Local restaurateurs' partner to bring more southern comfort food to Salt Lake City

MURRAY, Utah - Feb. 9, 2021 - PRLog -- The owners of an award-winning breakfast and lunch cafe based in Salt Lake City now have an ownership stake in a rapidly growing southern-style chicken restaurant.

The Willey family has purchased a 50 percent stake in Mr. Charlie's Chicken Fingers, a southern comfort chicken finger restaurant located at 554 W. 4500 S. in Murray. They join Mr. Charlie's other owner, Bartley Melton, after buying out previous co-owner Cody Hilliard.

The Willey family also owns Penny Ann's Cafe (pennyannscafe.com). Founded in 2011 in downtown Salt Lake City and with locations in Draper and Taylorsville, Penny Ann's serves up homemade comfort food in a comfortable environment reminiscent of the East Coast family diners from the Willeys' home in upstate New York. The diner is known for its signature Heavenly Hot Cakes.

With the new partnership, Mr. Charlie's Chicken Fingers will standardize their hours to 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They'll also be adding a southern-style "chicken and waffles" dish to the menu.

Otherwise, the new partners will maintain the existing recipes and culture of Charlie's.

"Mr. Charlie's has an outstanding product with a huge customer base and great brand recognition," Paul Willey said.  "We are excited to work with Bartley to help grow the business and open more locations."

Raised in Auburn, Alabama, Melton relocated to Utah in 2014 to pursue ski adventures. He and Hilliard established Mr. Charlie's after working together in college for a southern fried chicken restaurant.

Mr. Charlie's Chicken Fingers is a new fan-favorite restaurant serving fresh chicken that is antibiotic-free, hormone-free, cage-free, and vegetarian fed. The menu features chicken fingers as well as po-boy sandwiches, wraps, salads, and sides. Their signature sauces include "Charlie Sauce," honey mustard, ranch, BBQ, and Buffalo.

"I am confident that lovers of southern comfort food will celebrate our new owners as we grow our restaurant," Melton said. "We look forward to bringing chicken and waffles, along with our other southern delights to the Salt Lake City area."

Learn more about Mr. Charlie's Chicken Fingers at https://mrcharlieschickenfingers.com. Follow the restaurant on Instagram at @mrcharlieschickenfingers.