SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The people of Sacramento have spoken, and Nash & Proper is the winner of the Calling All Dreamers competition.
The prize for the competition includes start-up capital to help Nash & Proper open a location in downtown Sacramento. The Nashville hot chicken food truck has been operating for over a year in Sacramento.
Founder and co-owner Cecil Rhodes said they plan to open a brick-and-mortar location in 2020.
Rhodes confirmed that he and his partner Jake Bombard are negotiating a lease in downtown Sacramento.
Rhodes said he started Nash & Proper after the wave of interest in Nashville hot chicken began.
Rhodes decided to try one of the fast-food chains' versions of the hot chicken sandwich and thought it was "absolutely nasty."
"So I said, 'Let me study,'" Rhodes said. "I started developing this recipe."
After perfecting his method of frying chicken and testing various levels of spices to make their chicken sandwich go from mild to cluckin' hot, Rhodes and Bombard brought their food to the public, and it took off.
Rhodes said they'd see a line beginning to form nearly every time they set one of their three trucks to open. Sometimes the line would go all the way down the block even before they opened.
"I love Sacramento," Rhodes said. "I love that they have our back."
Rhodes said he almost didn't enter the Calling All Dreamers contest because of how busy he was with their current enterprise.
But Rhodes knew his customers, fans and supporters would want him to enter and open a restaurant where people could go to any time.
Rhodes said that even after the new location opens, they plan to continue to operate the food trucks.
He said this new location is just the beginning, and that they may open more locations or franchises in the future.
"The sky's the limit," Rhodes said.
While waiting for the new location to open, Rhodes said people could check their schedule out on Nash & Proper's website or Instagram.
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