Guy Fieri's Florida Restaurant Chicken Guy! May Be Getting Evicted
In collaboration with restaurateur Robert Earl, chef and Food Network star Guy Fieri opened his first Chicken Guy! restaurant in Disney Springs in 2018. Besides its obvious Fieri branding, the chain is known for its extensive selection of 22 sauces (which we've ranked). In the years that followed, Fieri and Earl added 11 more locations to the roster, with another seven set to open soon. The owners of the fried chicken chain may have to lower that number by one, however, as the landlord of the restaurant's Winter Park, Florida, location has called for their eviction, per a report from Click Orlando.
Fieri and Earl — the latter of whom owns other franchises like Earl of Sandwich and the struggling Planet Hollywood — originally entered a lease with the landlord of the Winter Park location on December 9, 2021, according to court documents. On March 12, 2024 (exactly three years, three months, and three days later), the landlord filed a complaint suggesting that the restaurateurs owed $38,507 in past-due rent.
In the complaint lodged by DKM Winter Park SNS, LLC, the landlord not only asks that Chicken Guy! be evicted from the premises but also requests $50,000 in damages. Per the court documents obtained by Click Orlando, the large sum is intended to cover the past-due rent, as well as future unpaid rent, late charges, and taxes and fines acquired as a result of Fieri and Earl's alleged negligence.
The landlord wants Chicken Guy! to pay up and get out
Before DKM Winter Park SNS, LLC, called for the eviction of Chicken Guy!, the landlord allegedly made several attempts to collect the unpaid rent. Court documents suggest that they sent a formal notice to the store on February 15, 2024, requesting the rent be paid or the premises be evacuated by the tenants within three days. As the company and its founders seemingly failed to meet either requirement, the landlord apparently sent yet another three-day notice on March 4, 2024. That, too, reportedly received no response, prompting the landlord to take legal action.
This isn't the first time Guy Fieri and Robert Earl have been accused of failing to pay rent. In 2022, the Mall of America sued Chicken Guy! and its guarantor – Earl Enterprises — for $3 million, claiming the company owed $292,333.20 in past-due rent. Fieri and Earl have yet to comment on the March 12, 2024, filing.