Everything you need to know about Chicken on a Stick at Fiesta
SAN ANTONIO - Many years ago in a NIOSA far far away Chicken on a Stick was introduced and since then it has become a Fiesta phenomena!
Today between 30,000-40,000 chickens on a stick are sold. The lines are incredibly long but for just about everyone it's well worth it.
J.J. Gonzalez is his real name but to everyone who runs across him at NIOSA he's better known as Mr. Chicken! He says he's not quite sure how this delicacy became such a big deal and explains it's just a piece of breaded chicken, a big jalapeno on a wooden skewer. Maybe it's oil that it's cooked in or maybe it's just the fact that it's NIOSA and we're ready to enjoy everything so much more.
And J.J. should know, he's been skewering food at NIOSA for 27 years. He says he started on shish kabobs twenty years ago and when he moved to chicken he says he somehow became the face of Chicken on a stick.
I jokingly asked him if there was proper eating etiquette and here's what he had to say:
- It is acceptable either way to take a bite out of the jalapeno or chicken first. Your choice.
- The jalapeno juice can be poured on the chicken but cannot be dipped. He says there are food laws prohibiting the dipping.
- It is acceptable to dip into other kinds of dips like ranch or hot sauce but J.J. says their booth doesn't have them so bring your own.
Heck there's even a "chicken on a stick" fiesta medal! And in fact it was SA Flavor's 2016 Medal. Check out Broadway Pinups and Lolita's on Broadway to get this year's version.
You can catch J.J. and his famous chicken on a stick at NIOSA which starts on Tuesday the 24th of April and runs through Friday the 26th.
