Trust us: Try the Filipino-style fried chicken from this Tacoma food truck

A bright-yellow food truck parked outside Beer Star Tacoma one Saturday in September. Then another Saturday.

It was a test for Biig Biird (the truck’s nickname) and its co-owner, chef Paolo Campbell: Would the 253 show up for the Filipino-style fried chicken, garlic rice and coconut collards that catapulted The Chicken Supply to sell-out fame in Seattle?

I don’t know if the answer was an immediate, resounding, “YES,” but I think it’s because some of you simply might not have known. Now you do!

Tacoma has a chance to double-down. As of October, the truck now serves hot, juicy, crispy, gluten-free goods four nights a week at 4328 6th Ave. Additional days and hours are likely as the truck — led by Campbell’s brothers-in-law and Tacoma residents, Travis Magofña and fellow chef Franco Magofña — settles into its new digs.

The Chicken Supply fry is unlike any you’re likely to find in the 253. Thighs and whole wings from Draper Valley Farms in Mount Vernon chill overnight in a brine of ginger, tamari, lemon, garlic, pepper, bay leaf and some secrets to form “a tasty water,” joked Campbell. This first step already differentiates it from the more common buttermilk brine; the lighter liquid adds flavor without the weight of dairy. Egg white and cornstarch hold in place the gluten-free breading — delicate yet craggy, created through fine flours including tapioca and rice. The regular is perfectly seasoned, but mix’n’match a spicy version for another level of flavor. Most importantly for the crunch, it’s all double-fried.

“We like to do this thing where there’s an American influence to it ... or another cuisine, and it tastes nothing like it,” said Campbell, who spent his high-school years in Gig Harbor and then graduated from the University of Washington-Tacoma before moving to Seattle in 2012. It shares a “delicate, crisp” sensation evident in Asian fried chickens like the Japanese karaage while harkening to memories of Filipino family parties and street fare, in the PNW and on the islands.

You’ll want a fluffy garlic rice on the side (try it “loaded,” with fried garlic, aioli and scallions); a cup of collards, inspired by laing, a coconut stew usually featuring taro leaves, finished here with crunchy peanuts; marinated vegetables and probably all the housemade sauces.

The banana ketchup, a mainstay of Filipino cuisine, takes a couple of days to prepare. They let bananas over-ripen in a cool, dark space, then freeze, peel and slow-roast them. A dark rouge, it will convert ketchup haters and banana-ketchup lovers alike. The coconut adobo gravy provides a moody, tropical umami partner to the chicken and the rice, and the textural hot sauce features a special chile imported from Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands. The latter two choices are actually exclusive to the truck, which previously focused on events, from pop-up markets to Bumbershoot, where Campbell said they fried some 1,100 pounds of chicken this year.

These days, The Chicken Supply rolls through that much in a week at the original Greenwood restaurant.

‘Happy little accidents’ to fried-chicken fame

Campbell opened the business with friend Donnie Adams in 2021. They met in the culinary program at Seattle Central College, where Campbell’s fried-chicken thoughts were something of a joke, he recalled. He kept talking about the idea and then recipe-testing in the background through years of working in casual fine-dining restaurants in Seattle including Joule and Opus Co. — the types of places where the menu changes frequently, and the focus can feel skewed toward constant improvement on something new, not something old. Fried chicken kept calling.

“I’m a simple creature,” he said outside the truck last week.

In other words: Heck, yes, you can make fried chicken every day and eat it, too.

The chef-owner at Opus, where Campbell was working amid the pandemic, decided to close his award-winning restaurant. The Chicken Supply had inadvertently found its home.

“It’s like Bob Ross: happy little accidents along the way,” said Campbell.

The Chicken Supply quickly gained local fame, named among the best by The Seattle Times the year it opened and again this summer.

Interestingly, he and Adams expanded in the opposite direction. Instead of truck-to- brick-and-mortar, they added the trailer just last year. Amid raising a family, the hustle of setting up shop at events large or small became a lot to manage alongside the Greenwood restaurant. They began casually looking around for a more permanent place to park Biig Biird.

In addition to past and present family ties in Pierce County, Campbell also had friends and family in town. Franco Magofña lives just down the street from Beer Star. The taproom sells snacks (cheese, crackers, chips and the like) and sometimes hosts food trucks, but more permanent setups never seemed to last. Magofña asked if they were looking, which led to the test-runs.

Fans of the original have flocked to the trailer in recent weeks, while about half of Tacoma’s customers are trying it for the first time. In that case, said Campbell, “You kinda have to sell it a little bit.”

Go get sold!

The Chicken Supply - Tacoma

• Where: Beer Star, 4328 6th Ave., Tacoma, thechickensupply.com
• Trailer Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 4-8 p.m.
• Menu: Filipino-style fried chicken ($9-$9.25) with select sides ($7) and house sauces; gluten-free and celiac-friendly
• How to order: walk-up orders only for now; served to-go-style but encouraged to enjoy at the bar
• Beer Star: opens at 3 p.m. weekdays and 1 p.m. weekends, 253-300-7747, beerstarusa.com/tacoma

This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 5:30 AM.