Chubby’s Chicken Fingers has been in business in Tallahassee, Fla., for 15 years on Tennessee Street next to the Florida State University campus.

Started by Scott Whitman in 1999, he hired Rob Nix two years ago to start a catering division.

Coming from the insurance field, Nix was hesitant about the career change but decided to give it a try.

It went so well that Whitman and Nix decided to partner and open a second location.

Having found success in a college town, Nix and Whitman looked for another college town to open.

Earlier this year, a scouting trip brought them to Valdosta.

“Valdosta seemed to fit the mold of what we were looking for, and we felt we fit the mold of what Valdosta was looking for,” said Nix.

Searching for a location in Remerton, Manny’s Sub Shop contacted them about its location.

Located on Baytree Road close to the Remerton bars and not too far from Valdosta State University, Nix and Whitman decided to go for it, spending the next few months readying the building and kitchen to be a chicken restaurant.

Like the Tallahassee location, Chubby’s boasts late hours, opening 10 a.m.-3 a.m. Sunday through Tuesday, and 10 a.m.-4 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

More than half of the Tallahassee revenue is generated between 11 p.m.-3 a.m. While Nix looks for more lunch and dinner traffic here than in Tallahassee, he’s also looking for that late night traffic, too.

They also do a lot of catering which makes up roughly 15 percent of the Tallahassee business. Their catering options range from bulk orders — like, say, 1,000 chicken tenders — to full spreads.

Nix works to customize catering orders instead of offering set options

The menu consists of all things chicken: chicken wings, chicken tenders, chicken salads, chicken wraps.

The menu has a couple of items to set it apart.

“Everybody has their signature items, but what’s big in Tallahassee aside from our tenders and wings is our chop boxes.”

Chop boxes mix seasoned yellow rice covered in chopped chicken tenders. From there, you can choose black beans, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheddar cheese and/or guacamole.

All of the wings and tenders can be served plain with no sauce or can be tossed with wing sauces: Hot, XXX Hot, Buffalo, Mild, Rattler Venom — a kind of sweet hot sauce flavor, Teriyaki, Honey Barbecue, Garlic Parmesan, and Lemon Pepper.

Additionally, the sauces can be mixed together. If you’ve always wanted to try buffalo lemon pepper, teriyaki garlic parmesan, or honey barbecue teriyaki buffalo, here’s your chance.

Chubby’s offers loaded french fries, covering fries with cheddar cheese, bacon, scallions and sour cream.

Chubby’s looks to expand the menu in the next year. First up is adding potato wedges to the menu along with fries. They’re working on adding a mac and cheese dish, both solo and with chicken.

They also want to diversify their salads, adding mixed greens and spinach.

“We’re going to be constantly expanding the menu. It’s trial and error. If we implement it and folks are excited about it, we’ll keep it.”

New to Valdosta, both Nix and Chubby’s look to get involved with the community.

“We like to be pro-active, getting involved in the community. We’re excited to help church groups, organizations.”

Having expanded Chubby’s to two stores, the future may see more.

“In the next five years, I’d love to open two or three more stores. I wouldn’t be opposed to opening another location in Valdosta if the market demands it.”