How Starbird Is Gearing Up To Sling Chicken Tenders At Levi's Stadium This Super Bowl

Long-time hosts of Super Bowl parties will know that feeding a crowd can be incredibly difficult (whether it's how many drinks to prepare or how many appetizers you need), and yet it still pales in comparison to the task at hand for vendors of the Big Game. One such vendor is Starbird Chicken, a chain known for selling some of the highest-quality fast-food chicken in the world.

The California-based restaurant chain is set to sell its delicious tenders at three locations within Levi's Stadium for Sunday's game and is thus preparing for one of the company's most chaotic days of business. We discussed what is likely to be a remarkable feat for Starbird Chicken with its vice president of operations, Nick Falco. He shared with The Takeout how the crew is preparing to serve an absurd amount of chicken tenders as the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks take the field at Super Bowl LX.

To get the job done, Falco said the crew at Starbird has been working nonstop to ensure that Super Bowl Sunday goes as smoothly as possible for customers craving chicken tenders at Levi's Stadium. "Super Bowl preparation begins well ahead of game day, with planning that starts months in advance and becomes more tactical in the weeks leading up to the event," Falco revealed. "We increase purchasing forecasts for chicken, ingredients for sauces, and packaging, fine-tune production schedules, and build in additional prep capacity to support higher throughput."

It's clear that there are a multitude of hurdles that Starbird is set to face for this year's big game, but likely the biggest hill for the vendor to climb is the sheer volume of food that needs to be made. "We hand-bread our chicken tenders fresh, never frozen," Nick Falco explained, "which means scaling that process during the Super Bowl is our biggest challenge ... Over the course of just a few hours, our three Levi's Stadium locations will prepare and serve thousands of fresh tenders while maintaining speed, consistency, and premium food quality." 

Beyond that, there's also the difficulty of coordinating with the ample security on the premises and handling the high-pressure nature of playing a vital role in one of the biggest food days of the year. "Our focus is making sure every guest gets the same craveable Starbird experience they'd expect at any of our restaurants, even at peak demand," Falco said.

Furthermore, these challenges extend beyond just the three Starbird Chicken locations within the stadium. Every Starbird Chicken location is set for a busy day, with the chain offering Game Day Packages and catering platters to those who won't be in attendance at Levi's Stadium and are instead looking to add a main fixture to their array of simple Super Bowl snacks on Sunday. For this reason, each location is focused on delivering great service and great food as efficiently as possible. " ... Our teams brine and hand-bread each tender and wing, prepare our sauces from scratch, and execute with precise timing," Falco reminded. "From food safety checks and quality control to training teams for peak-volume execution, Super Bowl Sunday is truly an all-hands effort."