Lewis Rudd: Ezell’s Famous Chicken

Lewis Rudd cofounder of Ezell’s Famous Chicken is our guest for this episode.

Ezell’s Famous Chicken opened their first location in February 1984. 38 years later there are 18 locations in Washington and Oregon.  Serving always fresh top quality chicken and their famous sides and desserts made fresh daily in each location.

Lewis shares stories about how  Ezell’s was started with one location across the street from Garfield High School in Seattle. We hear about how The Seattle Seahawks and the SuperSonics both had Ezell’s Chicken as their box lunches when they were traveling to their next away game.

Oprah Winfrey said that Ezell’s chicken was her favorite.  Lewis tells the story of how Oprah found out about Ezell’s and how they travelled to Chicago to make her favorite food for her birthday.

We hear how Ezell’s gives back to the community.  Giving back is a core value to the company.  During the pandemic Ezell’s delivered over 5,000 meals to front line health workers.  With Rudd’s R.U.B.B. Initiative  (Raising Up Black Businesses) 20 Black owned businesses will receive no strings attached business grants.

We had a great time chatting with Lewis Rudd and we know you will enjoy hearing him share stories about the last 38 years of serving Seattle and beyond,

Ezell’s Famous Chicken Lewis Rudd Episode Transcript

Lewis Rudd [00:00:00]:

Too sweet and, a little spongy to the touch.

Scott Cowan [00:00:04]:

Yeah. Yeah. I should have had a bigger breakfast. This is killing me. Welcome to the Exploring Washington State Podcast. Here’s your host, Scott Cowan. Alright. Well, welcome to this episode of the Exploring Washington State podcast.

Scott Cowan [00:00:36]:

I’m, I’m really excited today because I I’m sitting here in my office, but I’m talking to, Louis Rudd of Ezell’s Famous Chicken. And I love your food. That’s not a that’s a shameless plug, but I I used to go to the one in Tacoma a lot when I was living in Tacoma. So I I this for me is exciting. I’m I’m I’m very happy you’re here, so thanks for making the time. Welcome.

Lewis Rudd [00:01:02]:

Well, thank you,

Scott Cowan [00:01:02]:

Scott. Let me see what my first question to you is gonna be. K. Well, you you you’re originally from Texas. Right?

Lewis Rudd [00:01:09]:

Yes. Born in Brooklyn.

Scott Cowan [00:01:10]:

And you and okay. So I was reading on your website. This is gonna be a random weird question to start, but what is Texas style when it comes to food? What does that say? It says Texas style plates. What does that mean?

Lewis Rudd [00:01:26]:

I think, you know, most people when they think Texas style, it’s that southern feel and flavor where most recipes and, meals were prepared when we were growing up in East Texas by the parents to grandparents, and there was no recipe books. It was a Okay. This, a dab of that. And it was always the foods that were prepared were raised on the premises. Okay. They’re grabbing their chicken, you know, the hog, the you know, the the the the meat

Scott Cowan [00:01:59]:

was Mhmm.

Lewis Rudd [00:02:00]:

Processed and cured and prepared right there. So it’s that good old southern comfort food. Okay. And, fresh, homemade, and it’s just good old southern I think when people talk Texas made, that’s what they’re thinking about. Good old southern style comfort food.

Scott Cowan [00:02:19]:

Alright. So what brought you from Texas up to Washington? You like the rain?

Lewis Rudd [00:02:25]:

I actually followed my childhood friend.

Scott Cowan [00:02:28]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:02:28]:

Yeah. You know? And, when you talk about Ezell’s famous chicken, the dream begin with Ezell Stevens in a little small town in East Texas, Marshall, Texas. Alright. Where we used to work for a man named Waylon Brown at a place called Brown’s Fried Chicken.

Scott Cowan [00:02:46]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:02:48]:

A buck an hour.

Scott Cowan [00:02:50]:

Big wages.

Lewis Rudd [00:02:51]:

Big wages. Yeah. And, the dream began to one day, have our own chicken place. And, again, that was with Ezell. And, we were two of, mister Brown’s key employees there. We took good care of his, product and his, recipes and did well running the kitchen and the restaurants there. And when he decided he was gonna expand, he took his over to a little town in Atlanta, Texas, to, open up the second restaurant that he was gonna expand. And then he would bring in this manager to run the place.

Lewis Rudd [00:03:32]:

And for the first time, I saw a look on his face. I didn’t understand. Why is there a look on his face of you know? He just got a nice compliment because mister Brown said to Jesse, I think that was her name, if there’s anything that come up, you don’t know what to do, he pat his ill on the back and say, this is your guy. Talk to

Scott Cowan [00:03:49]:

you.

Lewis Rudd [00:03:50]:

And I saw a look on his face that was confusing for me because I didn’t understand. It’s just a nice compliment he just got, but then he had that look. And so I asked him later when they walked out, what was that look for? He says, well, if I know everything, why is she gonna be in charge? That’s okay. And he pat his chest. One day, we have our own chicken place.

Scott Cowan [00:04:12]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:04:13]:

That was the beginning of that vision Alright. And the dream that would eventually become reality in Seattle some twenty years later. I mean, we were teenagers back then, 17, 16 years of age. And, he would keep the dream alive. And, he would later go into the Coast Guard, and there was a saying when we were kids that Lewis will follow Ezell off the face of the Earth. If Ezell walk off Lewis, I’m gonna be right there behind him. You know, my nickname was shadow at times because anytime you saw Ezell you saw Lewis is what the the the the the the the sand was. Here come Ezell in the shadow.

Lewis Rudd [00:04:53]:

And, but when he went into the coast guard, he was like, no. No. No. I’m not going there. I was afraid of all that water. I’m not going on the boat. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:05:02]:

The edge of the you’ll fall up to the edge of the earth, but not into the water. Got it.

Lewis Rudd [00:05:06]:

The water. No. No. Okay. The water. You know, we used to ride one bicycle up and down those back roads in Scottsville, Texas. That was our main source of transportation. We got because we lived out in the rural part of, Marshall, Eight miles outside the city limit.

Lewis Rudd [00:05:22]:

So to get uptown, you either have to hitchhike, walk, or, you know, we would ride a bicycle. I would pedal the bike on the flats. And when it start up hills, he would jump on the seat, and he would start pedaling the bike up the hills. But either way, we we were always right there together. But Okay. When he went to the Coast Guard, a year later, I stayed and I would go into the army. But we would continue the conversation or he would around one day having our own chicken place. And he would call and he’d ask questions.

Lewis Rudd [00:05:53]:

And he and my sister, Faye, were childhood sweethearts.

Scott Cowan [00:05:56]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:05:57]:

And then, his brother Samuel, the four of us out of 17 kids and two families, we were always close growing up as kids. And we lived right across the road from each other in this little town of Scottsdale. But, he would always, talk about the chicken place. And when he would call and, wanna talk with Faye or whatever, call home while he was in the Coast Guard away. I think it was in, Alameda, California somewhere, but I would always ask, so how’s the chicken place doing? Is customer still coming in and out? And Okay. Cut the chicken with a circle of saw. And, they came in whole body burst, and we would take them out the box, flip them, and we would cut the chicken that we cooked in the kitchen. So he would always ask about the, process for preparing the chicken.

Lewis Rudd [00:06:49]:

We made those fresh homemade rolls that, William Brown had the recipe for back then. And, that same fresh homemade roll that we’ve been doing it for thirty eight years out here. And, again, it’s that same flavor, that same roll that comes out the oven, put a little butter, little honey in there, and this is one of the best treats you can ever have. But, anyway, I’m talking about the rolls, the chicken, and how’s the business going, and one day still having our own chicken place. He would bring that up one day. And, eventually, he would get out of the Coast Guard in, Seattle. And at this time, I was in Germany and in the military and army.

Scott Cowan [00:07:36]:

Mhmm.

Lewis Rudd [00:07:36]:

So by the time I got out, he had married my sister Faye, migrated to Seattle to where one of my brothers had migrated out and another one of my sisters eventually follow came out. And Okay. Migration started to Seattle. And by the time I got out, the first thing he did was drove me around talking about this would make a great chicken place, that chicken place. And Well, let

Scott Cowan [00:07:59]:

me let me let me interrupt you.

Lewis Rudd [00:08:01]:

Go right ahead.

Scott Cowan [00:08:01]:

What were where were the criteria? Why would he say that’s a great chicken what was what was his criteria at the time?

Lewis Rudd [00:08:07]:

Well, one conversation that we had centered around, Seattle would be the place for the chicken place, and he would make the statement that they’ve got banks here like they have gas stations back home. Well, in Texas, there was a gas station on every corner and one in the middle of the block. Everybody want gas stations back there. Right? But he said out here in Seattle, there’s banks like that. There’s banks on every corner, which meant there was a lot of money to buy chicken with. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:08:37]:

No. That’s that’s I I that seems very logical.

Lewis Rudd [00:08:40]:

Yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, he said they didn’t call it the Evergreen State for the trees. This all of the greenbacks out here at money. But, anyway Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:08:48]:

Alright.

Lewis Rudd [00:08:49]:

He he had a good field. So the the first location that ended up opening in the Central District across from Garfield High School was, one of the locations that while he was in the coast guard, he would cross that parking lot periodically, and he would always say, man, this will make a great chicken place. Okay. And he was on his way downtown or just migrating through the city doing whatever. He would walk across that parking lot. And it was an old boarded up building most of the time, and then there would be different, businesses. It was this hamburger shop at one point. It was an ice cream place at one.

Lewis Rudd [00:09:26]:

There was a, a fish, restaurant there. Owner opened it up selling, fish. But then, Ezell and Faye would eventually buy that building.

Scott Cowan [00:09:40]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:09:40]:

It was all boarded up, and it took five years to get the financing to open that restaurant.

Scott Cowan [00:09:49]:

So much for a bank on every corner.

Lewis Rudd [00:09:51]:

Right. You know? And, during this time, it’s you know, there’s a lot of, heightened awareness and conversations going on around social inequities and Mhmm. Racism and social unrest. But, anyway, you know, we face that. Ezell faced that when trying to get, the financing to get that building open. It took five years again Wow. To get the financing. And finally, it was an SBA direct loan, SBA guaranteed loan direct loan to get the business up and running.

Lewis Rudd [00:10:30]:

And it was against our odds. And we were blessed. We were fortunate that we opened it up, and, it was a huge success from day one. It was Friday afternoon, February third nineteen eighty four. They had an event going on across the street at the high school there, Garfield High School called Bubbling Brown Sugar.

Scott Cowan [00:10:52]:

Yep.

Lewis Rudd [00:10:53]:

And they had, it was like a dance competition. So there were kids from schools all around from Cleveland High School, Franklin High School, Rainier Beach, Garfield High School. So it was an opportunity to really introduce the product and the business to the broader community.

Scott Cowan [00:11:13]:

And was that by design? Did you did you guys have the opening day scheduled because you knew that event was gonna happen? Is that when you said that’s when we’re gonna open, or was it just serendipitous?

Lewis Rudd [00:11:24]:

I just think the stars align. You know? It just when it was time, it was time. We had everything in place, and it was just, you know, one of those blessings. And, it seemed like, you know, it it was always the right time and the right thing to do, you know, doing that. And, so it was a it was just a true blessing. And, it was a in February, it was a sunny afternoon, and, we did good sales and, couldn’t wait to go and see if the money in the in the safe match with the re the, crossroads and receipt tapes said. Because it said that we did some good sales. Good numbers.

Scott Cowan [00:12:07]:

Okay. Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:12:09]:

And, so we started out. It was a success from day one, you know, and, the community embraced us. And, to this day, we have, you know, the community to thank for all of the successes that we’ve been able to achieve to this point because, it was the schools, the churches, the the hospitals. It was the, youth centers around town. I mean, they all came in and rallied around us, and it was just a huge, huge community embrace, and and, we just continue marching forward. And here we are again thirty eight years later and, much appreciation to the community that really embraced us, took us in, and, here we are.

Scott Cowan [00:12:54]:

Thirty eight years. That’s you know, I was I was in college then in Ellensburg in Central Washington.

Lewis Rudd [00:13:00]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:13:00]:

And I remember coming over this might have been ’86, ’80 some you know, you’d been open for a little while, and and a friend of mine said you gotta go check this place out. So we did, and I was like, wow. This is this is it’s delicious. It really is. I I wanna know. I mean, you you know, I I I warned you before I hit record. I was gonna ask you first the secrets, and it would be easy if you shared them. But the rolls, you guys, that’s just I know you’re I know you’re chicken, but the rolls, I mean, what’s the story there?

Lewis Rudd [00:13:33]:

A lot of lot of people have, you know, compared it to, liking it to, Hawaiian bread because of the sweetness. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:13:43]:

Yeah. That’s It’s

Lewis Rudd [00:13:44]:

just a fresh homemade yeast roll.

Scott Cowan [00:13:47]:

And They’re delicious.

Lewis Rudd [00:13:48]:

I think the the most, important aspect or the thing that gives it the greatest value when people come in and they love it so much is that it’s baked fresh daily. Each location mixes the bread dough, let it rise overnight, and next day, it’s baked fresh daily. You know? And, it’s nothing like some good fresh homemade vittles. And, those rolls are fresh and homemade every day. And I think, you know, the light and fluffiness, they got a little sweetness to them, but at the same time, you know, they’re not too sweet and a little spongy to the touch. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:14:35]:

I should have had a bigger breakfast. This is killing me. You’re killing me.

Lewis Rudd [00:14:40]:

You know, you put a little butter, a little honey on there, and I’m telling you.

Scott Cowan [00:14:44]:

Oh, they’re they’re amazing. What did your what when you guys first opened, let’s compare and contrast that to, like, today. How was the menu back in ’84 versus what you what you’re serving today?

Lewis Rudd [00:15:00]:

The basic menu is still there, and I’m maybe four or five new menu items that’s been added over the last thirty eight years. I would say mac and cheese would be one of those.

Scott Cowan [00:15:13]:

K.

Lewis Rudd [00:15:14]:

And what else do we have added over the years? Barbecue baked beans. But it’s pretty much the same menu.

Scott Cowan [00:15:26]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:15:26]:

Same menu.

Scott Cowan [00:15:27]:

Why change a good thing? Right?

Lewis Rudd [00:15:28]:

Why change it? You know? And we’ve had lots of people come in and ask, well, why don’t you guys add this? Why don’t you add that? No. If you wanna get that, you need to go down the street. There’s someone doing some great barbecue chicken. We tried barbecue chicken sandwiches at one point, and, you know, we tried at some point to maybe take the, chicken that we don’t sell on the day before and add some barbecue sauce to it and stuff. But it wasn’t the real deal. You know? It was just us trying to, not not have the waste.

Scott Cowan [00:16:01]:

Right? Gotcha.

Lewis Rudd [00:16:01]:

But not really create a good menu item. And Okay. So we decided, let’s just stick to what we do best. And if we have leftover food, we find a homeless shelter or food bank and let them deal with it. And, you know, that was a lot of times too when, talk about the community embracing us and all and the youth centers around town. There was one called CAYA, the Central Area Youth Association, that we would take leftover chicken too. They would have activities going on late night. So when we were closed, whether it was, basketball games or card games or they had productions, so they set up for music production, teaching kids how to engineer and produce music and stuff like that.

Lewis Rudd [00:16:48]:

We let them have the chicken after closing. Somebody would be standing right there hoping that we didn’t sell it all. Yeah. You know? So yeah. And then there was a central area motivation program camp that was a block away from us that, they work with a lot of, youth in the neighborhood to provide programming and, activities for that we would take the chicken to. But anyway, yeah, we said, that’s that’s a better use of the product than us slapping a little sauce on it and trying to sell. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:17:20]:

I I I love it when businesses stay true to the their to the roots, if you will. You know? Like, this is what we do great. Like, we’re just gonna keep this what we do. And if you want something else, there’s somebody over here that’s doing that. Yes. And that’s I love that.

Lewis Rudd [00:17:37]:

Yeah. And so that’s what we’ve, you know, we and we’ve lived by that, you know. It’s like, you don’t fix something that’s not broken. And if it’s working well, why change it? And again, you know, let’s be the best at who we are and do what we do best.

Scott Cowan [00:17:52]:

So question I have is and not not in a in a business scientific thing, but what’s the most popular menu item? What do people order more of anything? And just off the top of your head, what do you think it is?

Lewis Rudd [00:18:07]:

Well, I’ve got stats to back it up. Today

Scott Cowan [00:18:10]:

is the

Lewis Rudd [00:18:10]:

chicken tenders. We sell

Scott Cowan [00:18:12]:

Chicken tenders.

Lewis Rudd [00:18:13]:

Chicken tenders today than bone in chicken or any other menu item.

Scott Cowan [00:18:17]:

Does that surprise you? That surprised me.

Lewis Rudd [00:18:21]:

No. It well, not today because, you know, it’s been that way for some time now, and I’ve watched it evolve. But Okay. You know, when we talk about the chicken tenders and as people have gone away, move more towards that, health consciousness, right

Scott Cowan [00:18:40]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:18:40]:

In their eating habits. And, that chicken tender that we provide is not the compressed meat. It’s a actual chicken tenderloin from a breast piece. Okay. And, it’s pure protein. You know? It’s a good bang for the buck. It’s a good value proposition. And that battering process that we use that seals in the natural chicken juices and locks out the oils

Scott Cowan [00:19:07]:

Mhmm.

Lewis Rudd [00:19:08]:

Man, you get that, tenderloin, I mean, the chicken tender, and it’s just a healthy piece of protein. And

Scott Cowan [00:19:16]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:19:16]:

It’s also easier to eat. You know, a lot of people get chicken to go. 85% of the orders are to go, and a lot of people the chicken don’t make it home, especially those tenders. They open the back and they’re popping tenders on the freeway. That would be great.

Scott Cowan [00:19:34]:

Sorry, honey. I know I was supposed to do this, but they’re gone. I gotta go back. Oh my god.

Lewis Rudd [00:19:39]:

Yeah. Yeah. You know? And, it’s it’s a good value proposition.

Scott Cowan [00:19:45]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:19:46]:

Yeah. And, one of the things that, you know, we’re challenged with right now in terms of with the supply chain shortages and all that that’s going on right now, you know, it’s, concern with making sure that we can maintain the level of, volume that, you know, is being mandated or, of course, in that, you know, fulfilling the demand. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:20:11]:

Mhmm.

Lewis Rudd [00:20:12]:

And, there’s a huge demand for those chicken tenders.

Scott Cowan [00:20:16]:

So because of COVID and supply chain and all that, is but you just said 85% of your orders are to go. So were you impacted I mean, everybody was impacted by COVID, but how was it once things kind of once we realized it was gonna be here for a while and, you know, we started adapting and mask mandates and all that, Did were your stores able to function fairly normally?

Lewis Rudd [00:20:42]:

You know, we are amongst the blessed. And from the beginning of the pandemic to now, we’ve seen nothing but success in our operations. We’ve had some challenges, of course, that we’ve had to make some adjustments and adapt to. However, from day one, we had a model that was pretty much built to deal with the kind of, challenges that was presented by the pandemic when people were, you know, sheltering at home and Mhmm. Not able to go out and dine out again. Well, 85% of our orders were to go from the beginning. And, you know, another blessing was that we had partnered with, a third party delivery partner in DoorDash a year or so before the pandemic hit. So we had built, following on that platform for delivery, and all of our units were accustomed to that already.

Scott Cowan [00:21:44]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:21:44]:

And from a packaging standpoint, because of, 85% of our orders were to go, we were already prepared from a packaging standpoint and have that in place and was you know, and our team members were good at that. And, so when the pandemic hit and everything was pretty much now to go, we were I mean, we just kept doing what we did. Now we did take precautions. We followed guidelines to make sure that our team members were safe and would remain as safe as possible during those times. But in terms of impact on sales, while a lot of businesses were just struggling to survive, we were thriving during that time in sales and continue to this day, you know, to see good numbers in terms of sales. Now, when a lot of others were challenged with the labor shortages, we still have not had a huge negative impact in that area either. We’ve been able to pretty much maintain a good percentage of staff, and we haven’t had to alter our hours or days, open it. And, you know, I think when asked what do you really attribute that to, I think it’s the culture that we created from the very beginning.

Lewis Rudd [00:23:13]:

Okay. And, it’s a caring culture, you know, where people are there because they care more than anything else. They care about each other. They care about the guests. They care about the brand. They care about the quality. They care about listen, just a caring culture.

Scott Cowan [00:23:30]:

Well, let’s go back to ’84 when you first opened. How many people were working? When when you opened the first location, how big was the team?

Lewis Rudd [00:23:39]:

Five of us.

Scott Cowan [00:23:40]:

Five people. And today, approximately?

Lewis Rudd [00:23:43]:

There’s over 300 and close to 350 employees system wide. Okay. Mhmm. That’s There’s okay. Yeah. So it was So just the brothers when we opened up and my sister, Faye.

Scott Cowan [00:23:57]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:23:57]:

Yeah. So Alright. It was Ezell Stevens, his brother Samuel Stevens, and then my brother Darnell Rudd, and then my sister Faye. And, the four of us actually worked in this operations in the store, and Faye always been the one behind the scenes making sure that the navigation system is intact and calibrated so that the ship, you know, plane don’t crash. But, you have the accountant and, administrative side of it. I mean, she’s been the anchor.

Scott Cowan [00:24:28]:

Okay. But so but let me I don’t know. How do I ask this? How do you how was it that you guys were found by the Sonics and the Seahawks players? I mean, what what happened? Do you do do you remember the first time an athlete that you recognized walked in?

Lewis Rudd [00:24:48]:

Yes. So the Seahawks, I think, were the first

Scott Cowan [00:24:56]:

k.

Lewis Rudd [00:24:57]:

Of the professional athletes that, started coming there. So I remember Mark Abrams, who actually was selling insurance at the time. I think he was an insurance business, Introduced us to a couple of the, players. And I’m trying to remember the marketing director’s name now. Forgive me. I can’t call his name now.

Scott Cowan [00:25:21]:

That’s that’s okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:25:23]:

That led to players coming over to the restaurant. I still remember Tony Woods, sitting in the lobby there, the warrior sitting in the lobby eating chicken, which led to us taking a 10 box lunches. I used to drive out to the SeaTac Airport when the Seahawks had their plane, the Hawk one. And I put a 10 box lunches on the plane before they would take off for all of their away games. So that was, a ritual. That was a regular

Scott Cowan [00:26:00]:

A 10 box lunches.

Lewis Rudd [00:26:02]:

A 10 box lunches for the, players, the staff, the coaches, the pilots. Everybody got a box lunch. And,

Scott Cowan [00:26:13]:

Nice.

Lewis Rudd [00:26:13]:

Yeah. Reggie McKenzie back then was in charge of ordering the chicken for the plane. And I would drive out to the airport and did that for three years. And, from there, we start taking it over to the, camp when they had the camp in Kirkland. In Kirkland. Okay. Uh-huh. Back then.

Lewis Rudd [00:26:32]:

And, coach Knox was the coach back then.

Scott Cowan [00:26:36]:

Yeah. Oh, jeez. Yeah.

Lewis Rudd [00:26:37]:

Take the chicken over there, and they had, tables set up outside the locker room. They didn’t have a real fancy cafeteria like they have today over at the VMAC. Right. But, and, you know, the Sonix organization, these hills just became a a, a household name around the community there. And, we would have different ones coming in and out of there, and we would actually cater for the visiting teams. When the Sonix would have visiting teams coming in, they would call us up, and we take, box lunches down. I can remember taking, box lunches for the Sonics plane one Christmas day. It was snowing.

Lewis Rudd [00:27:17]:

They were running away for an away game and, taking, chicken down to the Gavin Center on Airport Way. Oh, yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:27:28]:

Yeah. Okay. Alright. I had to think there for a sec. Yeah.

Lewis Rudd [00:27:30]:

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And, they had it it it was a a club, the Max or something like that. I can’t remember the name where we’re right now, but it was, a club that the players used to hang around inside before they would go and get on the plane. Okay. Get off airport way down there, and, I would take, enough box lunches for the players and the staff. And when Nate Robinson was with the New York team, Nick Uh-huh.

Lewis Rudd [00:27:59]:

His mom was in town here, and Nick said, I want Ezell’s on the plane for my meals. And so when the Knicks flew to town, the the staff or whoever for the plane, somebody in New York had other plans. But Nate said, no. I want Ezell’s on the plane. So I’m gonna ask

Scott Cowan [00:28:20]:

That’s

Lewis Rudd [00:28:20]:

his mom down at the plane, and we took Ezell’s chicken. I had box lunches for Ezelll’s on the plane. That was an experience there.

Scott Cowan [00:28:30]:

That’s I love that.

Lewis Rudd [00:28:31]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:28:33]:

So one of the things you guys are very famous for is Oprah. How I read about it, but how did that happen? What what what happened there?

Lewis Rudd [00:28:47]:

I was trying to talk about these elves and not

Scott Cowan [00:28:51]:

Yeah. Talking

Lewis Rudd [00:28:52]:

about the time when Oprah came to town and she was doing a kiss program with King Pi.

Scott Cowan [00:28:58]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:28:59]:

And, she was working with the production crew. And, one of the gentlemen who, believe it or not, always told the story that that was a member of the production crew that introduced Oprah to Ezell’s chicken, but I never knew who that person was.

Scott Cowan [00:29:19]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:29:20]:

But, all these years later, I knew that that’s how she was introduced by one of the production crew. Well, last year, on a conference call well, not a conference. It was one of those Zoom meetings with Universal Washington. He was in one of the chat rooms and introduced himself. Oh, really? It was me that brought over to get the chicken after one of the, production. I said, man, all these years later, I finally get to meet you. But, anyway, yeah. So she called up, and she wanted to have a chicken delivered to a hotel because she enjoyed the chicken so much.

Lewis Rudd [00:30:02]:

And when she dialed up, David Jones at the time was working as our dispatch for at this time, we had what we call the Izzell’s Express delivery service, where we would deliver box lunches to corporate offices downtown Monday through Friday. Okay. And this happened to be Saturday. And David answers the phone, and it was an assistant traveling with Oprah and said, we’d like to have some chicken delivered downtown to the hotel that she was at. And David said, I’m sorry. We don’t deliver on Saturday. Well, the young lady repeated what David said, saying, so you guys don’t deliver on Saturday? And he could hear a voice in the background. I said, give me that phone.

Lewis Rudd [00:30:46]:

Then the next thing was, this is Oprah Winfrey. And I like some of that chicken, and I like to have it delivered now, please. And he said, well, how do I know that this is Oprah? She said, well, you bring the chicken down, you’ll see. He did, and he saw. It was Oprah Winfrey.

Scott Cowan [00:31:03]:

Oh my gosh.

Lewis Rudd [00:31:03]:

She enjoyed the chicken so much that she wanted to have it again. And, then, you know, this was during the time when she had run the marathon. She lost a lot of weight. She was on the spot, and she gave up a lot of her favorite foods and dishes that she would, you know, enjoy so that she could run this marathon, and she lost a lot. So her business manager at the time, Beverly, called up, and she wanted to bring in all of Oprah’s favorite things. Okay. And Izel’s was one of those favorite things that she wanted to have at her birthday party. And we were blessed in that way that instead of shipping the food out, we delivered the chicken back to Chicago, and, we actually sourced it.

Lewis Rudd [00:31:58]:

We deliver we we took back the seasoning and other items on the plane with us instead of luggage. We asked the menu. But, anyway, we get back there and source the product, and we were able to utilize one of the kitchens in a restaurant back there. And, at that time, Oprah had ownership in this restaurant called the eccentrics. And we went Okay. And, they allowed us to utilize their kitchen to cut up the product the way that we cut the chicken like we used to do back in Texas at Brown’s. We cut it up into the eight pieces. We marinated it and seasoned it.

Lewis Rudd [00:32:37]:

And the next day, we delivered enough chicken over to Harpo Studios for 75 people. And, it was a huge, huge opportunity and experience of a lifetime to, sit backstage or in the green room when Oprah comes off to set and first thing, where is my chicken at? Yeah. Sweet potato pie back there. I mean, and, but she autographed the picture and sent it up, and she didn’t know she thanked us for coming back and didn’t know if she liked the sweet potato pie or the spicy chicken best. But, yeah. What an experience. What an experience.

Scott Cowan [00:33:15]:

So I was talking to a friend of mine, in the Seattle area, and somehow she was involved with finding food for some event, and they were gonna do fried chicken. And and Azelle’s chicken was one of the chicken and I think that was the one they selected, but I can’t say that for a % certainty, but I think it was. But she made a comment, and I’m just curious. Do you is the chicken cut differently than other chicken place? Am I did I just I just eat it. I don’t pay attention. So do you guys cut the chicken differently than other places?

Lewis Rudd [00:33:57]:

We do have a special cut and a Okay. That’s somewhat different than most others out there. And, you know, for example, there’s one in chicken purveyor who has large numbers of units across the country and abroad. They cut theirs into nine pieces.

Scott Cowan [00:34:16]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:34:16]:

And they start with a smaller bird.

Scott Cowan [00:34:19]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:34:20]:

We use a larger bird to begin with, and I’m giving you some behind the scenes stuff here now. Right? Alright. But, we use our specs are three and a half to three and three quarters. Pound. We cut it pounds. We cut ours into eight pieces. So we have two side breasts, two wings, two legs, two thighs. Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:34:43]:

They use a smaller bird to begin with, spec somewhere around three and less, and I was just three and a half and up. And they cut theirs into nine pieces.

Scott Cowan [00:34:54]:

Right.

Lewis Rudd [00:34:54]:

So they have a center breast and two side breasts. Okay. So a lot of times, people would come in and they like to compare from a price standpoint. Well, I can get this many pieces there for less. Yes. But you’re getting less meat. You’re getting less product also. Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:35:20]:

Right? And so when you compare apples to apples so, yes, we do have a special cut. We leave more meat on our wings also. And sometimes, you know, we’ll have guests that will come in, and they say, I wanna get four wings. Well, they’re used to getting four wings somewhere else where it’s not a lot of the breast meat left on the wing because of cut. And they can eat four wings. And they also pay less for four wings. So when they get the price, it’s a sticker shock sometimes. And then Mhmm.

Lewis Rudd [00:35:55]:

They come back and they go, wow. I only need two of your wings this time. Now I get it. K. Right? So there is a difference in the cut. And, there’s some similarities with some of the other ones that, you know, the, specs from a size standpoint are closer to ours and the cut where they may leave less meat on the wing. They have what they call a silver dollar cut. So that’s just a little thin piece of the breast meat left on the wing.

Lewis Rudd [00:36:26]:

Ours is a chunk of meat from the breast left on the wing. Okay. So there is a difference and, we’ve had some challenges in being able to source that because it’s a special cut.

Scott Cowan [00:36:41]:

Mhmm. So you’re no are you are are you guys using a circular saw still to cut or have we have we modernized?

Lewis Rudd [00:36:48]:

Well, but the last, I guess, few years, we haven’t found the circles. No. We’ve got to move away from that. And with the demand and, the volume that we go through now, and, yes, you know, we’ve been fortunate that we partner with Acme Poultry for the last from the beginning. You know? Okay. Local, company here that used to have their own farms where they raise their products, and they had the production facility as well as distribution. Now they just do distribution. And Tom there has been a great partner, and he’s been able to keep finding that source for us that can provide our special cut and keep us the volume that we need.

Lewis Rudd [00:37:35]:

But yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:37:37]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:37:37]:

But we got a circle saw in the warehouse that if it comes right down to it, we’re not gonna run out of chicken.

Scott Cowan [00:37:44]:

We’re not getting run out of chicken. I love it. Well, I’d be honest with you. You said back in Texas, you were cutting with a circular saw. I think my eyes got real bad. I’m like, what? I wow. Let’s talk about what you do your company does for the community because you guys are very active in giving back to the community. I think you pride yourselves in being good community members.

Scott Cowan [00:38:09]:

I don’t think that I know that. I shouldn’t say it like that. How did from the very beginning, where are you at today? What’s what’s going on? What are you guys doing that you’re you wanna talk about?

Lewis Rudd [00:38:21]:

Well, you know, today, there’s a huge level of awareness around social inequities and, systemic racism and redlining and the impacts that those conditions and situations have had on people of color and in the black community and small businesses. And so, you know, one of the things that we’ve always taken pride in is being good community partners and giving back to the community and understanding what it’s like growing up in the black community and growing up facing racism. And, again, growing up in a little small town in East Texas where I lived through it. The signs Mhmm. No colors allowed and ends round back. You know, you walk up and the sign is in your window in the window in your face. And this the discriminatory practices and the blatant in your face racism that existed. And, you know, coming out to Seattle in the Northwest, it was still here and apparent, not as in your face.

Lewis Rudd [00:39:45]:

You know, we called it camouflage racism when we moved out of here. And that was a word that, you know, we use because it was not blatant in your face. It was more subtle, and it was more systemic and systematic as opposed to just an individual in your face. So

Scott Cowan [00:40:04]:

Mhmm.

Lewis Rudd [00:40:05]:

Understanding that and some of the challenges, you know, that the black community and black people face, we through the business, again, the culture that we created, the securing culture that we talk about today, began with giving opportunities to a lot of kids and youth in the community their first job, where some would come in and they would say, you know, I’ll come and work for you guys, but I’m not gonna work for McDonald’s. You know, it was a pride thing. So we understood that. But, also, understanding how the community embraced us and giving back to the community was just important to us. And it was just part of who we are and who we were at the time. So we developed great partnerships with the community. And as we’ve grown, some of the things that, you know, we take the most pride in is just we were there for that single mom that didn’t have a babysitter for a kid, but she could keep her job because she could bring her kid and Faye would watch the kid while she worked. And, given that youth an opportunity to get that first job who, you know, didn’t have skill sets, And we would understand when he’d be late for work or when he would, you know, have that outbreak and, you know, walk off the job and we give him a chance to come back.

Lewis Rudd [00:41:26]:

We’re not gonna let you quit on life. You’re not just quit your job. You’re quitting on life if you walk out here, so come on back. No. Understanding the challenges. So but to this day, one of the things that we’re most proud of is that we’ve been able to bring on a community outreach specialist. And Hazel does a great job with that. It’s just going out in the community and finding partners that we can support good causes and needs in our communities, and that’s an area of, of, expertise that she, you know, that that’s an area of focus that she just focuses on.

Lewis Rudd [00:42:12]:

How can I find community partners, people that we can partner within the community that needs a hand up or needs a helping hand at times, whether that’s food or sometimes it’s monetary support? And most recently, we started what we call the Rudd’s Rub Initiative. And, when the pandemic hit, it was many small businesses, black owned businesses out there that didn’t get access to capital, didn’t get, any of the PPP money, federal money, local money at the state level, the local level, city, county, whatever. And Mhmm. The practices. Again, it wasn’t blatant just to say racism, but the systems were not designed to support and help small black owned businesses that I knew about. And I’ll give you one example. There were banks out there that were booking, and they were reaching out to their clients where they could do one application, process it, get it through, and they could distribute $5,000,000. And these funds were guaranteed by SBA.

Lewis Rudd [00:43:33]:

So it was no risk if it didn’t get paid back. And so they were out there, they, meaning the bankers and the people within the banks to go out and get as many applications filled out and funded so that they can get that money on the books for the banks because their stockholders and shareholders benefited from that. And it was guaranteed money. So it wasn’t that we don’t care about you small black owned businesses out there or you small minority owned business out there, people of color. It’s just that I have to fill out an application for a hundred of you guys, and it may not pass. You know, I may not get you all qualified when I can go after these major clients over here, and I can do five of them and get the same amount of dollars in on the books. Okay. But anyway, knowing that, there was just one particular business and that was struggling, had to close his doors due to no fault of his own.

Lewis Rudd [00:44:33]:

There was no revenue coming in. His own check for his personal business came through the sales from and the revenue from his business because he paid himself. He’s self employed, business owner, but self employed. So anyway Right. I became aware of this, and we actually went and spent the next nine months of revenue that we thought we would spend with this business, just throw them a check for that Oh. Upfront and say, when you open your doors again, we will come and we will, you know, utilize the credits that we just created by advancing you this money. But, also, it just opened my eyes to there were so many others out there that were struggling. So DoorDash at this time wants to do a promotional campaign with these sales to help promote our business and drive more sales.

Lewis Rudd [00:45:31]:

And, again, during this time, there were a lot of major companies, corporations, businesses out there that wanted to do their part and help minority owned businesses, black owned businesses, people of color, and small businesses. And they selected these elves, DoorDash did, to be one of those that they want to help. And at this time, I was so aware of others that were so much more deserving and needing support that I asked, can we divert those funds to some of those businesses? So that led to coming up with the rub initiative. Now when we were kids growing up back in East Texas, if you fail, hurt, skin, knee, whatever, headaches, stomachache, first thing the parents would do, grandparents would say, come on, son. Let me rub that for you. Right? And they just start rubbing. And just the touch of the hand rubbing would make the pain so much less. Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:46:32]:

So that became the acronym for the rubbing issue, raising up black businesses. Put a little rub in the community. Let’s see if we can make it better, relieve some of the pain and suffering that’s taken place by some so many of these small black owned businesses. So when we launched the application process, we thought we may get 75 to a hundred applications. It was well over 500 applications that came in.

Scott Cowan [00:47:00]:

Wow. And Now was that just where did those application from just the Greater Seattle area, or were they coming in from all around?

Lewis Rudd [00:47:10]:

90%, I would say, came from the Puget Sound region, Greater Northwest. And there were some that came in from Spokane, some that came in from, the Portland market where we have a location there. But primarily, the most of them were from the Greater Puget Sound region. Wow. And Okay. What we learned through that was that not only, you know, was it important that the 20 grants that we gave out to the awardees was important, but we also learned that we could extend the support through consultant services, providing resources that they can, tap into to help further their businesses through, again, consulting, helping to structure your business, and, mentors, finding programs where they provide mentorship for a lot of those businesses. But, anyway, it was a huge opportunity for Ezell’s, but that, again, is a legacy piece. As we move forward long after, you know, the chicken is gone and Lewis and Faye and Darnell, the cofounders, and we want the rub initiative to be around, you know, and providing support for those businesses that are so deserving of it.

Scott Cowan [00:48:26]:

And I’m on your website reading, and and so you’ve you’ve got other partners, though. Sysco, Pepsi, and and Bargreen Ellisons are are helping with

Lewis Rudd [00:48:32]:

this process. Right? And the the response was overwhelming when I reached out to some of the partners that Ezell’s currently have in Bar Greens. And I sat with Paul Paul Ellenson, and right away, he said, Lewis, this is huge and count me in. Call up, it’s just count me in. Food bar, count me in. And, Pepsi, count me in. And there’s, Lincoln Builders, black owned construction company here in Seattle. Lewis count me in.

Lewis Rudd [00:49:02]:

You know? And the list just grew, and we hope to add future partners this year and, bring on more sponsors and partners that can help reach out to these deserving black owned businesses out there. Most are struggling due to challenges that’s been around for decades, if not centuries. Access to capital, lack of access to capital.

Scott Cowan [00:49:28]:

So you you you issued 20 grants. Will you be issuing more? Is this gonna be 20 on an annual basis, or what does this look like moving moving forward?

Lewis Rudd [00:49:38]:

Well, we’re right now in the process of, looking at, is it gonna be another 20 grants, or will it be 10 grants that are larger in amount?

Scott Cowan [00:49:46]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:49:46]:

You know? And, we wanna do what’s gonna be most impactful in the community in raising up those black businesses and providing coaching, consulting, mentorship. You know, it could come in many forms of support, but the main thing that we wanna be able to do is raise them up and provide some relief.

Scott Cowan [00:50:07]:

I think that’s amazing. 1984, you started with one location. You have 17 today?

Lewis Rudd [00:50:14]:

18 today. Everywhere on the seventh, we open up number 18 in West Seattle. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.

Scott Cowan [00:50:23]:

What for you, what does the future look like? How many how many locations do you wanna see the company grow to?

Lewis Rudd [00:50:32]:

You know, we started out with a vision to build a world class brand, and, we wanted to do that. And our mission statement say by providing fresh, never frozen chicken, good homemade side dishes served up with fast, courteous service, and then we got this value statement that says, honesty, loyalty, and relationships are our core values. And with that, we think that we have the opportunity to have a brand that’s presented nationally. Right? Now Okay. Will I be at the helm when that takes place? Probably not. However, I think, you know, building the platform for that to take place from is something that we’re very close, if not there. And I’d love to see, that take place, you know, positioning the brand to go national before I step away from it. Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:51:28]:

I need some growth partners. We’ll, you know, we’re we’re we’ve had many discussions and a couple of attempts to this day, and, that continues.

Scott Cowan [00:51:40]:

I I I I say this somewhat tongue in cheek. You know? I’m sure that over the last thirty eight years, everything has gone perfectly. There’s never been a challenge. Everything. I’m You know, business is hard, and it’s fraught with challenges and false starts and dead ends. And we pick ourselves up and we keep going. And I I love talking to to business entrepreneurs and owners because the tenacity that you display is inspiring to me, as a group of people.

Lewis Rudd [00:52:15]:

Thank you.

Scott Cowan [00:52:17]:

And and and and a long pause there. So 18 locations.

Lewis Rudd [00:52:22]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:52:24]:

More on the I don’t know if this is putting you on the spot, but more on the horizon? Like, is there gonna be one over in Eastern Washington so that I don’t have to drive over to Seattle?

Lewis Rudd [00:52:35]:

Well, we do have the one in Spokane currently in Eastern Washington.

Scott Cowan [00:52:40]:

How do I not know about that?

Lewis Rudd [00:52:41]:

Because I you hadn’t talked to me yet.

Scott Cowan [00:52:44]:

How much I I should know but I should

Lewis Rudd [00:52:45]:

know about that. Knows about that. That there is one on the East Hill in Spokane. The address is on the website. Get directions and tell all your friends. But, yes, there there will be more on the East Hill. I may

Scott Cowan [00:53:01]:

not know that.

Lewis Rudd [00:53:01]:

And there are conversations around, you know, the direction from here

Scott Cowan [00:53:09]:

Mhmm.

Lewis Rudd [00:53:09]:

To add additional. And, before the pandemic, there was serious discussions around developing a strategy for growth. And then, you know, given the impact of the pandemic and the situation, we decided the best thing to do was to, you know, hit the pause button.

Scott Cowan [00:53:33]:

Sure.

Lewis Rudd [00:53:33]:

And, it’s always better to deal with the no.

Scott Cowan [00:53:38]:

As we wrap this up, because I wanna respect your time, when you’re not working, what do you do for relaxation and fun?

Lewis Rudd [00:53:50]:

Well, I really, really enjoy cycling.

Scott Cowan [00:53:57]:

K.

Lewis Rudd [00:53:57]:

Yeah. That’s one of my favorite passions or pastimes. I’m a avid roller skater. I love roller skating.

Scott Cowan [00:54:07]:

Oh, now when you say roller skating, are we talking roller blades? Are we talking rollers like, the roller skates that I think are four wheels?

Lewis Rudd [00:54:14]:

Rhythm dance skating.

Scott Cowan [00:54:18]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:54:18]:

To the music with the qual Yeah. Getting the beats.

Scott Cowan [00:54:22]:

Yeah. So where where’s the where’s the where are roller rinks around the Seattle area now? Because it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a Well,

Lewis Rudd [00:54:29]:

most of the skate kings, not most all of the skate kings are gone, but they have the one now is Paterson’s West.

Scott Cowan [00:54:38]:

That’s in Federal Way.

Lewis Rudd [00:54:39]:

Federal Way. Yeah. Yeah. That’s the, most popular spot right now where people go and, get their skate on. And then

Scott Cowan [00:54:47]:

Get their skate on.

Lewis Rudd [00:54:48]:

Everett, rink is closing down. And then there’s one in Marysville that’s starting to pick up a little steam now where people are traveling as far as Marysville from the Seattle area to skate. Okay. And there’s one that’s down in, Portland and, Oaks Park.

Scott Cowan [00:55:07]:

Now that’s a ways to go.

Lewis Rudd [00:55:08]:

That’s a ways to go, but people travel, believe it or not.

Scott Cowan [00:55:12]:

I believe it. I believe it. I that’s that’s great. I love that. So cycling are, what be a little more specific there. Just just do you like to go for an enjoyable bike ride or are you are you competitive?

Lewis Rudd [00:55:26]:

Well, competitive with myself. So, I’ve done 30 Seattle to Portland bike rides.

Scott Cowan [00:55:35]:

30 of them?

Lewis Rudd [00:55:36]:

30 of them. 25 in one day. Two hundred miles in one day. And then I’ve done five two day rides, I think it is.

Scott Cowan [00:55:46]:

So did you did you did you celebrate the sale of Portland by going roller roller skating afterwards, or were you a little tired?

Lewis Rudd [00:55:54]:

Well, I there was one time when, I was skating, I think, until maybe 01:32 in the morning. Uh-huh. Then I came home and got, like, a two and a half hour nap and was up at 05:30 and on my bike heading down to Portland the next day.

Scott Cowan [00:56:09]:

Did you make it in a day that time?

Lewis Rudd [00:56:11]:

That was the year that I did two day ride. I made

Scott Cowan [00:56:14]:

it to,

Lewis Rudd [00:56:15]:

Centralia camped out overnight and, got it the next day. And then, I’ve always, for the last I think since I turned 30, somewhere after 30, I start gifting myself a mile for each year that I’ve been blessed with on my birthday. So March 5, rain, shine, sleet, or snow, I would get out and not ride the number of years on that day. So last year, I rode 66.5 miles, 66 and a half miles for my 60 birthday. This year on March 5, I gotta find me a nice hill to come down to get seven 67 in.

Scott Cowan [00:56:59]:

That’s I think that’s a great a great gift. Yeah. That’s that’s amazing. I the those of you that do the Seattle to Portland, I scratch my head. I just I I’m like, that would want me to look at me. I’m a I’m an indoor guy. I don’t I don’t, but I love I love the the Seattle Portland. I think it’s an amazing I’ll call it a race.

Scott Cowan [00:57:27]:

I know it’s not necessarily

Lewis Rudd [00:57:28]:

It’s not a race, but some people compete against their time last year. They compete against their friends or whatever. But it’s just a fun, festive kind of event. And you see people of all ages. I can remember the one year. It was a 83 year old gentleman finished in one day. And the one year that this youngest kid on a single bike, I think was, like, six years old that rode in two days. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:57:58]:

What’s your what’s your best time? Your to get yourself?

Lewis Rudd [00:58:02]:

Ten hours. I’ve finished Ten hours? Averaged 20 miles per hour.

Scott Cowan [00:58:07]:

That’s crazy.

Lewis Rudd [00:58:09]:

So and, of course, there was time off the bike. I think we were off the bike for maybe one hour. So eleven hours total time with ten hours on the bike.

Scott Cowan [00:58:17]:

Wow. Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:58:19]:

What was your last question?

Scott Cowan [00:58:22]:

K. Two last questions. The last question I always ask my guests and you didn’t know this was coming, so I don’t know what the answer is gonna be. I love coffee. Alright. Coffee is my thing. Do you drink coffee?

Lewis Rudd [00:58:32]:

Yes. I always have a couple of cough, couple of cups of coffee. That’s the first thing I put in my body when I wake up, coffee.

Scott Cowan [00:58:40]:

What’s a health food as far as I’m concerned? Where is a great place to get a cup of coffee in in your world? Where do

Lewis Rudd [00:58:49]:

you go? Home.

Scott Cowan [00:58:51]:

I’ll see that’s a cop out. Okay. Yeah.

Lewis Rudd [00:58:54]:

How about time I get coffee, it is. It’s home. You know? When I get more, it is.

Scott Cowan [00:58:58]:

Okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:58:59]:

It’s at home.

Scott Cowan [00:58:59]:

Alright. Alright. So then the last question is, what didn’t I ask you that we should have talked about?

Lewis Rudd [00:59:06]:

You know, honestly, you’ve asked a lot of great questions and, given me an opportunity to talk about a wide spectrum of things that is important from a personal and business standpoint. So you didn’t ask me what the weather is like, so I didn’t get to tell you that we’ve got snow outside.

Scott Cowan [00:59:25]:

I have snow outside in my office. I went at you today

Lewis Rudd [00:59:27]:

too,

Scott Cowan [00:59:28]:

and it’s it’s I am, like I do have one last question. This is gonna be a hard one for you. Honest, this is gonna be the hardest question. You can have one last meal at a Ezell’s. What are you picking?

Lewis Rudd [00:59:43]:

Man, today is the spicy breast, potato salad beans, and a slice of sweet potato pie.

Scott Cowan [00:59:50]:

Okay. That was the I I got that out of you easier than I thought I would. I thought you’re gonna well, you know, okay.

Lewis Rudd [00:59:55]:

No. Alright. My my my my favorite things change over time. And so right now, that’s what it is. My goal

Scott Cowan [01:00:01]:

That’s right now. Sliced

Lewis Rudd [01:00:02]:

bread, sliced of pie, beans, and potato salad.

Scott Cowan [01:00:05]:

The potato salad’s quite good. Any secrets in that potato salad that you’re willing to share?

Lewis Rudd [01:00:11]:

Goodness. Fresh. I love it.

Scott Cowan [01:00:15]:

I love it. So do you do you guys you’re making that potato salad fresh in in each location?

Lewis Rudd [01:00:19]:

Real potatoes. Each location prepares each menu item, each recipe from scratch every day. The potatoes get peeled every day at each location. The mac and cheese is made fresh each location. The bread is baked fresh each location. The yams for the sweet potato pies are peeled at each location every day.

Scott Cowan [01:00:41]:

I love it. Not the sweet potato pie.

Lewis Rudd [01:00:42]:

I mean, mashed potatoes and gravy made from scratch, each location every day.

Scott Cowan [01:00:49]:

I’m driving to Spokane this week. I just I’m just I just I have to. You’re you’re you’re killing me. But I wanna thank you so much for taking the time to make this happen. I I’ve enjoyed this a lot. I please keep doing what you guys are doing. I love your chicken. I’m not Oprah, but, you know, I love your chicken.

Scott Cowan [01:01:06]:

And thank you so much.

Lewis Rudd [01:01:08]:

For, you know, Scott, you and the rest of the thousands of people that have experienced Ezell’s and shared the word of how good it is and how it made you feel are equally important to us as Oprah.

Scott Cowan [01:01:24]:

Oh, yeah.

Lewis Rudd [01:01:24]:

Yeah. There’s only one Oprah, but there’s thousands of you out there.

Scott Cowan [01:01:29]:

Awesome. Thank you so much. Join us next time for another episode of the exploring Washington state podcast.