. Zia, an Afghan immigrant originally from

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, is known by some as ''Zia Chicken'' or "Lau Chicken". After studying engineering in Baku,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

, he immigrated to the United States in 1977 and began working at a New York City

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...

chain by the name of Kansas Fried Chicken, founded by African-American entrepreneur Horace Bullard. After spending about three years learning how to run a fast food business, he decided to open his own fried chicken restaurant with equivalent quality but prices 15-20% cheaper. Kennedy Fried Chicken was named after assassinated

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, "because Afghans are fond of the former president." During the 1980s and 1990s many of the same restaurants have opened across New Jersey, New York,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

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and several other states, including West Coast states such as

The restaurants

For the most part the restaurants share the same concept, if not the same menus. In addition to fried chicken they may offer

fried fish Fried fish is any fish or shellfish that has been prepared by frying. Often, the fish is covered in batter, egg and breadcrumbs, flour, or herbs and spices before being fried and served, often with a slice of lemon. Fish is fried in many parts ...

, hot wings,

short ribs Short ribs are a cut of beef taken from the brisket, chuck, plate, or rib areas of beef cattle. They consist of a short portion of the rib bone and the surrounding meat, which varies in thickness. There are two major types of cuts: the "flanken ...

, shrimp, burgers, pizza, beef patties on

coco bread Coco bread is eaten in Jamaica and other areas of the Caribbean. The bread contains some coconut milk, and is starchy and slightly sweet in taste. It is often split in half and stuffed with a Jamaican patty to form a sandwich in the same manner a ...

, sandwiches,

fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

, corn on the cob,

mashed potatoes Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American and Canadian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a ...

onion rings An onion ring, also called a French fried onion ring, is a form of appetizer or side dish in British and American cuisine. They generally consist of a cross-sectional "ring" of onion dipped in batter or bread crumbs and then deep fried; a vari ...

, sweet potato pies and a variety of flavors of

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

for dessert.Tarek, Shams (ndg
"Restaurant Review: A Fast Food King With Many Choices"
''Southeast Queens Press'' Some restaurants are in dangerous areas of the most dangerous cities, serving from behind

bulletproof glass Bulletproof glass, ballistic glass, transparent armor, or bullet-resistant glass is a strong and optically transparent material that is particularly resistant to penetration by projectiles. Like any other material, it is not completely impenetr ...

, especially at night. Some locations have added Middle Eastern dishes such as kebabs with rice to their menus, but Kennedy's and Crown's specialties are the deep-fried chicken (described as "not too dry or too soggy"). Chicken and food are quite often ordered

a la carte A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

. Not all dishes are available for takeout and delivery. Menus are usually posted on the walls with photographs. Due to the tendency of these restaurants to appear in inner-city locations, Kennedy, Crown, and New York Fried Chicken are sometimes referred to disparagingly as "

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

chicken". In 2008 one Kennedy Fried Chicken restaurant in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

changed its name to "Obama Fried Chicken" in honor of the election of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

.see: ''Obama Fried Chicken'' or ''Obama Fried Chicken & Pizza'' at Flickr.com for details.

Legal matters

The restaurants are traditionally owned and operated mostly by Afghan-Americans but are not formally connected, although their concept, menus and prices are similar. The multitude of owners has caused problems for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in New York; since the 1990s Kentucky Fried Chicken has tried to enforce

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

rights against some of the Kennedy Fried Chicken restaurants, many of which used the initials "KFC", and have been known to decorate their restaurants in red and white colors similar to Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants.

Trademark controversy

In 2005 Abdul Haye, an Afghan immigrant since 1989 and a resident of

Whitestone, Queens Whitestone is a residential neighborhood in the northernmost part of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood proper is located between the East River to the north; College Point and Whitestone Expressway to the west; Flushing and ...

in New York City, registered Kennedy Fried Chicken as a trademark. He has been attempting to enforce the trademark against other restaurants with mixed results.

References

External links