How Yankee Doodle Dandy’s Owner Brought Southern-Style Chicken to Long Island
By Gabby Daniels
The chicken wars are heating up.
Currently boasting three buzzing locations, two on Long Island and one in New York City, Yankee Doodle Dandy’s is known as the “Official Tendies Dispensary of New York City and Long Island.”
With Yankee Doodle Dandy’s third location opening on October 1st in Babylon, owner and founder Joshua Gatewood dove deep into the history of his beloved business.
After attending the University of South Carolina and receiving a master’s degree in international finance, Gatewood moved to New York City with initial aspirations of being an investment banker. He quickly found that finance was not what he was meant to do. The job he wanted did not pan out, and he found himself working in a boiler room on Wall Street.
“I was studying for my Series 7 and 63, and I realized right away that I would rather be doing anything other than this,” Gatewood said. “I started brainstorming, and that is when I came up with the idea to start a business.”
Starting Yankee Doodle Dandy’s was not an easy task, however. Gatewood was down on his luck, slowly going broke and needing funding for both his business and his life. Having to move back to Knoxville, TN, Gatewood made the decision to apply to be on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. After multiple tries, he finally made it onto the show.
Out to Win a Million
It all started on the show’s Halloween episode in 2012. He won $25,000 and the rest is history. Host Meredith Vieira asked Gatewood what he would do with the money he won, and he said, “I am going to start an all-American chicken restaurant called Yankee Doodle Dandy’s.”
After first growing up in the Northeast, later attending college in the south and experiencing many different, successful chicken restaurants, Gatewood saw a gap in the northern market. The whole idea of his brand was to be the New York version of popular southern-based chicken restaurants, but with an all-American spin.
Regarding the name Yankee Doodle Dandy’s, Gatewood’s family has been in America for hundreds of years. With his deep American and Revolutionary ties, Gatewood wanted to capture this in his business’ name. As Yankee Doodle was one of America’s first traditional anthems, to capture the all-American vibe, he believed it to be the perfect name. Additionally, southerners typically refer to northerners as Yankees, so he believed the name was even more fitting.
In 2013, Gatewood launched his very first food truck, “Betsy,” in New York City. It did not immediately take off, but Gatewood refused to quit.
“It was kind of a battle to introduce northerners to that good, southern-style chicken,” Gatewood said. “It was something that people were not used to up here.”
His key to success, however, was nonstop persistence.
“It was very difficult as I am sure any business is,” Gatewood said. “With the initial results I was getting, it would have been easy for anyone to throw in the towel, but I decided to keep with it and continue trying. Eventually, people started realizing how good our food was, and one thing led to another. Before I knew it, I had three food trucks by 2017.”
Fast forward to late 2019, Gatewood got the opportunity to open his first restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. However, COVID-19 came into the picture soon after and forced a quick shutdown.
“Although it did not really leave the ground, I finally felt like I achieved something, finally achieving my dream of getting a store in New York,” Gatewood said. “It was hard, but I went back and continued to do the food truck thing for a while, and was later successful enough to open up a couple of restaurants on Long Island.”
The Secret Sauce
Today, Gatewood has restaurant locations in both Islip and Babylon, with a permanent food truck, “Dolly,” located on 6th Ave and 52nd Street in New York City. With the help of partner Ryan Giles, who met Gatewood while also in graduate school at the University of South Carolina, the pair has seen much success in their continually growing business.
There is a lot that makes Yankee Doodle Dandy’s chicken special, but what really sets it apart is the special seasoning blend it is marinated in before frying which gives the chicken a unique flavor within. Popular chicken-including menu items include their “Love Me Tender Chicken Sandwich,” hand-breaded chicken tenders served on a brioche bun, and their “Winner Winner” entree that features 4 hand-breaded chicken tenders, natural-cut fries, Texas toast, Spirit of ‘76 sauce, and their homemade potato salad.
Going forward, Gatewood has many goals for Yankee Doodle Dandy’s.
“I hope to open more stores on Long Island, and really see the stores we have now become integrated within their communities,” Gatewood said. “Additionally, I would like to eventually open a drive-through location in Suffolk County and overall grow the brand in that area and beyond.”
For more information on Yankee Doodle Dandy’s, visit their website. Find Yankee Doodle Dandy’s at 14b Railroad Avenue in Babylon and 454 Main Street in Islip.
Gabby Daniels is a reporter with The SBU Media Group, part of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism’s Working Newsroom program for students and local media.
