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Judge halts restaurant from using ‘Uncle Nick’s’ brand for its chicken
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing two men and a corporation from continuing to sell fried chicken under the Uncle Nick’s Greek fried-chicken brand.
The order was requested by Nick Frankos, owner of the Buena Vista Cafe in Warren, saying that Dino Vardavas of Warren, Roger A. Peterson of Cortland and Uncle Nick’s Fried Chicken LLC no longer have the right to market their chicken as “Uncle Nick’s” because they no longer buy the marinade from Frankos that makes it “Uncle Nick’s” chicken.
Frankos’ father, Nick, referred to as “Uncle Nick,” opened the Buena Vista in 1956 and developed a special recipe and cooking process for “Greek fried chicken” that involves a special marinade, the order says.
The Frankos family has developed “Uncle Nick’s” into a well-known and distinguishable brand, and it has “significant value” that Vardavas, Peterson and the corporation are using without purchasing the marinade from Frankos that distinguishes the chicken from other kinds, the suit says.
The order requires Vardavas, Peterson and the corporation to stop advertising an affiliation with “Uncle Nick’s” chicken.
The corporation was created in 2008, and it opened three company-owned restaurants called Uncle Nick’s Greek Fried Chicken in Boardman, Newton Falls and Austintown, though only the Austintown restaurant is still open, the injunction request says.
In the agreement between Frankos and the company, Frankos was to teach the company how to make the chicken, and the company was to buy the marinade from Frankos, the injunction request says. Frankos is the only person who makes the marinade, and “Uncle Nick’s” chicken cannot be made without the marinade, the request says.
In addition to the Warren Buena Vista restaurant, Frankos operates a BV-2 location in Howland that uses the authentic “Uncle Nick’s” recipe, the request says.
On April 28, Frankos notified attorneys for the company that he was terminating its right to use the “Uncle Nick’s” name, but the company had not stopped, the request says.