No More Flav's Fried Chicken in Iowa

It was a newbie chain restaurant that seemed like an odd match for it's new home, but it seemed pretty cool at the same time.  Flavor Flav opened a fried chicken restaurant in Clinton, Iowa.  It was called Flav's Fried Chicken.  Clinton's fairly small, but it's not tiny for Iowa. I never quite got the story about why Flav chose Clinton until tonight:

The idea for the venture came after Flav befriended Las Vegas restaurateur Peter Cimino.  Flav cooked Cimino some chicken, and Cimino, duly impressed, had Flav sell his chicken wings at Mama Cimino's Pizza in Las Vegas...

It was Cimino's brother, Clinton restaurateur Nick Cimino, who suggested he and Flav open a fried chicken restaurant in the Iowa city of roughly 26,000 people.  "He said, 'You know what, Flav?... What I want to do, I want to build you your first restaurant.' I'm like, 'Are you serious?' He's like, 'Yo, I’m dead serious, man. I’m going to go home, I'm going to build your first FFC restaurant,'"... Nick Cimino bought a building next to his own restaurant and got it ready for Monday’s opening, the Clinton Herald reported last week.

And that's how Flav landed in Clinton, Iowa, and began selling chicken.  Ever since hearing about the new restaurant, I've been meaning to check it out.  However, I don't make it to Clinton County very often.

Now it looks like I missed my moment: Flav's Fried Chicken is no more:

A fried chicken restaurant in Iowa founded by Flavor Flav has abruptly closed its doors after the reality TV star and his business partner cut ties and exchanged harsh words. Flav's Fried Chicken in Clinton, Iowa, closed on Sunday, just four months after opening to much fanfare.

Flav told WQAD-TV that he was pulling a license that allowed restaurant manager Nick Cimino to use his name in the restaurant because he "isn't running the business right." Some former employees had complained they were not paid.

Cimino told the station Flav was "a fraud" who was trying to get rich off of his ideas and work.

I'd begun hearing rumors about the employees not getting paid, so it wasn't a surprise when I learned that the restaurant was shutting down.  Then again, I'd also heard a couple rumors that Flavor Flav might be branching out beyond Clinton, though for the life of me I can't remember which Iowa community he was supposed to be branching out into.

All that said, I can see why this particular restaurant never took off.  I found this article on TMZ about the established restaurant next door to the newly opened Flav's Fried Chicken: It's a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.  You would think that they would be able to find a better location within a community of 26,000.  But that's just me...