Massapequa Observer: One Year Naked

A full rebranding campaign can be difficult, but taking an iconic New York brand like Pudgie's Famous Chicken isn't something every franchise operator can do. Enter TRUFOODS, LLC . a New York based company, known for taking household name, legacy brands and taking them to the next level.

“The Massapequa location was built as a prototype,” Gary Occhiogrosso, president and CDO of TRUFOODS, LLC., told the Massapequa Observer.

“We learned a lot, tweaked a few things and we've done things to give customers what they want. For instance, when we first opened we were using peanut oil, but customers were concerned with peanut allergies so we switched to a trans fat-free vegetable oil.”

Following food and design trends closely, Naked Chicken isn't your parents’ chicken spot. It's built for a younger generation of millennials with sophisticated taste palettes and an eye for clean design. Everything from the layout of the restaurants to its playful name plays to their tagline, "Why people cross the road."

“We wanted it to be a big, clean open space,” Occhiogrosso said about the location. “When a restaurant is cluttered, you feel full before you even eat. We didn’t want people to feel weighed down when they walked in.”