An animatronic chicken faces the camera.
FOOD NEWS
The Tennessee Restaurant With Over 100 Animatronic Chickens
By Wendy Gould
Although animatronic diners have declined, a few are still around, like the Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse and Café in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The Frizzle Chicken provides guests with their own chicken coop-themed diner, including over 100 singing animatronic chickens (and that gimmicky '90s happiness).
The Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse and Café was inspired by the Frizzle, a specific breed of chicken with coiling feathers, and features over 100 animatronic Frizzle chickens with punny names like "Dolly PartHEN." "I think what you're going to find is you come kind of for the fun, but you're gonna come back for the food," said Ellen Liston, an associate with the company.
The Frizzle Chicken specializes in chicken-based foods — mainly omelets, chicken and waffles, and chicken tenders. While parents relive their childhood pizza/arcade days with the surrounding animatronic animals, the younger crowd is entertained by bear-shaped pancakes and the roosters' rendition of Disney's "Let It Go."
The Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse is going strong, but most animatronic diners have called it quits over the years. However, you can still experience the eerie atmosphere of a '90s animatronic diner through the indie horror game Five Nights at Freddy's, which follows a security guard who must survive the restaurant's evil animatronics for five nights.