No foolin’: Hot chicken favorite Nash & Proper to open Elk Grove location in June

No, it’s not an April Fools joke.

Nash & Proper, the Nashville-style hot chicken concept that became Sacramento’s most popular food truck in the late 2010s, will open an Elk Grove restaurant in June, according to social media posts Thursday morning. It’ll replace California Wok & Grill at 9080 Laguna Main St., Suite 2.

“(Y)’all always show us the love and we’re stoked to finally join the EG community,” Nash & Proper’s Instagram post read.

“P.S. this is ain’t no April Fools Joke (we promise fam).”

It’s the second brick-and-mortar location for Nash & Proper after co-owners Cecil Rhodes and Jake Bombard opened in downtown Sacramento in September.

That concept introduced sides like macaroni and cheese and “Pop’s greens,” a dish derived from Rhodes’ father’s original recipe, as well as local beers on tap. Elk Grove will have the same menu in a larger space, Rhodes said: 1,647 square feet inside, plus a 900-square foot patio.

Rhodes was running a food truck called Cecil’s Taste when he ate his first Nashville hot chicken sandwich — at Kentucky Fried Chicken. He wasn’t impressed.

“It was horrible, probably the worst thing I’ve ever had,” he said Thursday.

But Rhodes learned about Howlin’ Ray’s in Los Angeles and Tennessee originators Prince’s Hot Chicken and 400 Degrees, and knew there was a well-done product out there that hadn’t really yet made its way to Sacramento. Cecil’s Taste was parking outside lots of breweries at the time, and Rhodes figured hot chicken sandwiches would complement cold beer nicely. He and Bombard, the truck manager at the time, started introducing them to the menu.

Burgers and smoked pork belly didn’t play too well at UC Davis, but it was a different story when Cecil’s Taste showed up with hot chicken sandwiches. When a barbecue stand backed out of the inaugural Our Street Night Market in 2018, Rhodes borrowed a friend’s trailer that included a doughnut fryer and exclusively sold hot chicken for the first time. He sold out in two hours.

The pandemic has drained downtown Sacramento’s lifebloods (state workers and Golden 1 Center event attendees, as well as bar-goers, tourists and Crest Theatre audiences), and Nash & Proper’s restaurant hasn’t gotten off to quite the financial start Rhodes and Bombard would have liked.

They’ve compensated by contacting HOAs and setting up food trucks in neighborhoods on given nights, reaching people who couldn’t or might not want to venture out during the pandemic. That mobility’s been helpful for scouting purposes as well.

“The good thing about having a food truck is we get to go to different areas, and Elk Grove is probably our top-grossing market with the food truck,” Rhodes said. “Even before downtown, I was looking at Elk Grove (for a restaurant).”

This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 11:11 AM.