Skorpios Gyros owners open Al's Chicken Lab in former Pizza Hut building on North 21st
Kent Mallett
NEWARK − The toughest part about opening a new restaurant may be building a reputation in the community, developing trust and earning respect for a new business.
Alaa Babieh and his wife, Farah Hussein, opened Al's Chicken Lab in the former Pizza Hut building on North 21st Street on May 22, but they already have the trust and respect from the community through their other restaurant, Skorpios Gyros, located downtown on West Main Street.
Babieh said he put ads on Facebook so all his Skorpios customers would come to his new restaurant. It appears to have worked.
"All my customers from Skorpios showed up the first day and just showed the love," Babieh said. "Some brought gifts and plants. It was overwhelming. I know most of them by name. People are coming in and checking out the place.”
Pizza Hut closed its north Newark restaurant in 2018. It was the place Babieh first ate pizza in the United States after coming here from Jordan in 2000.
“We gutted the whole place.," Babieh said. "We took everything out and put it back together in a better way. I love the challenges to starting a business, to get it up and running. I don’t mind working.”
The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Babieh said he started thinking about opening a second restaurant a year ago and looking for a location. The former Pizza Hut at 1825 North 21st St. draws people from St. Louisville and Utica, as well as the Newark area, he said.
The end of the restaurant's name comes from a friend's impression of the building, Babieh said. "One of my buddies said it looks like a high school lab.”
So, it became Al's Chicken Lab. At first, Babieh was not planning on serving chicken.
“I thought about seafood, but it's so hard to get fresh in Ohio," Babieh said. "Everything has to be frozen, not fresh. So we decided to change it to the Nashville Style Hot Chicken.”
"We go to Columbus and I see on social media all these sandwiches. They’re humongous. Tons of stuff on top of the sandwiches. Cole slaw, fries, you name it. We don’t have anything like that in this town."
Babieh described what makes the Nashville style different.
“Really, really good wings," he said "There’s so much meat in them. It was a hit the first week. We ran out several times.”
He said the chicken is combined with french fries and macaroni and cheese, but no buns.
"You gotta eat it with a fork," he said. "Probably enough for a couple people."
Babieh followed his uncle to Newark. Numan Babieh, an area engineer with the Ohio Department of Transportation District 5, retired a couple of years ago. His brother, Omar, is also here, operating Baba's Grill on South Park Place.
“He loved Newark," Babieh said of his uncle. "He said it's not as expensive as Columbus and you can drive to Columbus.”
Babieh went to Ohio State University, graduating with a degree in economics in 2008. A year later, he opened Skorpios Gyros. He and Hussein married in 2013, but she did not come to the United States until 2015. They both work at both restaurants.
“She’s my backbone and I’m her backbone," Babieh said.
The economic ups and downs of the past decade make the restaurant business a challenge, but Babieh's philosophy looks long-term.
“We had good days," Babieh said. "We had bad days. We had busy days. We had dead days. You just ride it out and be patient and just do what you love.”
Hussein said her husband is committed to serving quality food, even if it means telling employees to throw out food that is not the best.
“He tells them to make the food as good as you want to eat it yourself," Hussein said. "That’s his favorite saying.”
Babieh said, "You get the same quality every time. People will wait for great food, People will wait for freshness. Just serve them the best thing you can offer in your restaurant. It’s as simple s that."
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The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.