Local Owners Bring Huey Magoo's to the Worthington Gateway
Tim Hobart is a Worthington native who owns the Huey Magoo’s, a fried chicken restaurant that opened late last spring in the Worthington Gateway development. We chatted with Tim about his background, his involvement in the community, and what Huey Magoo’s has to offer.
Nick: So you grew up in Worthington?
Tim: I did, I grew up in Worthington, graduated in 1987. We grew up in Worthington Hills. I went to Thomas when it was just Worthington High School. So it’s pretty special to be back in the community. I have definitely seen some old friends or people I haven't seen in a while, so this is a pretty important restaurant for us, to bring something that we're proud of back home.
Nick: Did your ties to Worthington lead to you opening this Huey Magoo’s?
Tim: Yes, and when you look at some of the new development in Worthington, it was exciting, right? I grew up going across the street to Worthington Square back in the day, and then obviously with this being off 23 and 270, there are lot of cars, lot of traffic, lot of eyeballs. You know, I remember when this was a Holiday Inn, too. We thought as we were trying to build out our market this would be a good spot for us to go.
Nick: What got you into owning a Huey Magoo’s in the first place?
Tim: So my wife and I have another brand called BD's Mongolian BBQ. We've been in the community for 20-odd years and just decided that we were going to look for a way to complement our BDs. And when COVID hit, that was not very kind to BDs, so we looked for a new opportunity. And Huey’s had come onto the scene. We looked at a couple different brands, but just fell in love with the menu, whether it's hand-breaded tenders with a little bit of Creole seasoning in the breading, giving them a little more flavor, plus a grilled option, a sauced option, salads, wraps, sandwiches, 10 different dipping sauces for you to choose from.
And then really kind of the biggest thing for me is I've been really fortunate to work with some dynamite people in my 20 years with BDs. It was time to find a continued opportunity for my people to be able to grow. So Ben, my operating partner, I hired him when he was 17, and now he's part owner of this restaurant with me. And Jason is my general manager; I hired him when he was at Ohio State and he's been with me 20 years. So just more opportunities for my second family was a big driver behind it.
Nick: How do you describe Huey Magoo’s to a first-timer?
Tim: We're a chicken tender restaurant with options – that’s of how I would explain it.
We have a hand-breaded tender with a little bit of Creole seasoning. We've got a grilled option that’s gluten free, which has been really important. We've got the sauced options.
Nick: And lots of sauces, right?
Tim: So, the hand-breaded or grilled can get tossed in one of those four flavors: buffalo, sweet, garlic parm, or lemon pepper. And then we also have a tender bite option which is great. It’s all great for catering.
Nick: What sets Huey Magoo’s apart from other fried chicken places?
Tim: I think what sets us apart is the quality of the chicken, and some of the simple extensions like the fresh cut chips, the homemade banana pudding, the line of salads that we do. Our ranch is phenomenal; we make it in the house. That's what sets you apart is that type of stuff. And I think the price is affordable.
Nick: Very quickly after you opened, you became really active in the Worthington community, especially with the schools. Can you tell us more about that?
Tim: I think the first natural fit for me was to visit the high school. So Molly [Feesler, Thomas Worthington Athletic Director] was just a great advocate for us and wanted to get us connected. Not only did I play basketball for Coach Miller, but I felt that was a good place to start in the community. So we did a four year sponsorship for the football scoreboard and the basketball scoreboard.
And even before we were open, we fed all the coaches at their end of the year meeting. That was really fun to introduce the brand to everybody. And since then it just kind of exploded. We do sandwiches for the football games and for the basketball games. We've done benefit nights for cheerleaders, swim teams. We’re connecting with a local high school not just because we have an affiliation, but we’re connecting with kids, we're connecting with parents, and we're connecting with potential people that can be our employees. It just makes a really good fit for us to do.
Nick: What other ways have you connected with the community?
Tim: We did a small partnership to get involved in the farmers market in Worthington. And we were one of the presenting sponsors for the Chamber Golf Tournament. And we did Sunday Funday. That was a good time.
So I think for us, it's just been nice to get connected. There are some deep roots in this community, and we just want to be part of it.