Knott's hires its pie-stealing coyote to replace Johnny Rockets
Johnny Rockets is closing at Knott's Berry Farm. And one of the park's villains is taking its place.
Knott's announced today that the Johnny Rockets restaurant in Charleston Circle will close April 15. Taking its place will be Crafty's Kitchen - a new venture from the pie-thief coyote in the Knott's Bear-y Tales ride next door.
Crafty Coyote might be trying to move on from stealing boysenberry pies, but he certainly seems to have found a ready supply of chickens. The new restaurant, which opens this summer, will serve chicken tenders, wings, and "a take on chicken and biscuits," according to the park. The slide-tray cafeteria set-up also will offer a variety of "sassy pup sauces."
The restaurant also will serve boysenberry pie milkshakes that Crafty promises will use responsibly sourced - not stolen - pies.
"Crafty's Kitchen is the previously shuttered factory cafeteria of the Beary Factory, and Crafty Coyote has decorated his new place with mementos of his villainous days while also showcasing inspiration for his newfound turn at making an honest living," Knott's said in its announcement. "The walls will be lined with playful mug shots, wanted posters, and blueprints for Crafty's wacky fryer inventions, blending Knott's Berry Farm nostalgia with a fresh, contemporary vibe."
Why the change? Perhaps not coincidentally, the parent company of Johnny Rockets filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Johnny Rockets used to have restaurants at more than a dozen U.S. theme parks, thanks to sharing an owner with Six Flags years ago. Those have disappeared, and the Johnny Rockets at Universal Studios Hollywood's CityWalk is gone now, too, being replaced by a Korean BBQ.
Replies (7)
Mission accomplished, then. :-)
This is excellent news! I’m very excited!
This is clever, and something more theme parks will need to commit to if they're expecting to charge premium prices for pedestrian food (let's face it, changing from a burger chain restaurant to 1-off spot selling chicken strips is not a culinary epiphany). While outsourcing this to a brand like Raising Canes, Zaxby's, or Chick-fil-A would have probably brought initial interest and crowds, farming out quick serve food is never a winning proposition in the long run, as so many theme parks have learned over the past 20+ years.
I certainly hope KBF understands that selling mass-produced, restaurant supply chicken strips doesn't fly anymore, and has plans to make these in-house.
I mean, it's not like the park has a history with frying chicken. /s
@Robert - And Six Flags has a long, illustrious history of selling mass produced restaurant-supply chicken strips, so much that they've deemed them "Famous".
I'm definitely hoping that these are freshly prepared, but every time I think Six Flags is doing things right and raising my expectations, they end up falling back on the same old habits that have defined their brand for the past 2 decades. I'm at the point with Six Flags (now including the legacy CF parks) where it's prudent to hope for the best, but expect the worst.
Remember everyone, the new Six Flags logo only has one flag... and it's red. (LOL)
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That headline is a fever dream. . .I never knew which word was coming next.