Popular Fried Chicken Makers Find A Home In Park Slope

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Owners of popular fried chicken business Pecking House have good news for Park Slopers who have been patiently waiting since news broke early last year they'd be coming to the neighborhood.

The chefs — whose original plans at the former Santa Fe Grill storefront fell through in 2021 — have found a new space on Flatbush Avenue.

"We have our lease signed...and plans are underway," Maya Ferrante told Community Board 6's Permits and Licenses Committee on Monday. "We've got the keys."

The 244 Flatbush Ave. location, found near St. Marks Place, will be the first permanent outpost for Pecking House in Brooklyn, which ran largely as a delivery and pop-up business since starting in 2020 at a kitchen in Queens.

Owners had long been searching for a home in the borough after realizing that about 75 percent of their deliveries were going to Brooklyn, specifically in Park Slope and Prospect Heights, they told the board.

"We noticed Brooklyn was a huge part of where we were going the whole time — particularly that area," said co-owner Eric Huang.

The location is also perfect given that both chefs live nearby, Ferrante in Park Slope and Huang in Clinton Hill, where their most recent pop up has been operating at Rosalu Diner.

Huang started Pecking House in September of 2020 as a way to help keep his uncle's restaurant in Fresh Meadows running during the pandemic.

"It was really just to pay the rent, keep the lights on, and people really rallied around the business," Ferrante said. "It's grown tremendously beyond anyone’s wildest imagination and dreams."

The Flatbush Avenue storefront, which most recently was home to Taro Sushi, will offer a fast-casual version of the chicken menu, along with some new additions, like cocktail options, owners said.

Community Board 6's committee unanimously supported the business' liquor license application for the spot on Monday. The application will now head to the full community board, though the State Liquor Authority has the final say.

The restaurant, which includes 46 seats, will run from noon to 10 p.m. most days and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to owners.

It is likely to excite all the Park Slopers who were lucky to try Pecking House's hard-to-get delivery service — and even those who didn't.

"I was one of the people who was wait-listed and it never happened for me — that’s all I have to say!" committee member Reginald Ferguson joked with owners on Monday.

"We gotta fix that," Huang replied. "We're nearby now, so we gotta fix that."