The Fortunes own two restaurants on Sea Island/St. Simons Island in Georgia. One is Palmer’s Village Cafe, and the other is Porch. The restaurant concept they chose to duplicate in the Hillside Village shopping center is Porch, which features Nashville hot chicken, catfish and shrimp.
Palmer said the eatery was originally Palmer’s Hot Chicken, but he realized that did not represent their grilled chicken, shrimp, salads and wraps. Plus their proteins are offered in a variety of heat levels.
Palmer explained the different levels of heat: “’Naked’ [is] no heat; ‘Novice’ is mild; ‘Nashville’ is hot.”
“‘Nashville’ should make your forehead sweat but not ruin the taste of the other food,” he said. “‘Napalm’ is just stupid. It’s a gimmick, but there are a few that like it.”Palmer said there were multiple reasons they chose to open Palmer’s in Lakewood, with one being that he was born in Dallas. Another was he wanted to move from St. Simons Island to Dallas to “get my kids in a metropolitan area with more diversity and culture.” Another reason came to him while he was sleeping.
“I had a dream that I was bussing tables at a Porch in Dallas, [and then] my wife said, ‘Why don’t you fly to Dallas and see what that dream is about?’” he said.
Palmer’s was asked to be the exclusive Nashville hot chicken vendor at the 2022 State Fair of Texas.
“That’s a huge break for our small business,” Palmer said.
The eatery will serve its Mother Clucker Sandwich, tenders and other popular menu items.
“The best thing is, after working a shift here, you leave knowing you talked to every customer and knowing they enjoyed it,” Palmer said of his favorite thing about owning the restaurant. “That makes it worthwhile.”
Palmer’s
6465 E. Mockingbird Lane, Ste. 316, Dallas
972-863-9366
www.palmershotchicken.com
Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
