The Bizarre Reason This Popular Fried Chicken Chain Could Be Closing Soon

Sticky's Chicken Joint has been a New York/New Jersey favorite for 13 years. It recently filed in U.S. bankruptcy court and stated that, without court approval of its asset-sale plan, the case will convert to Chapter 7, which means it would have to close all 12 restaurants and sell off kitchen equipment, lease rights, and inventory, Restaurant Business Online reports. Sticky's hopes to sell about $2 million in assets to Harker Palmer, a private investment firm. If the court approves that sale, the restaurants can keep operating. 

Sticky's was one of the beloved restaurant chains that faced bankruptcy in 2024 as it owed between $1 million and $10 million but had under $1 million in assets. Currently, the brand operates under Chapter 11, which allows its locations to remain open while it attempts to restructure and sell off its assets. If the court rejects the asset sale, Sticky's puts it bluntly, "...conversion to Chapter 7 will follow resulting in no recovery to any creditors," via Bloomberg Law. Hence, there won't be enough money to pay back most of the people and companies it owes.

Sticky's says two main issues cut into its December sales; severe cold weather and New York City's new congestion toll. Together, these factors drove fewer people through its doors during peak hours in key Manhattan locations. According to the National Weather Service data, Central Park's average temperature fell to 38.2 °F in December 2024 — the coldest December reading since 2017 and more than 6 °F below December 2023's 44.6 °F average. This reduced the number of visitors to Sticky's Finger Joint.

Then, New York City started charging cars to enter the area below 60th Street. Since January 5 2025, any passenger car that drives south of 60th Street pays a one-time $9 fee during the busy hours (5am. to 9pm weekdays, 9am. to 9pm. weekends). If you make the trip overnight, the charge drops to $2.25. Those figures were the "introductory" rates the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved after a late-2024 vote, but the agency has already penciled in hikes to $12 in 2028 and $15 by 2031.

Sticky's says this new cost hits it harder than most chains because five of its ten stores sit inside the toll zone — so every customer who drives in, and every delivery car, now pays a cover charge just to reach the counter. With diners already staying home during last winter's deep freeze, and the toll, sales dropped at Sticky's by more than $250,000 according to the company's own bankruptcy filing.

COVID-19 caused so many restaurant chains to struggle in 2024. It also slashed Manhattan's lunchtime crowds, pushing the 12-unit Sticky's onto third-party delivery apps. CEO Jamie Greer told the bankruptcy judge that these apps took on a much larger share of orders, but their fees ate into already thin profits just as chicken and potato costs were rising. Nation's Restaurant News adds that, even after office workers returned a few days a week, foot traffic never fully recovered. Sticky's tried raising menu prices to make up the difference, but higher prices drove customers away instead of boosting sales.

Asides this, the food joint's cost of business rose. Before the shift to remote work, Sticky's signed two expensive Midtown leases. One was for about 1,300 square feet at 1450 Broadway, costing $387 per square foot each year — nearly $500,000 in annual rent. The other was for around 1,600 square feet at 237 Park Avenue, at $250 per square foot, or almost $400,000 a year. Those rates sit at the high end for street-level space in that area. When many offices cut back to just three days a week, Sticky's couldn't get enough weekday customers to cover those six-figure rents. That strain became clear in early 2021, when the landlord of its corporate office at 33 East 33rd Street won a $576,069.05 judgment for unpaid rent — one of the largest unsecured claims listed in Sticky's Chapter 11 filing.