Esperto Hospitality buys Daddy’s Chicken Shack, plans New Jersey expansion
Esperto Hospitality took over Daddy’s Chicken Shack and is using Tinton Falls as the first test of a New Jersey growth push.
A Holmdel restaurant group has taken control of Daddy’s Chicken Shack and set the fast-casual chicken brand on a New Jersey growth path that will start in Tinton Falls, where the first local site is slated to open in the third quarter. The deal moves the concept from a brand with scattered development plans into a new operating phase, with the next owner deciding how fast it scales, how crews are trained, and how tightly each store is managed.
For restaurant workers, that matters because an ownership change usually resets the playbook behind the counter. Esperto Hospitality Group now has to decide how many managers it needs per opening, who trains new hires, how much authority stays in-house, and how much consistency is demanded as the brand expands beyond a single launch site. Esperto said it was aiming to build carefully, and its stated plan to open in Tinton Falls first suggests a measured rollout rather than a rush to stack leases and signage. That can be good news for workers if it means real training and stable staffing; it can also mean more pressure if the new owners push a tighter operating model across every shift.
Daddy’s Chicken Shack began in 2018 in Pasadena, California, when chef Pace Webb and Chris Georgalas launched it from a 700-square-foot space that grew out of a catering business. The brand began franchising in 2021, and its materials later said it had 120 units in development in one update and 160 in another. Area 15 Ventures acquired the chain in 2023 and spent the last year refining the brand’s economic model before handing it to Esperto. That history helps explain why this sale looks less like a simple transfer and more like a reset on who gets to call the shots.
Esperto’s first New Jersey location is planned for 1810 Wayside Road in Tinton Falls, at Wayside Crossing near the Garden State Parkway. The company reportedly had 13 sites under development across New Jersey, with growth expected in Monmouth and Ocean counties. That puts the brand into one of the country’s most crowded chicken markets, where it will run headfirst into Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, KFC and Wingstop.
Esperto’s leadership team includes John DiLeo as president, Anthony DiLeo as vice president, Tony Ruccio as director of operations and Jonathan Rice as director of culinary. Anthony DiLeo brings more than three decades of franchise operations experience, including work with multiple Perkins locations in New York and New Jersey. That kind of background suggests the new owners know the grind of opening day staffing, kitchen discipline and brand consistency. The real question for the cooks, cashiers, shift leads and general managers who may follow is whether this expansion creates steadier jobs and more upward mobility, or simply more pressure to deliver the same chicken in more stores, faster.
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