By Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
Editor’s note: They Built It is an occasional series featuring Plant City’s small-business owners.
Maryland Fried Chicken hasn’t even opened for business for the day. In fact, it isn’t even lunchtime. It is 10:30 a.m., but already customers were pouring in the door, ready to get a bite of Maryland’s famous chicken.
“It’s the best fried chicken,” patron Julie Brown said, snacking on some gizzards and wings. “When the owners go on vacation and close the restaurant, it hurts me.”
It’s impossible to miss Maryland’s sign and signature style. Its orange and yellow hues on the restaurant’s exterior and interior take customers back into the past and draws patrons from throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Despite the fame, Maryland’s owners and employees have remained dedicated to its humble roots by serving their customers peanut oil-fried morsels with a smile.
Maryland began as a franchise restaurant in Orlando in the late 1950s. In 1968, Robert Decker came to Plant City and contracted Al Cole to build the current building. Decker started the restaurant, and a year later, a group of locals, including Beverly and Bill Naset, Ercelle Smith, his father, Al Berry, and Sara Copeland bought the restaurant.
In the early 1970s, Bill Naset bought his partners out, and since, then it has remained in the Naset family. Maryland hasn’t been a chain since the 1970s, making it a unique piece of the past that has thrived.
Now, Mark Naset and Kim McElveen, children of Bill and Beverly, run the eatery. They have worked there since their teenage years. Siblings Tavia Cowell and Craig Naset also worked at Maryland.
“In the back of my mind, I figured I would be here running the business,” Naset said. “We could see the business was becoming popular. We were selling more and more, and I felt it was a good thing to get involved in.”
Maryland receives fresh shipments of whole chicken three days a week. The employees, who include high school students and longstanding workers, cut and bread the chicken, pressure-fry it and make a variety of homemade side items such as cole slaw. The menu also boasts seafood.
“It’s a great atmosphere here,” said Hope Mohler, who has worked for Maryland for 15 years. “The people we work for are great. It’s like family.”
It’s this family-like atmosphere that has attracted repeat customers for generations, including Tiffany Collins. She is a fourth-generation Maryland customer, according to her mother, Teresa Collins.
Teresa’s mother, Carolyn Hoile, used to take Teresa to Maryland as a child on Wednesdays, Carolyn’s day off from work. And Teresa’s grandparents took her to Maryland as well.
“The ladies here are awesome,” Teresa said. “We like everything about the chicken.”
“We are very appreciative of our customers,” Naset said. “Genuinely we are.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com. .net framework
