The Chicken Lady’s Coop owner plans expansion with new restaurant complex in Columbus
When Melinda Newton’s grandmother, Minnie Hanneman, opened Minnie’s Uptown Restaurant in 1987, everyone told her it wouldn’t work because it was a “seedy part of town.”
But her grandmother persevered.
What began as a small operation on Eighth Street with seats for 39 people grew into a popular Columbus staple. Newton, who now owns Minnie’s, worked for the restaurant for 24 years frying chicken.
“People didn’t know my name,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “They’d see me covered with flour or whatever, and they’re like, ‘Hey, it’s the chicken lady.’”
The moniker stuck and Newton opened The Chicken Lady’s Coop in 2018.
Five years later, The Chicken Lady’s Coop has outgrown its location on Whittlesey Boulevard, Newton said, inspiring her to purchase 13.6 acres at 8151 Fortson Rd to build a new multi-unit restaurant complex.
“I’m moving The Chicken Lady’s Coop over there,” Newton said. “And it’s going to be twice as big with a drive-thru.”
The complex will be built on about five of the 13.6 acres, she said, with six buildings housing seven restaurants and 300 parking spaces. Two buildings in the complex will have drive-thru facilities and one will be two stories and can accommodate two restaurants. The size of the buildings range from 2,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet.
Newton expects to have a variety of other types of restaurants in the complex such as Italian, Ramen, German, coffee, dessert and possibly a high-end meal prep business.
“We haven’t started signing leases or letters of intent, yet, to know exactly what’s going to be in there,” she said. “But I’m trying to stay with local people.”
Along with the brick and mortar restaurants, there is also space allotted for six food trucks to park and serve customers at the complex.
Garage doors in the buildings allow for an open air complex, Newton said. The design of the complex includes a centrally located outdoor courtyard space with seating for 300.
“I want people to have a mix of everything,” she said. “Some may not like Southern food and they may want something vegan. I hope that everyone going to this destination can all have what they want.”
‘A food destination’
Newton didn’t initially set out to develop a restaurant complex, she said, but was looking for a new location to accommodate the growing demand for The Chicken Lady’s Coop. Land on Veterans Parkway was too expensive, she said, so Newton started looking at the Fortson Road area.
She spoke with friends and other local restaurants about the potential move and a plan was hatched.
“There were other people who liked the idea or were thinking of moving to that area as well,” Newton said. “I was like, ‘Let’s just build a multi-unit complex, so that it’s a food destination place and not just the Coop over there by itself’.”
Now that her rezoning request for the land has been approved by the Planning Advisory Commission, Newton estimates ground breaking in about three months.
There are still a lot of moving pieces surrounding the project, Newton said, but the concept is exciting to her. Newton looks forward to finalizing more details that can be released to the public. She believes the restaurant complex could encourage others to develop the area around the project with retail stores, housing or offices.
“When everyone sees that you’ve got this (complex) coming in, they all want to be right next door to it,” Newton said.
She looks back on the success of Minnie’s and The Chicken Lady’s Coop and remembers her grandmother who passed away earlier this year. People told her grandmother Minnie’s wouldn’t be successful, but it excelled and inspired The Chicken Lady’s Coop.
“Look at us now,” Newton said. “I feel like I’m a pretty intelligent woman, and there were things I wanted to do branching off of Minnie’s. And I just kind of went for it.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2023 at 1:00 AM.
