If you can’t take the heat, get out of Texas! The Cookshack takes spicy and turns it up to levels that could have you shouting expletives by your last bite. Featuring fried chicken and ribs, customers can choose from 5 heat levels, starting at “Not Hot” and ending at “AMF”—which we’ll term “Adios, My Friend” but a more colorful phrase is a common interpretation too. Cookshack CEO Mark Rogers explains how what makes The Cookshack different and how one TikTok video sent their sales skyrocketing.

What inspired you to get into foodservice?

“A trip to Nashville about 5 years ago inspired The Cookshack. Seeing hundreds of people wait in line for up to 90 minutes to eat average hot chicken showed us that there was a real market for what we wanted to do. The food wasn’t great, the restaurants we visited weren’t clean—and yet people craved it! We thought, ‘Wait a minute!!! What if we served the highest quality food, including hot chicken, and we did so in a clean environment, while getting food to our guests in an average of under 7 minutes?’ We felt like that would open people’s eyes to something special!.”

What do you love about your business?

“I love the people; it’s that simple. Whether it’s our guests, our employees, or our managers, I love the relationships that are developed every day! This is a people business more than a restaurant business.”

What’s the most interesting thing to happen to your business?

“We were so blessed to be voted as a top 100 restaurant in Texas on Yelp, and that was when we were less than a year old.”

What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?

“This is a painfully easy one. After a TikTok video went viral on our chicken and waffles, we were inundated with waffle orders. Unfortunately, we had just 2 waffle makers, and we couldn’t keep up with the demand. So………. what did we do to fix the problem? We bought more waffle makers. LOL! Now, we just have to find a way to overcome the inflation problem that we’re seeing! That’s going to be a little more difficult.”

Which Cambro products help make your business work?

“We use a lot of Cambro products, but I think I love the shelving and the containers the best. They are so dependable, which is great, but they’re also easy to clean and keep clean! That is a game changer!”

About The Cookshack

Located in Texas, you can find The Cookshack in Fort Worth, Houston, Webster, College Station, McAllen and Spring.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Nominate your business to be the Cambro’s Business of the Week – Click here!