Pizza Champ ‘Famous Hakki’ Plans New Chicken Spot on Essex Street
The Lower East Side pizza champion is diversifying with a new spot dedicated to chicken.
Hakki Akdeniz, who owns a plethora of pizzerias around the neighborhood, is planning to open Essex Chicken at 115 Essex Street. Just a few doors down from Champion Pizza.
The 24-seat newcomer will boast a small menu of assorted chicken, from wings to sandwiches. And Macaroni and Cheese.
Essex Chicken seeks a wine-beer license with late hours, and is on the Community Board 3 docket for consideration this month.
Akdeniz is vying for a space that was quite controversial as Boss Tweed’s Saloon (multi-agency stings, girls passing out in the bathroom and locked behind the gates), until it became the upscale health eatery Greens and Grains last year.