In addition to being in a new location, Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken will be in a new episode of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network.
His restaurant is now at 1725 Winchester Road, which is “one-fourth of a mile” from his old restaurant at 3633 Millbranch Road, says owner/founder Lou Martin. “A six-minute walk or a two-minute drive.”
And the episode, titled “Sweet, Spicy and Savory,” will air at 7 p.m. on April 25th.
Martin’s new building was formerly a Wendy’s location. He wanted the building for years. “They came down to my asking price, which I thought was great.”
He didn’t have to do a lot to the building, but he did a lot anyway, Martin says. “My plan is to set it up as a model. Get more of them. Get people interested in opening Lou’s around the city, around the country. That’s the plan. That’s why we went so in depth. To make it a franchise-able model.”
Asked about the interior’s color scheme, Martin says, “My wife [Renee Martin] is in charge of colors. I’m in charge of the bills.”
One area of the restaurant, known as Daphne’s Area, is in pink because of his daughter Daphne Martin, who died in June 2024. “It’s an honor to her, her legacy. Everything is pink. That was her color.”
Martin has white table tops in honor of his mother Mary Martin, who died 10 years ago. “She had that dream a few times that I had a restaurant with white tablecloths. And I told her, ‘Mom,’ — we kind of joked about it — ‘I might have a white table top one day.’’’
The chair cushions are green. “My mom’s favorite color was green.”
The new restaurant is 2,700 square feet, as opposed to his old place, which was 1,800 square feet. Martin now has more space for shipping his Uncle Lou’s products, which include his sauces, seasonings, and chicken breading mix.
The new restaurant, of course, continues to offer Martin’s chicken breasts, thighs, legs, and his award-winning marinated chicken tenderloins slathered with his signature Sweet Spicy Love sauce, as well as hamburgers and other items.
Martin came up with the sauce, but the fried chicken recipe came from his great-grandmother Rosie Gillespie. In a Memphis Magazine story, Martin said he was about 15 when his mother told him the secret to Madear’s fried chicken. And she told him again when he decided to sell chicken at his new restaurant.
New Uncle Lou’s side items include homemade macaroni-and-cheese. “We start with elbow macaroni noodles. Cook those. After those are cooked, we add our cheddar cheese sauce. And after that we add some black pepper, some Corruption — my own personal seasoning — and a little bit of honey. Cup it up and sprinkle shredded cheese on it. A five-cheese blend.”
Corruption is “an all-purpose seasoning. Kind of like Lawry’s or Season-All, but much more flavor and less salt.”
The seasoning dates to Martin’s days when he owned Turkey Express, a turkey leg booth he set up at the Mid-South Fair and at Memphis in May events. Daphne, who was about 10 years old at the time, helped him make Corruption, he says. “Probably 30 plus years ago.”
Daphne continued to help him over the years. “She was my right hand, but she was left-handed.”
Martin talked about Corruption when he was on his first Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives show with Fieri in 2008. Asked on the show why he called it Corruption, Martin said, “Once you taste it, you’ve been corrupted.”
Corruption also is in Sweet Spicy Love Beans, another new side item.“It’s a Northern bean with a Southern kick.”
Martin says, “People swear up and down it has meat, but it doesn’t have meat. Just seasoning, seasoned green beans, and we add diced potatoes and Corruption.”
That’s another nod to his mother, who made green beans with diced potatoes for their Sunday dinners when Martin was growing up. She made Sunday dinner on Saturday. So, on Sunday she’d put the already-cooked beans and potatoes on the floor heater before the family went to church. The slow heat marinated the dish. All his mom had to do when they came home from church was “fry chicken or warm up the roast or whatever we were having that day.”
Martin recalls the aroma from those beans and potatoes after church. “Talking about smell — oh, my goodness.”
Born and raised in Memphis, Martin opened his first restaurant, Catfish Express, where he sold farm-raised catfish, in 1988.
He then went into the concession business with his Turkey Express booth. He also owned the short-lived Turkey Express restaurant in Downtown Memphis.
In 2001, Martin opened what later became Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken. He originally sold hamburgers and sandwiches before he added the fried chicken made from his great-grandmother’s recipe.
Mary enhanced the fried chicken with his Sweet Spicy Love sauce, which is made with honey, red wine vinegar, Louisiana hot sauce, and Corruption. He originally called the sauce Honey Dip, but during a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives appearance, Fieri told him he should call it Sweet Spicy Love.
Martin has been on Fieri’s show four times, including the upcoming episode. As he said in the Memphis Magazine story, business picked up “immediately” after the first show in 2008. “It didn’t stop,” Martin said. “And it hasn’t stopped.”
Business is booming at his new location, Martin says. And, for the first time in his career, he owns a restaurant with a patio. “I’ve got a patio that’s out of this world. I want to say 35 by 40. It’s enough to have six six-foot tables.”
The patio is intended for families who want to let their kids move around and “stretch their legs.”
The centerpiece in the restaurant’s landscaping is a “long stem pink” rose bush, which belonged to his mother. “My niece was a baby when she planted that thing, so I know it’s 40-plus. I’m saying 43.”
Martin had the rosebush transplanted to the restaurant. “It’s flourishing down here.”
Hydrangea bushes and various flowers also are included in the restaurant’s landscaping. “I like color. I like low maintenance and something that comes back every year. Some yellows. Some oranges. Some purples. And the flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
“If you’re sitting out there on the patio and you’ve got butterflies, hummingbirds, good music, and a good day, what else could you need besides good-flavored chicken?”
