Nicki Cardilli co-owns The Coop Chicken and Waffles, a southern-style chicken and waffles restaurant based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Coop Chicken and Waffles, located in the Steel City streets of Pittsburgh, started cooking up their southern-style chicken and waffles in a food truck and expanded by adding a brick-and-mortar location mid-pandemic in 2020. The Coop’s award-winning recipes have customers flocking from all over to try their classic and scrumptious creations.
Can you tell me a little bit about what you do and offer?
We own a food truck and a take-out restaurant focusing on southern-style chicken and waffles. We offer other homemade food, such as baked mac and cheese, chicken sandwiches, dessert waffles, and jalapeno hushpuppies. In addition to all of our homemade food, we also have created our own house sauces.
What made you decide to start The Coop Chicken and Waffles?
We purchased a small school bus on a whim seven years ago because of our love of food. We demolished it ourselves and rebuilt it into what you see today.
What’s your favorite part of running your own business?
We have enjoyed getting to meet new people and becoming a staple in communities and local businesses.
What are some of the biggest challenges of running your own business?
Running a business while raising small children is never easy, and we get pulled in many different directions. Learning to train and manage is something that we are growing into as well.
How does Patriot’s Full Service Payroll help you run your business?
It has been very smooth and easy to use Patriot for payroll services since we don’t have much time.
When it comes to your business, what are you most proud of?
I think the relationships that we have formed along the way over the past five years have been the most important.
What words of advice do you have for people hoping to start their own business?
It will get easier as the years pass, but self-care during those first few years is very important.
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