The year? 2019. The headline news? Popeyes ran out of sandwiches. The people? To put it mildly—were losing their minds. In the midst of this madness, two business-savvy sisters saw an opportunity to give the people what they so desperately wanted: fried chicken. Armed with a lifetime in the hospitality industry and a homestyle cooking education from their Haitian grandmother, Gladys and Gina Jean drove to Walmart at 2 am to get the fixings and throw their hands in the ring—or coop. And their confidence in the kitchen--influenced by their grandma—had them biting into something they knew could rival the competition. “We’d be in the kitchen and our grandma would say, ‘Watch me. Look at how I do this or cut this.’ And, though we didn’t know it, we subconsciously learned,” Gina laughs. “Then she’d come in the kitchen the next day and say ‘Make beans and rice!’ And I realized I knew how to cook it from watching her so many times. We’ve been cooking Thanksgiving dinner now for the whole family since we were 10 years old.”

THE ORIGINAL BARNYARD BETTY CONTAINS CHEESE, BACON, SPECIAL SAUCE, LETTUCE, TOMATO AND PICKLE. PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN

Now the sisters are dishing out their own fried chicken creation to a never-ending line of customers at their hidden gem, Barnyard Betty, which is tucked away in the Oneco Farmers Market located in Bradenton. The brick-and-mortar stall was a necessary upgrade after the sisters’ original home-kitchen operation became an overnight sensation. “It was madness! We had city workers, Amazon trucks, FedEx drivers, blood drive buses, even police cars started coming through to get their lunch,” Gladys recalls. “Our little brother and sister would hop off the school bus, backpacks still on, and start working their way to the cars wrapped around the block for orders.” The sisters’ famed fried chicken sandwich and homemade lemonade even had people calling at 3 am to beat the next-day order rush.

THE BUFFALO BARNYARD BETTY ADDS MILD BUFFALO SAUCE AND RANCH DRESSING. PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN

Now stationed full-time at the Market, seven days a week for lunch and dinner, Gladys and Gina show no signs of slowing down. And their clientele (or “cousins,” as they call them) can’t get enough. “We started calling our customers ‘cousins’ early on. They felt like family and, now, as we expand and add on, it feels like they’re growing with us,” the Jean sisters say. “We call out orders like that: ‘Cousin so-and-so, fried chicken up!’ and it’s caught on. They’ll come up to the counter now and say ‘I’m picking up for Cousin Bridget.’ They’re a part of the journey. It’s amazing.”  SRQ

Barnyard Betty, 5108 15th Street E. Bradenton, FL