STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Wearing a crown fit for a king, it only makes sense, Salvatore Callace is wearing one inside the kitchen of his restaurant on Main Street.
In his kitchen, there is a common product found in every dish, chicken cutlets, and for Salvatore, his followers on social media have dubbed him the Chicken Cutlet King.
"We only do chicken. We don't do pork, we don't do beef, we don't do seafood," said Callace.
Salvatore and his family have lived in the Poconos for the past six years.
Before opening the Chicken Cutlet King, the family used to have a deli in New York.
But it closed during the pandemic, and that's when Salvatore and his wife, Jennifer started making videos on social media.
And the idea for the Chicken Cutley King Restaurant was born.
"We were home, we were bored, so I told him let's start a TikTok, and he tells me what the hell are we going to do on TikTok, and I said I don't know, we just post random things," said Jennifer Callace, the co-owner.
"At first, I wanted nothing to do with it. You know I said get the camera out of my face. This is not me. You know, by the time we grew a platform and what I started doing was started making chicken cutlets online, you know, online and just people interacting with me and wanting to know the recipe," Salvatore said.
"And our followers were like, 'Oh, the chicken cutlet king.' So he said one day we're going to bring the chicken cutlet king to the Poconos," Jennifer said.
Three years after making TikTok videos, the Chicken Cutlet King opened. The owners say they owe it all to their followers on social media.
"It was a dream. Social media helped us out in reference to finances wise of us being able to invest and open a business," Salvatore said.
With more than two million followers on TikTok, the Callaces say since opening, their fans, who they also call family, come every weekend to try the Chicken Cutlet King.
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