A growing wing company has set its sights on opening its first North Carolina location in the coming days, with the location in downtown Chapel Hill.
VooDoo Wing Company plans to open on East Franklin Street on Wednesday, July 31, management and ownership told Chapelboro. The location will be the business’ ninth after it was born in 2014 and began franchising in 2023.
The wings restaurant moved into the 147 East Franklin Street property months ago, with its franchise ownership putting pen to paper in March. The deal happened shortly after Dame’s Chicken & Waffles formally closed its location in the space, which also previously housed the wrap restaurant [B]SKI’s.
Sunny Kumar, who is the owner of the Chapel Hill franchise, says he came across VooDoo while researching restaurants to invest in. He says after learning about the chain started in Las Vegas and trying food at its first franchise location in Fort Mill, S.C., he bought into the idea and began looking for spots in North Carolina. Kumar says Chapel Hill quickly became a target and was able to purchase the East Franklin Street space once it hit the market.
“We did see the energy… the town is vibrant,” he says of the community. “I came several times — during the day time and night time — checking out the foot traffic and cars and everything, so I thought this would be a good location.”
Michael Dagley co-owns VooDoo Wings Company and says he’s excited to add Chapel Hill to the brand’s geographical footprint.
“A lot of people like to say it’s a boutique wing joint,” Dagley says of the business. “We have 17 signature flavors, and we’ve got a few signature dry rubs that have recently come out. The difference between VooDoo and its competitors is the quality… the quality in both the sauces and the marination process we do on our wings on a daily basis.”
The menu for VooDoo includes sauce flavors like Carolina Gold Strike, Jamacian Jerk, Spicy PB&J, Hot Honey and Strawberry Reaper. Non-wing meals include a buffalo chicken sandwich and chicken salad, with sides such as slaw, fried pickles, and buffalo mac and cheese.
VooDoo Wings’ first location was in Las Vegas before locations were established in Alabama, where Dagley is from. While the towns may not appear on paper to be similar to Chapel Hill, Dagley says almost every other existing VooDoo restaurant is within a quarter mile of a college campus — and are doing good business. He points to their popularity around sporting events and partnerships with the universities’ athletic departments, adding that the catering side of operations helps carry the locations through the winter and summers when students are not around. The Chapel Hill franchise’s goal will be to market aggressively to the UNC student population once school begins and the restaurant is up and running, but to also appeal to and rely on the permanent residents.
“We’re going to use the fact that we’ve won the Best Wings in Las Vegas numerous times,” adds Dagley. “The product stands on its own, and once people try the quality of [food] we put out, they’ll be back.”
According to Kumar, VooDoo Wings Company is still working out its hours for the Chapel Hill location, but it will be open until 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and past midnight on the weekends.
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