Chicken Connection still ‘doing it the old-fashion way’ | News, Sports, Jobs

But some things haven’t changed, Lisa Giles said. As the Chicken Connection marks its 40th anniversary, the Giles family are still serving up broasted chicken and customer favorites like potato wedges with sour cream.

“Nothing has changed on the menu since day one. Everything is homemade. We don’t do anything the easy way,” Giles said. “And that’s, I think, what makes it as good as it is, doing it the old-fashioned way.”

The Chicken Connection was founded in 1986 by Lisa’s parents Dorance and Marion Kuehl. The Kuehls first started selling broasted chicken at the A&W restaurant they owned in Marshall. When the A&W was destroyed by a natural gas explosion in the winter of 1985, the Kuehls changed focus.

“They didn’t want to redo (the A&W), because it was a lot of work. And we did sell broasted chicken there, so they thought they would try it and see how it went,” Lisa Giles said. “And here we are, 40 years later.”

Brooke Giles spread butter on rolls in preparation for the lunch rush at Chicken Connection. The restaurant’s core menu has stayed the same over 40 years.

The Chicken Connection started out on a location on East Main Street, where the Hy-Vee gas station is today, Lisa Giles said. Then, they moved to East College Drive, near where El Rancho Auto Sales is now.

“We stayed out there for seven years, and then the rent was going to go up, and so we just decided let’s build,” she said. “We needed to have our own building, and not rent anymore.”

With the construction of their own building, the Giles moved Chicken Connection back to East Main Street.

The Chicken Connection’s menu has stayed the same over the years, with chicken and sides like broasted potatoes, coleslaw and macaroni salad.

“At the beginning, we didn’t know how many potatoes we would go through. They did maybe a five-gallon pail (of potatoes) a day. Now we’re at least six to seven pails per day,” she said.

Doug Giles boxed up orders of broasted chicken for customers in the drive-through on Friday morning.

Marion Kuehl came up with the Chicken Connection’s signature sour cream dipping sauce for the potato wedges, Giles said.

“I think we went to a steakhouse one time, and they had it there, and she recreated it from that,” Giles said.

The Giles said the prep work for lunch and dinner orders starts every morning, with jobs like making coleslaw. “And then we chop potatoes at night for the next day,” Lisa said.

Although the core of the Chicken Connection’s menu has stayed the same, the restaurant has gone through some changes in recent years. During the COVID pandemic, they had to switch to offering takeout only. But drive-through business really took off.

“Through that time, we had to order seven more cases of chicken a week,” Doug Giles said.

Brooke Giles took Ruth Martinez’s order at the Chicken Connection’s front counter.

The Chicken Connection also has a food truck now, that travels to events in the Marshall region. Doug and Lisa’s daughter Brooke came up with the idea.

“It’s different from being in the store, but in a good way,” Brooke Giles said of taking the trailer on the road.

“It was like, why not?” Lisa Giles said. “It’s not like we were starting a new business. It’s an extension of what we already have, is how I like to look at it.”

Earlier this month, the Chicken Connection got some unexpected publicity when food reviewer Tony Cu stopped in for a meal. Cu made videos trying food from Chicken Connection, as well as the Hitching Post and Toni’s Depot.

“It took us by surprise,” Lisa Giles said.

Cu’s review encouraged lots of new customers to try the chicken and the same sides he ordered.

“He ordered macaroni salad, so you just know. If people want macaroni instead of coleslaw, that’s a sign that they watched his video,” she said.

Lisa Giles said customers were a big part of the reason she and Doug continued the family business.

“I didn’t want to see the business go away, because we do have a lot of followers, a lot of faithful customers,” she said. Some local residents have been coming to the Chicken Connection for years.

“You see little kids, and then they’re adults and they have kids. You see a lot,” she said.

It was “pretty special” to see the Chicken Connection continue with new generations of owners, Lisa Giles said. “You don’t see that very often, and I hope it continues that way.”