Sticky Bird: Wingers’ Sister Restaurant Cooks Crispy Chicken For A Cause

Sticky Bird in Farmington is a recent entry in Utah’s crowded fried chicken scene, where you’ll find a lot of “bird” restaurants. Pretty Bird. Dirty Bird. Lovebirds. The Bird. But Sticky Bird is easy to remember, because of the sweet-hot “Original Amazing Sauce” that glazes the restaurant’s chicken tenders, known as “Sticky Fingers.”

The Wingers Connection. Sticky Bird Red Barn Farms, at 504 N. Station Parkway, is sister brand to the Utah-based Wingers restaurant chain. It’s a fast-casual format with plans for future franchising.

“We took our proven Sticky Fingers from our Wingers casual dining brand, and combined them with unique offerings that would work in a fast casual (quick service) model,” said Brandon Howard, chief operating officer and executive chef of Wingers USA.

The Red Barn Connection: The restaurant is also a partner to the Red Barn Academy addiction recovery program, located north of the restaurant.

The Red Barn Academy gives drug addicts and convicts a place to stay and work toward a successful, sober future. Several currently work at Sticky Bird, where they learn responsibility, teamwork and culinary skills that will help them secure future jobs. A portion of the restaurant’s proceeds help finance the Academy’s programs.

Case in point: Jason Webb, Sticky Bird’s general manager, spent 30 years in and out of prison, mostly for drug-related offenses. In 2017, one of his cell mates told him about a new drug program starting in Farmington, and he realized it might be his last chance to turn his life around.

The Red Barn Academy’s two-year program helped him turn from addiction and hone his leadership skills.

“I’ve always done well with structure because I can live inside a prison,” he said. “That’s what it’s like in the beginning over there, and it’s what I needed, someone telling me what to do. You are up at 4 a.m., pulling weeds, helping with laundry.”

He began managing the Academy’s farm, and working with some of the new guys coming in to the program.
“I had a front row seat to helping people change, and that got me wanting to do this for the rest of my life,” Webb said. “I’ve got a real love for team-building, and I got good at it, with people who normally don’t get along well, like convicts and addicts.”

He brought his team-building skills to the restaurant, from local teens starting their first job, to Academy students, and more experienced staffers.

Red Barn’s beginnings: Rich and Kristin Haws, who owned the property that became Station Park and Park Lane Commons, started the Red Barn program after losing their son, Dustin, to a heroin overdose in 2012. They began hosting therapy sessions in their large red barn on Park Lane Commons. Over the years, the program expanded to include living quarters for over 50 participants who work on the farm, the Red Barn Movers, a thrift store and other jobs, said Webb.

The partnership between Red Barn and Wingers took a few years to develop. In 2016, Rich Haws asked his friend, chef Brandon Howard, to help develop a culinary skills program for Red Barn students. Howard is prominent in Utah’s restaurant scene, having helmed acclaimed Utah kitchens such as LaCaille, Market Street Grill and Oyster Bar, The Point at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Snowbird, and Park City Mountain Resort.
 
Two years later, Howard became the chief operating officer and executive chef of Winger’s USA. It happened that Wingers wanted to enter the quick-service restaurant industry, and the concept of a fast casual restaurant like Sticky Bird dovetailed with the Red Barn Academy’s vision of offering culinary training to its students.

  The Farmington Sticky Bird is the company’s first location, and “As we franchise and open other stores, their people will come here for training, and so will more students from the Red Barn,” said Jason Webb. “Currently the Davis Technology Center has been helping with a culinary course at the Red Barn, and eventually it will connect here.”

Sticky Fingers are the menu mainstay. They are served in combo meals, in chopped salad, and even as tacos. They’re tossed in a choice of sauces: the sweet-hot Original Amazing, Utah Honey Vinegar, Classic Buffalo, Double Barrel BBQ, or Rebel Fire. A three-finger combo meal includes fries, slaw, two cinnamon-sugar donut holes (called cake pops) and a drink, for $9.50.

Tennessee Legs are a signature item that Webb and Howard want to promote. Due to a nationwide shortage of chicken wings, drumsticks are getting more culinary love these days.

  “We had to stop selling wings, but the legs are more meaty than wings, and they’re so good,” Webb said. “We’ve added several different new spice rubs that you can get on them besides the Nashville hot dry rub, including honey habanero, Cajun spice, sweet BBQ, and garlic parmesan. For that matter, any of our chicken items can be tossed in your choice of rub or sauce.”

Another new item, the Original Pounder, is a riff on the restaurant’s Nashville Pounder chicken filet sandwich. The Nashville Pounder is topped with crunchy deep-fried Onion Straws and slaw, and the Original is decked out with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a creamy Swiss sauce.

  Along with the already mentioned onion straws, signature sides include Buffalo Cauliflower, Mac & Cheese Wedges, and Garlic fries.

  Cauliflower has become a trendy veggie for low-carb diets, standing in for rice, pizza crust and mashed potatoes. At Sticky Bird, it’s dipped in a hot sauce-flavored batter and deep-fried. Webb said that future plans include non-battered garlic parmesan cauliflower, which would be keto-friendly and gluten-free. 

  “We can also do gluten-free chicken, cauliflower and fries,” Webb said. “Our vegetable oil is soy-based, so it’s also gluten-friendly.”

With the Sticky Fingers Salad, decadent crispy chicken collides with healthy chopped greens, offering the best of both worlds.

When Sticky Bird opened in March 2020, in-house dining was closed due to the Covid pandemic. Now that it’s open inside, the restaurant still does a fair amount of online, drive-through and takeout orders.

Good to know: The restaurant has indoor seating for about 60, with a few outdoor picnic tables next to the parking lot, and a patio with rocking chairs where people can also sit and eat. It’s open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and closed on Sunday.

Utah’s Fried Chicken History: Fried chicken has been a Utah staple ever since 1952, when the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise was hatched here in Utah. Even before that, Irv Maddox in Perry was serving his famous skinless fried chicken at the Maddox Ranch House (which today serves 5,000 pounds of chicken a week). And as much as people talk about cutting fat and calories, crispy chicken seems to be enjoying a surge in popularity with long-time national chains like Chick-fil-A, Popeye’s and Zaxby’s. When Raising Cane’s opened up in South Jordan last month, customers braved long hours in drive-through lines, much like they did when In-N-Out first came to town.

Will Sticky Bird prove to be as popular? Time will tell.

Location: 504 North Station Parkways

Contact: 801-784-5885 or https://sticky-bird.com

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.