Longtime fans flock to Lake City for one last bite of Heaven Sent Fried Chicken

Customers have been streaming to Lake City for their fried chicken fix this week ever since owner Ezell Stephens announced his retirement.

Philip Orquia was among them. He was walking out of the store when he saw Stephens. He asked to take a photo with him. As he thanked Stephens, he shared a fond memory from college: the $3 lunch special that filled him during those lean times.

“You get three big pieces of chicken and a little mound of mash potatoes,” Orquia recalled. “That $3 meal went a long way.”

Tickled, Stephens said, “You can say I raised him on my chicken!”

After more than 41 years in the business, Stephens says he wants to end on a high note. Pressures like rising food prices and the new minimum wage influenced that decision. But he also says it’s time.

“I’m 72 years old. It’s time for a life after chicken ,and I want to see what that’s like. It’s exciting,” Stephens said.

Last call for Heaven Sent Fried Chicken is Friday.

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Stephens got the idea for a fried chicken business after working in a restaurant in Marshall, Texas. That idea would materialize after he left the Coast Guard in 1978.

Stephens founded the business with a friend and fellow Texan. In 1984, Ezell’s Famous Chicken opened in Seattle’s Central District neighborhood, across from Garfield High School.

Ezell’s big moment came when Oprah Winfrey learned about the restaurant during a fundraising visit to Seattle. For her 40th birthday, Stephens flew to Chicago to prepare his fried chicken. A picture of him with Winfrey commemorating the event hangs by the store entrance.

That appearance put Ezell’s on the national map.

“I wasn’t used to so many people coming around me,” Stephens said. “This chicken have been my ticket.”

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The restaurant would go on to expand to a dozen locations. In 2011, the business partnership splintered after a contentious lawsuit. Stephens lost the rights to the name, although both parties retained the use of the recipe.

Stephens' new venture, Heaven Sent Fried Chicken, created an unspoken rivalry with his previous company.

The secret to his fried chicken: “I love what I do. And I put it in the food that I make.”

At the Lake City restaurant, people waited for their orders. Some left notes of appreciation.

Alicia Alarcon said her daughter bonded with her grandfather over chicken and fried okra.

“He actually lives in Tacoma, and they would drive all the way up from Tacoma — her and her grandpa and her father — because they loved Heaven Sent so much,” Alarcon said.

Stephens said he and his staff will stay open until all the chicken’s sold on Friday, their last day of business. For now, he’s busy thanking well-wishers, taking in their stories, and happily posing for photos.