Kauai favorite Chicken in a Barrel opens in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Almost seven years ago, longtime friends Mark Hudson and Don Havard went to Kauai with their wives to vacation on the Hawaiian Island. They like to get a taste of local favorites while out of town and asked locals where they should eat.

Chicken In A Barrel was their recommendation.

Not only did the Las Vegas foursome go once, but they went a few times and the flavors they experienced have stayed on their minds ever since.

When they heard the founder of Chicken In A Barrel, Mike Pierce, was going to franchise, they jumped at the opportunity as the friends had always wanted to start a venture together.

When they found the old 50s Drive-In at 2100 Lake Tahoe Boulevard was available, they thought they could recreate the atmosphere from the Hawaiian restaurants. The street reminded them of the original Kauai location, and a community that combines locals with tourists was going to be a good fit.

"We liked the large tight-knit local community," they said.

It took a while to get the building up to par, and Mark has been in town preparing the site (Don came in July).

They originally wanted to paint the building to match the traditional Chicken In A Basket yellows and blues, but they had to fit in with TRPA standard shades. They learned about the codes and rules along the way with the help of their contractor, Blair McCloud of THK Construction.

"We were not prepared for the planning process," said Don. "Knew it'd be challenging and learned some lessons. We let our contractor take the reins."

Mark went to Kauai to train with Pierce and his cooks, then Pierce came to South Lake Tahoe to help the pair get staff trained on the smoking process Chicken In A Barrel is known for.

They wanted a soft opening to slowly ease into things and just turned on the "open" sign and put a sandwich board outside. No fanfare or advertising, but it wasn't needed as the lines have been long since that first day, Friday, August 3.

They sold out of food the first three of four nights due to the unexpected crowds.

Several people had been stopping by as they prepared to open, many who had visited the Kauai locations. They told Hudson and Havard they couldn't wait and were anticipating that first bite.

Even though the restaurant has been open just over a week they have had several repeat customers. Many start off with the Sampler Plate to get a feel for the food. It contains a rib, chicken, pork and beef and chili. It is their number one seller so far.

There are two large smoker barrels outside, the smells luring customers in. They fire up the barrels each morning with charcoal and mesquite, then start the smoking process so every dish is fresh.

They have hired a crew of ten that they are very pleased with. Mark and Don received resumes from local cooks long before they opened the doors.

They have picnic tables outside, and tables inside and will work on decorating the interior soon. The Kauai locations have surfboards (the chicken on the sign is surfing), so want to bring that feel inside along with local favorites, paddle boards and snowboards. The smokers will be outside year-round so a more permanent cover will be added and will other touches.

South Lake Tahoe is the first mainland location for Chicken In A Barrel, and there will soon be another one in Santa Barbara. On Kauai there are three spots.

Chicken In A Barrel is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. They can be found on Facebook HERE. Ask for your local's discount too!