History of fried chicken in Waterford

aziz

Just having a bit of a argument with herself but what was the history of the place in Johns street where the present day kebabarama/ chicking or whatever name it is this week, is
Vaguely remember being graces fried chicken just before it was the beefy king.
Would love to see any old pictures of the place

PTH2009

My uncle goes in religiously every Friday night

A lot of us called it KFC in the 90s, there used to be a chipper called Moes in the Abrakabra part

aziz

But was it actually KFC before it became k recipe and what was it before KFC,
I vaguely remember it being graces or something similar

PTH2009

aziz wrote: »

But was it actually KFC before it became k recipe and what was it before KFC,
I vaguely remember it being graces or something similar

I was a kid in the 90's so cant remember 100% but almost sure it was never a KFC but Waterford people just called it that

Smell the glove

I think it was called KFC but they had to change the name. There was also one down in o Connell street too. On the corner where spirit gym is now if memory serves me right.

JohnC.

I was sure I remembered it being a knock-off KFC before changing to K-Recipe too. Can't remember it before that though.

mooseknunkle

It was Beefy King before it was K-recipe i think?,yeah there was another K-recipe down where spirit gym is now

JohnC.

mooseknunkle wrote: »

It was Beefy King before it was K-recipe i think?,yeah there was another K-recipe down where spirit gym is now

They were side by side. All the one inside really, but two shop fronts. Same as now with Kebabarama and Chick King.

Max Powers

PTH2009 wrote: »

I was a kid in the 90's so cant remember 100% but almost sure it was never a KFC but Waterford people just called it that

I always called it Kentucky.I knew it wasn't a kfc, and I still called it Kentucky.I'd be surprised if it wasn't a KFC at some stage, which is why me and others were and are still calling it (wrongly) by the same name for decades at this stage.

PTH2009

Ah yeah remember there been a K Recipe down in O Connell street

Would love a breast of Chicken from K Recipe now lol

Max Powers

PTH2009 wrote: »

Ah yeah remember there been a K Recipe down in O Connell street

Would love a breast of Chicken from K Recipe now lol

Remember that too, of course, u had breens, forum and the roxy going back then all open down that direction.

Forever21

aziz wrote: »

But was it actually KFC before it became k recipe and what was it before KFC,
I vaguely remember it being graces or something similar

Yes it was Kentucky fried chicken, next door was the beefy king . That was the late 70s .

NoeldeBournaix

Forever21 wrote: »

Yes it was Kentucky fried chicken, next door was the beefy king . That was the late 70s .

There are some photos of that area on the old places in Waterford Facebook page. Photographing the litter by the looks of it.

Stamp says 96?

Forever21

Beefy king was definitely there late 70s as I remember that's where everybody went on a Saturday night on the way home after the clubs . Kentucky fried chicken was there in the 80s as my sister took a weekend job there for a year or two after taking out a mortgage. Those pictures bring back great memories of Saturday nights where we walked home with ease without any fear, if the stamp shows "96 it wasn't KFC then but K-recipe owned by a well known Waterford family who bought next door & made it into one . Then they bought the pub & building on the corner and built Masons. I'm sure there's a few on here who can tell you the exact years .

NoeldeBournaix

Forever21 wrote: »

Beefy king was definitely there late 70s as I remember that's where everybody went on a Saturday night on the way home after the clubs . Kentucky fried chicken was there in the 80s as my sister took a weekend job there for a year or two after taking out a mortgage. Those pictures bring back great memories of Saturday nights where we walked home with ease without any fear, if the stamp shows "96 it wasn't KFC then but K-recipe owned by a well known Waterford family who bought next door & made it into one . Then they bought the pub & building on the corner and built Masons. I'm sure there's a few on here who can tell you the exact years .

Good info, thanks. Sorry, was meant to reply to the OP there. I wouldn't have known the place prior to the current establishment.

fricatus

If I understand correctly, it originally started out as a KFC franchise in the early or mid-'80s, but then something caused the franchise to end, and the place rebranded as K-Recipe. They seem to have kept as close as possible to the KFC aesthetic and menu without being brought to court, but in the early '90s at any rate, it was universally known around town as "the Kentucky".

There was a great quote from a couple of lads I know who had jobs down there when they were at school: "In order to cook chicken, one must learn to think like a chicken" :-)

deisemum

I cannot get over the amount of litter, just showed the photos to one of my sons and he was shocked by the amount of litter and he wants to know was Waterford always littered like that. I cannot remember as I was only a visitor to the city back then, anyone know?

NoeldeBournaix

deisemum wrote: »

I cannot get over the amount of litter, just showed the photos to one of my sons and he was shocked by the amount of litter and he wants to know was Waterford always littered like that. I cannot remember as I was only a visitor to the city back then, anyone know?

Those are photos of the morning after the night before, by 8 o'clock the place would be spotless again.

You would never notice much litter around Waterford City.

deisemum

deisemum wrote: »

I cannot get over the amount of litter, just showed the photos to one of my sons and he was shocked by the amount of litter and he wants to know was Waterford always littered like that. I cannot remember as I was only a visitor to the city back then, anyone know?

If you head down town at 7 am on a Thursday morning after a Student night it will look x100 times worst than those pictures.

dzilla

theres a thesis in this I reckon

aziz

Ha, no thesis involved,just confused memories.
Looking at the pictures posted I kinda remember the beefy being of the right of the building as you look at it and the Kentucky being on the left but there would have drink being involved:P

webpal

Used to go into the Kentucky for a snack box and then go to beefy for scallops, what a feed. Wouldn't get away with it now, I'd be on a threadmill for a week.

JupiterKid

KFC have a patchy history in Ireland.

Unlike McDonalds, which came in the 70s and grew from that point on, KFC also came in the 70s (1972, to be precise, the first one being in Phibsboro in Dublin, 5 years before McDs) but pulled out completely from Ireland in the late 80s only to come back in the late 90s again. The current KFC franchise here is run by a Northern Ireland company.

I think a chap called Pat Grace had the first KFC franchise but then there was a falling out and he opened his own chicken outlets under the name "Pat Grace's Fried Chicken."

Finnbar01

Does anyone remember the Wimpy or do I have an active imagination?

JohnC.

It was in Arundel Square.

aziz

JupiterKid wrote: »

KFC have a patchy history in Ireland.

Unlike McDonalds, which came in the 70s and grew from that point on, KFC also came in the 70s (1972, to be precise, the first one being in Phibsboro in Dublin, 5 years before McDs) but pulled out completely from Ireland in the late 80s only to come back in the late 90s again. The current KFC franchise here is run by a Northern Ireland company.

I think a chap called Pat Grace had the first KFC franchise but then there was a falling out and he opened his own chicken outlets under the name "Pat Grace's Fried Chicken."

That was the argument I had with my wife,she said it was always a Kentucky or variation of it,but I seem to remember it as Graces fried chicken in the mid to late 70s
It was only a very small takeaway with a small counter at the end of it
Or am I wrong

Spins

aziz wrote: »

It was only a very small takeaway with a small counter at the end of it
Or am I wrong

...and cowboy saloon style swing doors leading from the counter area to the kitchen.
I thought it was an official KFC back in the day before KFC pulled out of Ireland entirely. I still call it Kentucky today.