FL Chicken Shack Popular With Locals And Tourists, Uncle Chicken's, Shut Down Via State Inspection

Photo byGatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

There are plenty of places to get chicken in Florida, but not all establishments make pressure-fried chicken or serve soul food comfort foods like smoked macaroni and cheese and collard greens. Unfortunately, one eatery that does - New Smyrna Beach's Uncle Chickens, was recently temporarily shut down after a state inspection.

About Uncle Chickens: This eatery started out as a food truck, but later successfully expanded into a small chain of three stores. It pressure fries its chicken so that it remains crispy but moist and serves comfort foods like smoked macaroni and cheese, collard greens, corn on the cob, and mashed potatoes.

The eatery located at 440 Dixie Freeway has been reviewed over 1,900 times on Google reviews and earns a high 4.8 out of 5 stars on Google reviews. Both visitors and locals are complimentary of the flavors, customer service, and portion sizes. A reviewer named Leo wrote:

"Outdoor dining at its best. (The) chicken was huge and good. We got the morning-after chicken sandwich, spicy chicken sandwich, Ranch melt, buffalo wings, and chicken strips. It was all great. The price fits the portions. Must try."

What Happened At Inspection?: According to data from a database maintained by the publication The Tallahassee Democrat, an inspection occurred on August 21, 2024. At that time, six violations were noted.

Examples of basic violations were for ribs not being removed from their packaging within 48 hours of after packaging.

High-priority violations came because of the observation of live roaches, rodent activity as evidenced by rodent droppings, and cold foods like wings, cheese, and hummus being kept over 41 degrees.

As a result of some of the above violations, the restaurant was temporarily closed. A follow-up inspection on August 22nd still yielded two high-priority violations, but on August 23rd the facility had zero violations and was free to reopen.

This is not the first closure for this location of Uncle Chickens. It also closed in January of 2022 and August of 2022.

Please note that an inspection is one moment in time and not necessarily how a restaurant conducts itself every day.