RAHWAY –A mainstay in Rahway’s local restaurant landscape for over 30 years, Chicken Delight narrowly escaped closing its doors when former employee Ray Lopez stepped in to take the helm. A lifetime resident, Lopez worked his way through high school and college by making deliveries for the once-booming establishment.
“I can remember nights when there were more orders than I could handle,” recalls Lopez. Many area families had a weekly tradition to gather around the dinner table and take them up on their slogan “Don’t Cook Tonight…Call Chicken Delight” by having freshly-prepared chicken delivered in the classic yellow-and-orange bucket.
Since then, Lopez has seen the business struggle to stay afloat in an ever-changing and highly-competitive marketplace. He always imagined that he’d own Chicken Delight one day. Last fall, that day came when previous owner, Joseph Gorzenik, approached Lopez with the prospect of purchasing the business he had dedicated his life to building. Lopez struck a deal with Gorzenik, and is excited about the prospect of bringing back some of that same nostalgia by maintaining top quality and personalized service to each and every customer.
In the few months since its acquisition, Lopez, along with his business partner, have given the interior a face lift and revamped the menu by introducing a healthier-options for lunch and updating the more traditional chicken, ribs, and seafood combination offerings. In addition, the pair has returned to serving its made-to-order chicken parts in the iconic Chicken Delight bucket. They hope to serve the residents of Rahway for the next 30-plus years.
