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Dallas-based Wingstop launches cheeky side business, Thighstop

Chicken thighs from Thighstop are sold via pickup and delivery from 1,400 Wingstops.

Wingstop’s new side company is focused on a “whole bird strategy,” says Chief Operating Officer Mahesh Sadarangani, where chicken thighs are just as important as poultry’s more popular part, the wing.

But can chicken thighs be sexy? They think so, and Thighstop is their answer.

Thighstop sells bone-in and boneless chicken thighs tossed in Wingstop’s 11 flavors. The company sells only a few other items: fries, Cajun fried corn, rolls and house-made sauces like ranch and honey mustard. Chicken thighs are sold exclusively online, then available via pickup at any of the 1,400 Wingstop shops, or by DoorDash delivery.

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While Thighstop is obviously a sibling business to Wingstop, it’s a separate company, Sadarangani says. Count it as one of the many “invisible” kitchens that launched during the coronavirus pandemic, as a way to dish out hot food, fast.

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“It’s a fun, tongue-in-cheek way to introduce a brand in an area where there are a bunch of new virtual brands being launched,” Sadarangani says.

A “virtual brand,” in this instance, is a restaurant concept without a dedicated kitchen. All of Thighstop’s thighs are made inside Wingstop restaurants — kitchens that were already there. Which means creating Thighstop was relatively low-cost. It was also a lot of fun, Sadarangani says. (We asked if “Breaststop” was an option, and Sadarangani politely said the company considered several names.)

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“We made chicken the center of the plate,” Sadarangani says of Wingstop. Now comes this new venture: “We’ll do everything we can do to make thighs the center of the plate, not the bottom of the bucket.”

Wingstop execs tested Thighstop in seven markets in late 2020 before making it available nationwide on June 21. Dallasites got it early, on June 19.

Despite skyrocketing costs of chicken wings — which have caused companies like Pluckers to hike their prices — Sadarangani says Thighstop is not Wingstop’s effort to combat that problem. He says prices are going up because of labor shortages and because demand is outpacing supply for restaurant buyers and grocery store chains.

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“We aren’t experiencing the issues that you’re hearing out there,” he says. “Despite prices being high, we aren’t having any impact.”

Thighstop meals are sold in family packs and in individual combos. A three-piece bone-in thigh combo, which is served with fries and one sauce, costs $7.99. A 12-piece bone-in thigh pack, which feeds three to four people, costs $24.99.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.