New owners of longtime Modesto favorite Chicken Barn look to the future. See what’s changed
Mention Chicken Barn to longtime Modestans and they might get a faraway look in their eyes as they reminisce about the chicken nuggets, valley sauce and days when it was called Foster Farms Fried Chicken to Go.
Now, the longtime Modesto fried chicken restaurant has young new owners who recently completed a renovation with hopes of keeping the Chicken Barn name an area favorite for years to come. But, rest assured, the husband-and-wife team in charge of the McHenry Village eatery haven’t changed the recipes or the beloved valley sauce.
Modesto residents Madison and Randy Cory, both 24, took over the Modesto brand at the end of 2021 from the family that had run it for decades. Since then, they’ve been saving up and slowly making changes. In late April, they closed the Oakdale Road branch of the restaurant in The Lakes shopping center.
Late last month, they completed the interior remodel of the original McHenry Avenue location. Madison Cory said they hope the new lighter, brighter dining room sends the message that a new generation of owners is ready to take Chicken Barn into the future.
“We’re really excited that it just feels new,” said Madison Cory, a Modesto native and former Gregori High tennis star. “We wanted to show that there are new owners who care about (this restaurant). And also we wanted to put some of our own character and vibe into it.”
Madison and her husband, Randy Cory, who grew up in the Monterey area, met when they were 14 years old and playing at a tennis tournament. They’ve been together ever since, first settling in Utah with new jobs after college in 2021. But then two days after they got engaged, Randy was diagnosed with cancer.
It was then that Madison’s father offered to help them purchase the Chicken Barn to support themselves so they could move back to Modesto to be near family during Randy’s treatment. In late December 2021, they took over the restaurants. Since then, Randy Cory has been declared cancer free and the couple have put all their energy into reinvigorating the Chicken Barn.
They tore down some divider walls in the dining area, which has created one large open space with new seating for about 70. The walls are now crisp white with a fresh gray border. Only the building’s signature ceiling, with its wooden planks vaulted like a barn, remains the same.
The restaurant’s history stretches back to the 1950s, when Foster Farms had a dairy plant at the corner of McHenry and Briggsmore avenues, across from the current Chicken Barn in McHenry Village.
In 1968, Foster Farms opened its first restaurant in front of the McHenry Avenue plant. The eatery sold the company’s fried chicken for takeout until around the mid-1980s. Then it moved across the street into its current McHenry Village spot where it continued operating.
The plant was closed in 2003 to make way for a new retail complex. That same year, longtime Foster Farms employee Roy Bradley and his wife, Amy, bought the restaurant and renamed it Chicken Barn. They opened their second location on Oakdale Road in 2009.
Like when the Bradleys took over, the Corys have continued using the original recipes for their fried offerings. They have all the same suppliers and all the chicken is breaded in house, as are their signature deep-fried potato wedges, called “spuds.” They have made some menu adjustments, like removing a teriyaki chicken bowl and a shredded chicken sandwich. They’ve also introduced new mac and cheese and mashed potato recipes.
The much-loved valley sauces (essentially a sweet ranch) remains exactly the same. But they’ve swapped out and added others like honey mustard, Nashville hot and mango habanero sauces.
Since taking over, the couple also made some price adjustments, increases that Madison Cory said were necessary because of bird flu-related shortages and inflation. To combat rising costs for customers, the restaurant offers a different combo special each day at a discounted price.
The menu is simple, offering fried chicken pieces, sandwiches and nuggets. Chicken sandwich combos (fried or grilled) run $10.79 and include a side and a drink. Meanwhile, the nugget combos start at $10.79 for five nuggets and go up to $80.99 for 50 nuggets (sides, biscuits and dipping sauces included).
And about those nuggets: The big chunks of whole white breast meat taste as juicy as you remember, as they should, because the poultry still comes from Foster Farms. The Corys have changed the restaurant fry oil to a healthier premium canola oil, which they said is cleaner than the old soybean oil used before.
The young couple also have brought the brand into the internet age, launching Chicken Barn’s first website (www.chicken-barn.com) and its own free app (which can be used for online orders and loyalty programs). You’ll also find one or both of the Corys at the restaurant talking with their customers and employees almost every day.
The new restaurateurs also have plans for expansion. They hope to open a second location again, with an eye this time toward Turlock. If it proves successful, there could be even more locations in the Chicken Barn’s next chapter.
“Our real goal is to get this one up and running exactly how we want it so we can expand and essentially copy and paste everything,” Madison Cory said.
While the Corys look to the future, plenty of their diners fondly remember the restaurant’s past. Their mailman, Dave Costa, has been dropping in for regular lunches since he started the route 32 years ago. Also eating in the newly refurbished dining room last week was former Foster Farms employee Jim Norquist, who worked with the company in the 1980s and met his wife at the restaurant for lunch.
“All these other chicken places have come in, but we always prefer here,” he said. “I love (the new look). Eating here is like comfort food for me.”
Chicken Barn, at 1700 McHenry Ave. in Modesto, is open 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, visit www.chicken-barn.com or call 209-524-7311.
This story was originally published September 25, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
