Mt. Joy (restaurant)

Mt. Joy is a restaurant chain specializing in chicken sandwiches, based in Seattle, Washington. The business launched a food truck on Capitol Hill in September 2023, followed by a brick-and-mortar restaurant on December 1. Ethan Stowell is among the co-owners of Mt. Joy, which specializes in fried chicken sandwiches.

Description
Mt. Joy has been described as a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in chicken sandwiches that "focuses on pasture-raised chickens sourced from local farms who have an environmentally-friendly focus", according to The Seattle Times. The magazine Seattle Metropolitan has said the sandwiches "double as a means to overhaul agricultural processes that contribute to climate change". Mt. Joy bills itself as the "first ever regenerative-focused" restaurant in the Pacific Northwest.

The business operates a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Seattle's Capitol Hill, as well as a food truck. The restaurant's interior has shades of green and white. Spicy or mild versions of fried chicken sandwiches have breasts or thighs, as well as lettuce, tomato, and a house sauce on a brioche bun. Mt. Joy also serves a portobello sandwich. The menu also includes chicken tenders, milkshakes, as well as French fries with five dipping sauces made in-house. Mt. Joy sources ingredients locally and also serves beer. The custom buns are made by Franz Bakery.

Conception and development
Robbie Cape conceived of the business after watching Kiss the Ground, a 2020 documentary film about regenerative agriculture; he recruited regenerative farmer Grant Jones to co-found the restaurant, and also brought on chef and restaurateur Ethan Stowell to be a partner.

In October 2022, The Seattle Times reported that owners hoped to open the first restaurant in Seattle by the Fall 2023, with additional locations planned throughout the Pacific Northwest. Mt. Joy's three-day pop-up and fried chicken sandwich test run was held at the Capitol Hill location of Stowell's Italian restaurant Tavolàta in October 2022. The chickens were supplied by Hungry Hollow, Jones's family farm in Shelton, Washington. During the pop-up, Mt. Joy also served the portobello sandwich, fries, and three varieties of milkshakes (chocolate, huckleberry, and vanilla). Mt. Joy had another three-day pop-up at Stowell's restaurant Rione XIII in May 2023.

First food truck and brick-and-mortar restaurant
In September 2023, Mt. Joy launched a food truck on East Olive Way, in the parking lot of a former Starbucks shop. According to GeekWire, Mt. Joy had fifteen employees at the time. Mt. Joy also announced plans to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Capitol Hill, on the ground level of the Sunset Electric apartment building near the intersection of 11th and Pine Street.

The restaurant opened on December 1, 2023, with a reported $1.5 million in funding from multiple investors. Harry Cheadle of Eater Seattle noted how Mt. Joy opened in close proximity to multiple fried chicken eateries, and even launched the same week as a Dave's Hot Chicken restaurant. In addition to Hungry Hollow, four other farms in Western Washington have supplied chickens to Mt. Joy, as of late 2023.

According to Eater Seattle, the owners hope to expand to thousands of locations.

Leadership
Cape is the chief executive officer. Pat Snavely is another founding partner as well as chief marketing officer. Justin Kaufman is a co-founder as well as Mt. Joy's chief technology officer.

Dionne Himmelfarb, who has been a chef for Stowell, is the chief culinary officer, and Jones is the chief agricultural officer.

Reception
George Burquest of Seattle University's student publication The Spectator gave the white meat chicken sandwich a rating of 7 out of 10 and wrote, "All in all, Mt. Joy was a very pleasant experience, but nothing to write home about. The sandwich looked like a dictionary definition ... and the flavors were by book as well."