Today we’d like to introduce you to Mackenzie Hall.
Hi Mackenzie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hall’s Honey-Fried Chicken was founded by John Hall, my father, and is a spinoff of Dallas’ most famous chicken family – Henderson’s Chicken Shack. Henderson’s chicken shack was founded in 1948 (no more original Henderson’s exist anymore). After getting permission from his uncle to use the original recipe, my dad opened Hall’s Chicken in 1989. The original location was moved to the Camp Wisdom Rd. location later which still is standing now! The store was rebranded as Hall’s Honey Fried Chicken and has been in business for 30+ years.
I personally grew up in the family business and worked for many years (unpaid of course haha). I have so many memories of working in our little shack taking orders and learning about the business at a very young age. I joined my father officially in 2018 and was helping modernize many aspects of the business. In 2019, I opened my location in the Medical District (near Parkland Hospital and Children’s Hospital) and the whole process was honestly a shock to me!
Just to give you an insight of the conversation, this is how it went:
*my dad and I standing infront of a building*
My dad: so what do you think?
Me: Are you looking at this for another location? Looks good!
My dad: *ranting about how good the location is*
Me: But who is going to run this?
My dad: You – this will be your store….
Me: 😮
At the time, I was 25 years old. We opened on March 25, 2019. Since then we have added a third location in Carrollton. I never thought I would be doing this, but after being 7 years in, I cannot imagine myself doing anything else! Being apart of the hospitality industry in Dallas is no joke and I’m grateful to have such an amazing foundation but also to be thriving in the environment despite so many things happening in our industry throughout the years.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
NO.
We opened on March 25, 2019. For our year anniversary, the city of Dallas shut down for COVID. That is one of the most vivid memories I have as a business owner. So many successful businesses shut down permanently during that time and we were able to stay open despite being a small business.
Additionally, as a young black woman, I learned a lot about the dynamics of how people saw me, despite my authority. I had to deal with employees (particularly older men) going around me and speaking to my father and not addressing me. It was really difficult as first, but I learned how to navigate it and there was never a time my father did not have my back in those situations. I even lost a vendor because he called me a “little girl” and told me I didn’t know how business worked, but my dad supported me and we got rid of him because I refused to do business with him after that incident.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work in hospitality, a fast-food restaurant essentially. We specialize in fried-chicken and the recipe has remained unchanged for 75+ years.
I am the most proud of opening my location at 25 years old. I’ve grown so much as an owner over the last 7 years and being able to continue a family legacy since 1948 is incredible.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Besides my father, there are a few people I want to mention.
My godfather was instrumental in me opening my location in 2019 and is officially my business partner. My husband was also a huge factor in my success. Despite the very long hours when we first opened, he was incredibly encouraging and took every moment to celebrate me. My husband also created 2 of our 3 house made sauces! He’s an engineer who loves to cook haha. We created the sauces to roll out with our version of “nuggets” on our year anniversary but due to other things (COVID) we put that on pause. The sauces ended up staying and are incredibly popular.
Pricing:
- Fast Food/Quick Service
- Average meal $12-15
- individual meals to family meals
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hallshoneyfried.com/about
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hallshoneyfriedchickendtx/
Image Credits
Observer (news article)
