In late September as many students returned to campus, a noticeable change had occurred near the north side of campus on the corner of Franklin Boulevard and Agate Street. Muchas Gracias, the chain restaurant that had served up Mexican food to students for years, had closed the doors of its campus location.
In its place was a new restaurant whose metallic sign read in bright neon red letters, “Chicken Bonz.”
Pronounced “Chicken Bones,” the restaurant on Franklin, which has been in operation for three weeks, is an expansion to the Chicken Bonz franchise based in Springfield. With an inside ambiance that screams college hang-out spot, Chicken Bonz is a completely new addition to a location with a reputation for Mexican food.
“We’re just a wing joint,” said David Bornstein, who co-owns the Chicken Bonz franchise with his son Adam Bornstein. “It’s chicken with attitude.”
This slogan aligns with a restaurant model that could easily put Chicken Bonz in the same ranks as Dough Co., Burrito Boy, Track Town Pizza and other Eugene late-night hot spots.
The menu operates under an enjoyably basic and well-tested concept of simple menu selections. Diners have the choice between bonz (wings), bonzless (chicken strips), hamburgers or chicken burgers that come in big, bigger and biggest, as well as a salad bar.
Complementing the bonz and bonzless are 12 sauces, all of which are made in the restaurant and completely change the flavor of the meal.
With a dozen sauces and a few menu options, deciding what to order can be harder than it appears.
“A lot of people have trouble deciding which option they like best,” Adam said.
Helping to relieve the stress of choosing between bonz or bonzless is the all-you-can-eat bonz deal for $12.95. Participants can enjoy as many pieces of chicken as they can forcibly eat.
Though the food and sauces define Chicken Bonz, the restaurant’s atmosphere assists in the expanding popularity of the franchise’s marketability toward college students. Outside music booms loud enough to be heard from inside parked cars, while the inside has what a student restaurant needs — televisions to watch the game, a Ms. Pacman machine that only costs a quarter, bright neon colored walls and a paper towel dispenser at each table to wipe wing sauce off of hands. On the back wall in large metallic letters reads the restaurant’s slogan, “Chicken with Attitude.”
All of these particulars are things that David Bornstein came up with when he opened the first Chicken Bonz in January 2002.
“I moved back to Eugene and looked for a wing joint, and there wasn’t one,” he said.
Having a background in the restaurant industry, David opened the first Chicken Bonz as a way to help raise his children as a single father.
“I wanted Chicken Bonz to be a family restaurant,” he said. “I remember how expensive it is to all go out as a family, so I wanted to make a place where an entire family can come and eat.”
This concept of family translates surprisingly well to the droves of college students who frequent Chicken Bonz on game days and late nights.
“We get tons of football players at both the new location and have a ton go to our original location near Chase Commons; they can’t get enough,” David said. “I sometime see the same players come in two or three times in one day.”
Such loyalty could easily spread beyond the football team as more and more people try Chicken Bonz for the first time.
Newly hired University junior Teddy Albertson may have phrased it best when describing his new place of employment.
“It’s always hot and spicy at Chicken Bonz.”
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