Chicken shack brings yakitori to satellite beach

Pete Newsam is enthusiastic.

He is excited to move to Florida. He is excited to open a new restaurant. And above all, he is excited about chicken.

Talk to him for a few minutes, and it’s hard not to get excited.

Newsome opened the Chicken Shack A1A on Satellite Beach on February 6th, bringing his version of “Broast” Chicken to the iconic State Highway A1A.

Chicken shack chicken is cut by hand, breaded by hand, marinated for 24 hours before entering the broster. This looks like a combination of a tempura pot and a pressure cooker. Chicken is cooked in peanut oil to keep it moist and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Newsome said it was a great picnic chicken because it was the hottest, yet juicy and flavorful even when it was cold.

The menu includes gizzards, pork chops, onion rings and fried okra.

“Chicken is what we wear hats, but all our food is delicious,” Newsom said.

This restaurant is the sister of the original chicken shack in Loser, Oklahoma. It is on another iconic highway, Route 66. Newsome has been the general manager of the restaurant since it opened five years ago. A friend of Edigo Shenor, the owner of the chicken shack, has a house on satellite beach, so he decided to open a second place.

Newsom came to the Space Coast to set up a new restaurant and planned to return to Oklahoma.

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“People who were trying to do this decided to do something else,” he said. “I was here ….”

His wife came down a few weeks ago to look for a house.

The Chicken Shack is located in the Strip Center, just south of the Pineda Causeway, a space previously occupied by the North Bistro. The inside didn’t take much effort. The existing wooden panels gave the dining room a rustic feel. Newsom set up a picnic table and went to work with a sail hanging for the shade outside.

If you order at the counter, it takes 11 and a half minutes to cook the whole chicken.

The original chicken shack is a destination around Luther, with hundreds of people sitting inside and outside. Guests play cornholes, listen to music and hang out.

The satellite beach restaurants aren’t that big, but Newsom wants to bring some of them to new locations.

“We are proud of our continuous growth,” he said.

Newsom is still trying to learn Florida diner habits, but rumors about yakitori are widespread.

“One of my busiest days was Thursday,” he said. He prepared for a busy day next Thursday. There is nothing. Then he got a lot of people after the church one Sunday and the next week there was a late day.

“There is no rhyme or reason,” he shrugged.

He is not worried. He is not afraid of hard work, and he believes in his product.