Spring Chicken in Fort Lauderdale Abruptly Shutters

The Fort Lauderdale outpost of 50 Eggs' Spring Chicken closed suddenly on Tuesday night, blindsiding some employees who showed up for work Wednesday morning.

"It seems like they came in the middle of the night and just gutted the place," former general manager Dan Fiskett says.

Although the staff of about 18 had some idea the closure was imminent, none were made aware of an exact date or specific plans.

Fortunately, all of the employees of the shuttered location were offered positions elsewhere within the company in South Florida, Fiskett says. The restaurant, which opened in June 2016, was one of several fast-casual fried chicken joints 50 Eggs has opened. The company hopes to bring the food from its flagship Miami Beach restaurant, Yardbird Southern Table & Bar, to the masses. After the Fort Lauderdale closure, three locations remain in Coral Gables, Miami Beach, and at Miami International Airport.

Fiskett says he won't take the job offer after being left in the dark and forced to explain to his workers, who had not been warned, that they no longer had jobs. "It was horrible, it was upsetting, it was depressing," he says. "I'm going to leave."

Neither a 50 Eggs representative nor CEO John Kunkel could immediately be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, 50 Eggs has expanded Yardbird to Las Vegas and Singapore — and has plans to push into Dubai and London. The firm is also scouting sites in Washington, D.C., and New York, Kunkel told the Miami Herald in 2016.