Red Barn Chicken spreads its wings
-
- Red Barn Academy students Jacob Mobley and Ruben Johnson with Angette Howard, general manager.
-
- South of Barn Door Salad at Red Barn Chicken in Farmington.
-
- Crispy chicken fingers with skin-on fries is one of the menu standards at Red Barn Chicken in Farmington.
-
- The signature chicken wrap has Southwestern flair with black-bean corn salad, guacamole, Monterey jack cheese and creamy Red Barn Farms sauce at Red Barn Chicken in Farmington.
-
- An array of new sauces created at Red Barn Chicken in Farmington.
Fans of Sticky Bird in Farmington might wonder about the recent sign on the building: “New name. New logo. New recipes. Same mission.”
It’s no longer Sticky Bird — it’s Red Barn Chicken. The menu staple is still crispy chicken fingers with a variety of sauces, although they are a bit different from Sticky Bird’s. More salads, wraps and hot dogs have been added to items such as skin-on fries, onion “tanglers” and Buffalo cauliflower.
But the mission — funding and life skills training for the nearby Red Barn Academy’s addiction recovery program — is still the same. Many of the restaurant’s staffers are academy students who learn things like customer service, culinary training, teamwork, attitude and leadership to help them build successful, sober futures.
“There are a lot of places out there that just make food,” said Angette Howard, Red Barn Chicken’s general manager. “What sets us apart is that we care. From coming up with the recipes to actually making them, the students are committed to doing their best.”
Red Barn Academy was founded by Rich and Krista Haws, who owned the Farmington property that became Station Park and Park Lane Commons. After losing their son, Dustin, to a heroin overdose in 2012, they began hosting therapy sessions in their red barn on Park Lane Commons. Over the years, the program expanded to include living quarters for more than 50 male students struggling with addiction, crime and homelessness. With the Hawses’ son Michael Haws as CEO, the nonprofit program offers work opportunities, such as Red Barn Movers and the Red Barn thrift store.
Sticky Bird, located near the Red Barn Academy, opened several years ago in partnership with Winger’s restaurants. Hence, the restaurant featured some of Winger’s signature items, such as its boneless “Sticky Fingers” chicken, glistening with sauces such as Amazing, Rebel, Double Barrel BBQ or Thai Red Chili.
The partnership ended this past year.
“The partnership between Wingers and Sticky Bird at Red Barn Farms has been among the best relationships the Red Barn has ever cultivated,” said Mike Haws of Red Barn Academy, responding to a query about the change. “Red Barn and Wingers decided to separate mutually so Red Barn Chicken could take everything they learned from Wingers to new heights and continue to help more students of the Red Barn Academy.”
Since the Winger’s brand of proprietary recipes could no longer be used at the newly named Red Barn Chicken, the staff created its own recipes.
“Now we have the ability to let the students be creative,” Howard said. “We can’t copy anything, and we don’t really want to.”
Instead of tossing the chicken in sauce before serving, Red Barn serves its sauces on the side so customers can drizzle, dip or dunk on their own.
The new signature sauce, RBF (Red Barn Farms), is sweet, spicy and smoky. There’s also a Sweet Heat sauce, with more fire to it, and a mustard-based sauce.
The traditional BBQ sauce has more flavor instead of heat, and the Buffalo sauce has no sweetness.
Red Barn jumped on the “hot honey” trend with a fiery honey glaze to drizzle on chicken. “It’s one of the most popular sauces,” Howard said.
Other sauces include a Creamy RBF — the classic Red Barn Farms sauce mixed with house-made ranch dressing, which mellows some of the heat.
“It can be used as fry sauce, on chicken, as a salad dressing or whatever,” Howard said.
She said she wants to install a sauce bar so customers can sample the different sauces and find their favorites.
“We’ve had customers ask about the sauces, and we will say, ‘Tell me what you like, and we will try to find something for you,'” she said.
More salads were added, including a spicy Black Bean Corn, Strawberry Bleu, South of Barn Door and the RBF Mixed Wedge. The staff is also experimenting with a lemon-flavored Dole Whip/frozen lemonade concoction.
It’s not just about the food. It’s also about “the genuine care and love for what we are doing here,” said Ruben Johnson, a crew lead and academy student. “This isn’t just a job for us. We are earning our lives back. The new restaurant concept reflects what we want to do with the program. We are turning away from our own lives and becoming new people.”
Johnson has been in the program 11 months.
“I was heavily into my addiction, which led to my arrest,” he said. “I have thrived on chaos for all of my life. It’s only led to self-destruction, and I blamed everyone else. Red Barn plucked me out of the darkness. For the first time in my life, I let go of my pride. I gave into trust.”
One of his future goals is to own a food truck that travels to different locations, serving a changing menu sourced from local ingredients.
Jacob Mobley, another shift lead, said he enjoys the customer interaction at the restaurant.
“Anytime you can make somebody’s day a little better, that’s the most important thing for me. That fills my cup,” he said.
During his 17 months at Red Barn Academy, he said the number one thing he has learned is “showing up for everybody, and having a good attitude — being grateful.”
Secondly, he said, is his decision-making skills.
The staffers rotate, so each gets a chance to learn the cash register, ordering, the fryer, plating and so on, Howard said.
“The students find things they didn’t realize they were good at,” she said. “Many of them have never been in the food service before. But they are taught to give 200% in everything they do.”
IF YOU GO
Red Barn Chicken
Location: 504 N. Station Parkway, Farmington
Contact: https://redbarnchicken.com or 801-784-5885
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; closed Sunday
Price: Entrees run $8.50 to $16.50, while family-size meals for takeout are $46-plus
Business
Clearfield Job Corps Center, students face uncertain future amid federal cuts
Layin’ It on the Line: Planning for health care costs beyond Medicare — Are you prepared for the unexpected?
