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Art Song Spreads His Wings He's Minneapolis's pontiff of poultry parts, and after 15 years and 11 different locations, he's ready to go national. by R. T. Rybak Mpls, St. Paul, February 1981

It's 1:30 a.m. another typical early Sunday morning at Art Song's Wings in south Minneapolis. The after-bar-closing rush has filled the restaurant. All 20 seats at the curved yellow counter have been taken and a surly crowd is clamoring for faster service. Eight customers stand in the take-out line. Someone at the checkout counter keeps arguing over a check.
It's a dingy but homey little spot. A row of bamboo curtains separates the kitchen from the rest of the restaurant. A green lantern hangs below a yellow light in the center of the room. On the back wall is a larger-than-life portrait of proprietor Art Song.
No, the restaurant doesn't look like the sort of place of which food chains are born. But its owner has big ideas.
After IS years as Minneapolis's pontiff of poultry parts, Art Song is spreading his wings. Backed by David Ramsay, chairman of Marigold Foods, Song will soon open the first of what he hopes will become a chain of fast-food restaurants featuring chicken wings coated with his secret batter. The first restaurant, called Wings of Song, is scheduled to open in Naples, Fla., this spring.
"'We plan to build brand-new restaurants from the bottom up," Ramsay said. "Every place Art has been in, from the Kenesaw Hotel to the place he has now on Nicollet, has been a real claptrap. But the end product is always delicious. If he had a bright, nice looking place you couldn't keep people out of there."
It's not that Song is hurting for business. He says 1,000 customers a week come into the restaurants he owns with Harold (''Shorty") Prebish and Duane ("Wags") Wagner at 3753 Nicollet Av. S. and 2401 W. Broadway. He buys over two and one half tons of wings a week and the restaurant on 38th and Nicollet alone clears $27,000 a month. And, in addition to his nationwide franchising scheme, Song plans to open three more restaurants in St. Paul, near Lake St. and Hiawatha Ave. and in downtown Minneapolis.
The smile that crosses Song's face when he talks about his success accentuates a tiny row of
wrinkles around his eyes. Tugging at his black goatee, Song, who is half Yugoslavian, half Siamese, says with delight, "I think we've got it made." At last.
JUMP RIVER, WIS., 1921: Standing on his uncle's dairy farm, Art Song spotted his first chicken. But bells didn't go off in his 8-year-old head. "A bird is a bird and a chicken is a chicken," he says. "When I looked at that little chicken I had no idea that we were going to be teammates. I didn't know that those little animals were going to make me famous ... or vice-versa. "
Although Song's father owned five restaurants in Aberdeen, S.D., Song didn't learn the restaurant business from his dad. His parents were divorced when he was 14, and he moved to Minneapolis with his mother.
Song enrolled in the Conservatory of Music in St. Paul and soon he was drumming for the Thorstein Skarning Band, a Norwegian group whose contemporaries were Whoopie John's Band and the Six Fat Dutchmen. He also had an act with fellow conservatory classmate (the late TV comedienne) Joan Davis, but the act broke' up when Song, then 16, moved to La Crosse, Wis., a year later with his mother.

"I think we've got it made," says local chicken wing king Art Song, who, with the help of his son Rod, left, will soon be selling his special battered wings all over the country.

In La Crosse Song formed a swing band known as Art Song's Jazzavolians. In 1932 they got what appeared to be a break when Song's uncle, Walter James, then owner of Minneapolis's NankinRestaurant, opened another restaurant in Chicago. He wanted to start a club on the restaurant's second floor; the Jazzavolians would play it.
Song and the others in the group took jobs in the downstairs restaurant as they awaited the club's opening, watching with excitement the room's elaborate redecoration. But for reasons never explained to Song, James decided not to open the club and, except for an occasional game of Mah-Jongg played by the employees, the upstairs room sat unused. Downstairs a disappointed Song continued learning the restaurant business.
When Prohibition ended, Song became a bartender in the Chicago restaurant and, for the next 12 years, he poured drinks for the likes of Billie Holiday and Jack Dempsey.
He moved back to Minneapolis in 1945 when he was asked to help start a bar called the Huckster on the third floor of Harry's Cafe. Among the regulars at the Huckster was TV pitchman Mel Jass. "It was just a little place with only about 10 or 12 stools," Jass says. "But the stools were always full and people would be standing two deep. Just about everybody in the print or electronic media went there, whether they admitted it or not.
"We called it 'Art's Bar,'" Jass continues. "Art was the best bartender I ever knew. He knew everyone on a first-name basis. You could come into the bar after not having been there for six months and he would still remember your drink. He would drive people home, help them with their bills, find their runaway kids. He was a high-class man. "
While at the Huckster, Song made his first venture into the restaurant business. In 1948 he and his wife, Juan-ita, opened Art Song's Hoe Hek Cafe on 60th and Lyndale Ave. S. The special batter Song had invented for his Oriental dishes began drawing large crowds. But a year and a halflater the restaurant burned down.
Song stayed at the Huckster until 1953 when he was hired to work at Michael's Restaurant. There he joined Bruce Tanaka, his old bartending mate at the Huckster, and the two began to develop an act, tossing bottles, eggs and snide comments into the air. They moved on to the White House in 1959 and the Park Terrace (now the Classic Motor Company) in 1960, and their crowds followed. But still aspiring to restaurant ownership, Song left Tanaka in 1965 to open Art Song's Tea Room in Hopkins. The restaurant, located in the building now occupied by Jack Yee's, offered full-course, sit-down dinners including live lobster.
"I loved having a place of my own," Song says. "All my friends were there and all sorts of important people came from all over to eat there." But Song found it difficult to make a profit at an expensive restaurant that didn't have a liquor license so he closed the Tea Room in 1970 and soon afterward opened Wing Dings of Song in the Kenesaw Hotel at 14th and Nicollet. Instead of full-course meals this time though, Song now focused on chicken wings, which had been served only as an appetizer at the Tea Room. Bathed in his secret batter, his wings became so popular that Song sold over three tons of them in his first month in business.
Song's wings were indeed taking off; but his business dealings were not. From 1970 to 1976 a string of bad investments and defaulting partners kept him bouncing from the Kenesaw to Brenner's (now William's Pub) to a place at 7th and Hennepin to an outlet in Othello's bar at 9th and Hennepin. Finally in 1976 his son Rod convinced him to go to a ranch in Montana. Art Song's Wings disappeared from the local scene.
"Rod said he loved the country so he convinced me to come out," Song says. "We spent two years there and I did love it. But we got lonesome. This is our home and we wanted to come back and open some restaurants."
So Song and his wife returned to Minnesota in 1979 and opened a large place in Mankato's Viking Inn. Mankato State University students and faculty crowded the place during the school year but business sputtered during the summer so, after several months, that restaurant closed too.
Back in Minneapolis, though, Song had already entered into a controversial agreement with Joseph Van Asch involving the operation of a restaurant at 2415 Hennepin Ave. As Song tells the story, the two men agreed that Van Asch would run a traditional restaurant during the day while Song would sell his wings at night. Profits allegedly would be evenly split.
But after three months, Song says, Van Asch paid him only a small amount of money and refused to show him the books. So Song left, found his way down the street and opened yet another restaurant (his ninth) in part of the old South of the Border restaurant at Lake and Hennepin. That burned in September 1979, about the time Song closed the Mankato shop, so he, Shorty and Wags moved on to 38th and Nicollet. Shortly after that, they opened the Broadway store.
(Van Asch continued to advertise that his restaurant sold "Art Song's Chicken Wings" even after Song left. Van Asch's lawyer contends that Song agreed to let his name be used. Song denies that and is suing Van Asch for $187,000. The case is now being considered in Hennepin County District Court. Meanwhile, Van Asch has also left the Hennepin AveSpread His . business and is running a restaurant in the Holiday Motor Motel, 812 Lilac Dr., Golden Valley.)
Siamese hot dogs, won ton chips, curried rice: Song's menu has expanded over the years. But wings remain the featured item. The chicken parts come into his restaurants five mornings a week, are battered and then dumped into large plastic tubs which are stored in a freezer. They are then deep fried and served hot, usually in brown paper tubs decorated with drawings of chickens.
The wings, which leave a conspicuous pool of grease at the bottom of a tub, have a sweet aftertaste. Song won't disclose the secret of his batter, but he says a key is that the wings are kept very cold and are thoroughly dried before battering.
Song now gets all the chicken from the Armour plant in St. Paul, but he's afraid that as his business expands he will no longer be able to get enough wings. And if that happens, he may start to use legs and thighs. But never breasts.
"I have never been able to get the seasoning to go inside the chicken," Song says. "But if I had breasts which have so much meat, every bite would not have the seasoning. Every bite would not be exciting.

“With my wings every bite should have a little love in it."

Kings of Wings
Entrepreneur Magazine - October 1981

"We're sitting on a million dollar product," according to Ken Pendleton, partner of ASW INTERNATIONAL INC., a special chicken enterprise. "If marketed correctly, it could be bigger than Kentucky Fried Chicken."

This was Entrepreneur's introduction to the new idea in chicken takeout restaurants, specially seasoned chicken wings, a proven success in Minneapolis and now ready to expand operations across the country.

Based on a secret recipe, the chicken wings are a creation of Art Song, a Well known personality restaurateur in Minneapolis. Song opened this first restaurant in 1965 serving expensive full course dinners. In 1970, he closed it was impossible to make a profit in an expensive eatery without a liquor license.

Between 1970 and 1976, Art opened a string of small places, this time featuring his specialty chicken wings. However, bad business investments and defaulting partners caused Art to close. He left the restaurant business to join his son Rod in Montana. After two years, a bored Art Song came back to Minneapolis to try again.

This time Song and two old friends, Shorty Prebish and Wags Wagner, opened a tiny place on the south side of Minneapolis. Not more than 600 square feet, the Nicollet Street Restaurant has 12 stools around a yellow bar, and from day one has been a success. With a 90 percent takeout business, they feature chicken wings, egg rolls, curried rice and a special sauce. In less than a year and a half, Nicollet Street was feeding more than 1,000 customers a week, grossing $34,000 a month. Art Song's wings had taken off.

Art and his son Rod decided to open a larger place with a much larger sit down capacity on North Broadway. Even though they are able to accommodate 100 people in each sitting, they are still doing an 85 percent takeout business. Broadway's expenses are much higher than Nicollet Street but it's managing to gross $22,000 a month. Chicken wings are the main event here too.

What's so special about these wings? Everyone agreed it's the seasoning. Art's wings are battered with his seasonings and dumped into large plastic tubs, which are then stored in a freezer. The wings are deep fried and served hot in brown paper containers decorated with drawings of chickens. Art won't reveal his secret, but the important part is that the wings are kept cold and thoroughly dried before battering. The seasoning goes through to the meat it's not just the covering that tastes great.

A 24 piece bucket of chicken wings costs $10.75 to take out; a half bucket costs $5.75. Art uses only wings because the small-size pieces allow the seasoning to go through to the meat. Art plans to open two more in Minneapolis. He would then start using legs and thighs because his batter process wouldn't work on the larger pieces.

Ken Pendleton, part owner of ASW International Inc., spoke about their future plans. Businessman David Ramsey, president of Marigold Foods, has exclusive rights to the process and product in Florida. He is starting to build the first of 10 chicken wing restaurants. Gilly's the famous tavern with a mechanical bull in Ft. Worth, Texas, is planning to serve chicken wings and wants the exclusive rights in Texas.

Pendleton explained that they are now in the process of putting together a distributorship agreement. The details were not revealed because they are still in the planning stage.

The figures are in for the first year of both restaurants. On Broadway it was a break even; although the gross was high, the expenses were also high. Nicollet Street grossed $350,000. Overhead here is minimal, so the net profit was close to $80,000.

The 69 year old Song is half Yugoslavian, half Siamese. His eyes crease into smiles when he talks about the past year and the success. He says, "I think we've finally made it." Art Song's wings have spread and he's ready to fly.

Entrepreneur's Opinion

Even though the chicken wing successes so far have been admirable, we don't believe the market is half as big as that of regular fired-chicken takeout shops. A thorough market analysis is necessary to define an area not sufficiently covered by existing chicken stores.

Press Release
by Scott Venne

Hello old friend, It's really nice to see you once again.

My name is Scott Venne. Most of my life I have been involved in bringing ideas to market, Some have been successful, some have not. But when you get involved in bringing new ideas to market and enjoying the sweet smell of success it gets into your blood.

To be honest with you I had decided years ago that I was done. All those years on the road living like a gypsy in motel rooms, doing the trade shows, setting up demos for buyers from Manhattan to LA and countless hours during the day cold calling.

So I decide to get out of the rat race, Sold all personal and business assets and moved from the Twin Cities to Wahkon, Minnesota on Mille Lacs Lake to eliminate the rat race stress.

I met some wonderful folks spending time at the lake.

A typical evening would include a campfires, music, barbeques and endless stories of days gone by.

That was the scene one particular evening but a bit more intense, the fire was more like a bon fire compared to your basic campfire, the music was live with musicians that had gotten together on a yearly basis to jam. A crowd of folks much larger then most evenings having a good ole time sharing their stories.

Not only was the barbequing happening there was this dude playing bongos that was cooking up a huge batch of chicken wings. The folks were excited as could be when that first batch was ready and I witnessed a frenzy of partiers munch the first batch of about 25 pounds of wings in about 30 minutes. I was lucky enough to get my taste buds to enjoy a couple of them. Yum Yum I said to myself as the folks all begged for another batch from the bongo player.

Believe me people, this particular group of lake partiers were dialed in. Laughing and dancing till the sun came up.

I had no choice but to go back the next day an introduce myself to the bongo playing, chicken wing dude. After our brief introduction I learned his name was Rodney and he invited me to go fishing with him on Mille Lacs. He was sharp, new what time of the day and where the bass were biting as well as the walleyes in the evening.

After a few brews and catching our limit I turned our conversation towards the wings and learned that was the son of Art Song, (Rodney Song), At that time I had never heard of Art Song. He told me a bit of family history. When he told me that his ingredient he used on the wings was patented I, having this thing in my blood for marketing decided to do a little research.

The first hit I got from google was a testimonial from someone claiming to have remembering Art's wings being the best they ever had and have never found that taste again. My reaction, Impressive.

As I read the past article's written by various newspapers and magazines which I have posted on our website I decided to get involved.

Rodney and I have spent the past year putting together a program to complete Art's dream of sharing his seasoning with the world through the Restaurant Industry.

My suggestion to you folks that are interested in increasing profits in your Restaurant operation jump on the band wagon and enjoy the ride by checking out our website at miracleseasoning.com.

That being said, It's without a doubt that I and my new found friend Rodney Song will be headed on the road together to visit all of you who get involved. You'll know it's us when we introduce ourselves with: Hello old friend, It's really nice to see you once again.

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