A ‘Cocky’ development: There’s a new chicken restaurant headed to Columbia’s Five Points

A city known for the Gamecocks is getting set to welcome another kind of rooster.

Cocky Rooster, a burgeoning Virginia-based chicken restaurant chain, will open a location in Columbia’s Five Points district, according to a Monday release from Cason Development Group.

The restaurant will be in the 2000 block of Devine Street, taking the spaces that were formerly occupied by Sushi Yoshi and Carolina Barber Shop. The sushi shop has been closed for a couple of years and the barber shop recently moved to the Arcade Mall on Main Street.

The coming Cocky Rooster location is aiming for an opening in the fourth quarter of this year, per the release.

“We are excited to bring Cocky Rooster to Columbia,” Cocky Rooster co-founder Brett Diehl said in a statement. “Being in the Gamecocks’ backyard is the perfect fit for our brand, and we’re eager to show South Carolina why we’re Cocky.”

Cocky Rooster’s menu includes chicken wings, tenders, sandwiches, French fries and more. The restaurant also has a host of sauces, including honey mustard barbecue, truffled Buffalo, garlic Parmesan and Korean barbecue, among others.

The Five Points Cocky Rooster location plans to be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. Curtis Lyons will be the franchisee for the Columbia spot.

“I have a daughter who attends USC and is a Gamecock through and through,” Lyons said in a statement. “After visiting Columbia for three years and attending football games, I also fell in love with the city and the university. We are so excited to be able to open a Cocky Rooster in Five Points.”

The restaurant will have dine-in, takeout and delivery options.

This marks the latest in a flurry of restaurant news in Five Points, the more than century-old village just east of downtown Columbia that has long been a favorite of USC students and residents of the leafy neighborhoods that border the district.

For instance, Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, a well known Atlanta-based franchise, recently announced it is bringing a location to the 900 block of Harden Street. Meanwhile, Arroyo Tacos + Tequila, a new Mexican restaurant from the team behind nearby Saluda’s, opened recently at 819 Harden St., near Pawley’s Front Porch.

“They are committed to Columbia, and we feel strongly that their vision marries well with the direction of where Five Points is heading,” Cason Development president Frank Cason said of Cocky Rooster.