Bunnell restaurant reopens at former Chicken Pantry, serving Southern comfort food
Redneck Rick’s Cooking, a local hidden gem, re-located earlier this month from 2405 to 602 E. Moody Blvd. in Bunnell, the former location of the Chicken Pantry restaurant, just two months after the iconic eatery announced its closure.
For Rick Pixler and Theresa Brear, owners of Redneck Rick’s Cooking, the nearly 70-year-old building was one they had been eyeing for a while, predominantly for its front-and-center roadside location.
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“Where we were at 2405,” Pixler began, “You’re in the back and —”
“— Nobody sees you,” Brear chimed in.
“But I still lasted three-and-a-half years there,” Pixler continued. “So I thought, well, this came up and it's right on the main road — let’s go for it.”
The duo’s previous location, formerly Gilly’s Saloon, often sent first-time customers on a scavenger hunt of sorts to simply locate the restaurant, Brear explained.
“We used to have a map on my takeout menu of how to get there,” she laughed. “... That was our biggest challenge over there — was just somebody to find us.”
What to expect at Redneck Rick’s new location
At Redneck Rick’s Cooking, one thing is certain: You might come in a stranger, but you’ll leave as family.
The intimate eatery feels warn-in, well-loved and inviting — a place the owners tell me boasts a daily surge of regulars who know they’re not simply another passing face when they stop by.
Like a true hug from down South, the local spot radiates with natural character and an old-school sparkle time can’t dull — a place where the gravy and biscuits are always warm, beer cold and customers known by name.
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“We want everybody to feel like they’re at home,” Brear began. “We don’t want you to come in and feel like —”
“— just a number,” Pixler continued.
“We wanted everybody to feel like, hey, you’re family. Come over, have a good time, hang out, you know?” Brear said.
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The Southern-style eatery, known for its classic comfort foods, offers a lengthy menu of homemade morning meals, “brown-bag combos” and supper selections, including the Hawg Slop Sammich — pulled pork with a supper side; the Momma Tee’s Pond Cat Sammich — fried catfish filet with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles; house-made chicken nuggets and burgers; Kiss My Southern Biscuits (and gravy); and Big Rick’s Pork Loin Sandwich.
“I get a huge pork tenderloin and then I'll cut it — cut in house, I cut everything in house — and then it's pounded out to the size we want,” Pixler said of the well-seasoned, deep-fried dish that's served alongside a homemade, secret sauce, known for its slight kick.
Redneck Rick’s sources its rye bread, hamburger buns and hoagie rolls from a local bakery out of Holly Hill and offers weekly, rotating homemade soups, as well as beer, wine and wine-based liquors — not to mention live music every Thursday evening during Latin night, open mic nights on Fridays, and karaoke every other Saturday at the restaurant.
How Redneck Rick’s Cooking came to be
Pixler, a West Virginia native, tells me cooking hasn’t been a life-long gig, but rather a hobby that naturally evolved after venturing to the Sunshine State.
“When I moved down here and I met (Brear), we just started basically just cooking in the driveway, because I had a truck club,” he explained.
“Well Redneck comes from — Rick used to run mud trucks,” Brear chimed in. “His old truck is on 'Trucks Gone Wild' four and five … So, we did the truck club thing in Ocoee, then we moved to Lake County and he was on the side of the road with a smoker.”
From there, the duo had plans to open shop in a local convenience store, though the opportunity didn’t pan out, leading them to purchase a food trailer in 2015, which they maintained for roughly four years before ultimately opening shop at 2405 E. Moody Blvd., Suite 505, in Bunnell’s City Plaza, where they stayed for several years.
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Looking back, it was cooking for the truck club, the duo tells me, that inspired the very atmosphere of Redneck Rick’s Cooking — a place where relationships are formed and maintained; where people are cared for and cared about.
“(The response) has been really good,” Brear said. “We ran out of food the first week … we really appreciated the response. We were not expecting that.”
Redneck Rick’s Cooking is located at 602 E. Moody Blvd. in Bunnell and is open 6 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, 6 a.m. – 9 p.m. Thursday – Saturday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sunday. For information, call 386-313-6296 or visit facebook.com/RednickRicksCooking. The restaurant goes by Rednick Ricks on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Redneck Rick's Cooking reopens at former Chicken Pantry in Bunnell
