Can you get deep-fried Twinkies year-round? A Florida drive-thru is like a county fair
Do you dream all year of giant turkey legs, funnel cakes, corn dogs, deep-fried Oreos? The type of gut-sticking, heart-clogging fare you get at the Miami-Dade County Fair?
A restaurant is now dishing up your favorite carnival food year-round from a former Burger King on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Juicys Famous Fair Food opened Nov. 14 at 2319 Cortez Road W. in Bradenton.
So far, the most popular menu item is the Smash Burger, which includes double meat, double cheese and double grilled onion, says company owner Brett Enright, who lives in the Bradenton area.
Amariah Everett is already a fan of the Smash Burger. She had one Monday and came back for another on Wednesday.
How the fair food adventure started
Enright got his start in the fair food business when he was a teen when he opened a corn dog and lemonade stand at a California county fair.
Now, Juicys Famous Fair Food works many major fairs around the country. Enright says his food trailers serve more than one million customers a year at fairs in southern California alone.
“I’ve been doing fair food all my life and Juicys is the leader in fair food,” he said.
At the Texas State Fair, 300 people work serving Juicys’ food to 250,000 people in 20 days, he said.
“We had been looking for a location for a drive-thru restaurant. Bradenton is my hometown,” he said of spotting the vacant Burger King property.
“We wanted the first restaurant to be in my hometown,” he said.
Florida expansion
Other Juicys restaurants are planned for the Tampa-St. Pete area and Orlando.
The global pandemic’s arrival in 2020 spurred the creation of more drive-thru restaurants.
“Now that to-go orders are in higher demand than ever before, this is the perfect opportunity for Juicys to expand its footprint to the drive-thru only restaurant,” the Juicys website has said.
Marc Medina, the company’s chief financial officer, said Enright has found success through his rigorous quality control and hands-on approach to business.
He is also a showman.
Enright was once featured on A&E Network’s Deep Fried Dynasty.
“It’s the American Dream, deep-fried, chocolate covered, and wrapped in bacon,” the A&E website said.
The food at Juicys
In addition to the Smash Burger, early favorites at the Bradenton restaurant include deep-fried Oreos, deep-fried Twinkies, deep-fried cheesecake, funnel cakes and jumbo corn dogs.
“We don’t serve fast food. We serve good food,” Enright said. “All of our lemonades are made fresh every day, sometimes twice a day. We have the best burgers in Florida. We’ve had several customers tell us that.”
Also popular are the shakes —16 ounces for $4.99.
Customers can dine in or order online or at the drive-thru.
“It’s one of the only places to get a turkey leg and cotton candy at a drive-thru,” Enright said.
Other offerings at Juicys include the Philly cheese steak sandwich, jalapeno stuffed giant western sausage and the teriyaki chicken pineapple bowl (half a pineapple stuffed with white rice, pineapple and teriyaki chicken).
What to know about Juicys
Location: 2319 Cortez Road W., Bradenton
Hours: 11 a.m. -midnight Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Online: https://juicysfamousfairfood.com/
Phone: 310-2386-2524
