Operations

Billy D's Fried Chicken opens in Wake Forest

Provided

February 6, 2023

Chef William Dissen has opened a third North Carolina location of his farm-to-table restaurant brand, Billy D's Fried Chicken, at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem. The restaurant has locations on the campus of Elon University in Elon and at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro.

"Wake Forest students value good food that comes from real farms and Billy D's delivers on just that," Dissen said in a company press release. "We started with a pop-up last year at one of the school's main food halls and sold more than 2,500 fried chicken sandwiches in one day. The dining hall food operator told me it was the most they've ever seen sold of one item in the dining hall's history! It made perfect sense to explore opening a location there with our partners at Aramark and Harvest Table Culinary Group."

The campus menu features "hot 'n' crispy, raised right" southern fried chicken, chicken sandwiches and sides, such as macaroni and cheese, waffle fries, coleslaw and a sauce bar.

"Wake Forest has a demonstrated commitment to sustainability, which is at the heart of everything I do at my restaurants," Dissen said. "For example, the university has a complete working farm, full-circle sustainability education, and classes on climate change and sustainable systems. We're excited to open doors to these exceptionally bright young minds."

Founder and executive chef of upscale farm-to-table classic restaurants, The Market Place in Asheville and Haymaker in Charlotte, Dissen was inspired to bring farm-to-table meals to mainstream customers in faster formats.

Based on student response and restaurant performance at Elon University and Wake Forest University, he plans to partner with more universities to expand the brand.

In 2021, Dissen faced off and beat Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay on a National Geographic program, landing Dissen the title: "Most sustainable chef in the world."