Winner Winner Hot Chicken reopens at Hillsdale Shopping Center

in Food

It’s a win-win situation for foodies and families at Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo.

Winner Winner Hot Chicken, which held a soft opening at the shopping center in early March, has resumed with modified full service this week after San Mateo County reached the lesser-restrictive orange tier of the state’s COVID-19 color-coded reopening system. Up till this week, the eatery has operated across various formats during the pandemic, from supporting local hospitals and front line workers to home-based catering to reduced operations and takeout-only service.

Winner Winner serves up a local version of Nashville Style Hot Chicken (air-chilled, antibiotic free) along with fresh sides and salads, including a vegan Barry’s Bowl inspired by Barry’s Bootcamp. A rotating menu of locally made desserts such as individual twinkies and key lime tarts are “designed to stir up nostalgic memories among neighbors who grew up on the Peninsula,” owners say. Bay Area beers and California wines, Kelvin Organic Slushies, plus cold pressed juices from Pressed Juicery are also offered.

The family-focused restaurant is a joint venture by Jeremy Cheng and Randy Magpantay, local chefs behind Peninsula fine dining establishments TOWN, Milagros and Nola for Cheng, as well as progressive culinary enterprises Chef Fitness Inc., William Jay Catering, and Kings Sandwich Co. for Magpantay.

Winner Winner aims to be an elevated chef experience for families, with food that is savory, healthy and convenient.

Bridgette Cheng and Jaein Magpantay, wives of Jeremy and Randy, are running operations day to day. Bridgette Cheng previously managed Milagros Latin Kitchen for 10 years.

“As new mothers, we want to provide healthy, quality, and fun food to other local families,” Bridgette said.

Jeremy and Randy grew up coming to Hillsdale after school, added Jaein.

“And now the whole area is getting revitalized,” she said. “We love what this opportunity has brought to us, and we want to bring the same to our neighbors on the Peninsula.”

In 2017, Randy, by then a catering business owner and personal chef to local sports celebrities, joined forces with Jeremy to launch William Jay Catering. As new parents, their collaboration evolved into Winner Winner.

“We are still fresh into parenthood,” Randy said. “Like many of the people in San Mateo, we’ve spent countless hours at Hillsdale Shopping Center and want to provide meals where you don’t need to think twice about what you’re eating, or what your kids are eating.”

Jeremy, who was born in Manila, where fried chicken is an essential dish, adds that Winner Winner complements similar chef-driven new options at Hillsdale.

“We’re combining our experience from upscale restaurants and as small business operators with a concept that blends with the various eateries here at Hillsdale,” he said. “Many of our peers here come from a background in fine dining, like the people behind Refuge, Shake Shack, and Pallete Tea House. It’s a chef-driven, experience concept—using the best products, preparing them with care, yielding the best, most delicious results.”

Winner Winner Hot Chicken is located in the Dining Terrace by ShareTea. Hours of operation follow mall hours, currently Wednesday – Saturday from 11am-7pm and Sunday from 11am-6pm. For more information, visit www.winnerchicken.net, www.hillsdale.com or call 650-532-1022.