Superstar Randy Moss brings his new chicken restaurant to downtown Huntington.
By Keith Morehouse
HQ 124 | WINTER 2024
It’s mid-December in downtown Huntington and Randy Moss is passing out plates of chicken sandwiches and moving around the tables as if he’s gliding through defenders on a football field. The former star at Dupont High School, Marshall University All-American and College Football and NFL Hall of Famer is all smiles. He’s invited family and friends and dignitaries to test out the food at his new restaurant, Crisppi’s, on the corner of Third Avenue and Eighth Street.
Moss said he latched onto the idea after he tasted a sandwich from the restaurant when it was called Chick-A-Boom, a Philadelphia-based eatery.
“The No. 1 thing I said when I bit into that chicken sandwich is, ‘Man, I gotta take this back home to my people where they can taste it!’” Moss said.
Moss is showing his skills, working the restaurant in jeans, a T-shirt and a scarf around his neck. He stops and talks to former teammate Chad Pennington, who happens to be seated alongside Marshall President Brad Smith. For Randy Moss, he feels right at home here. That was his intention.
“I have a philosophy,” Moss said. “Before I go anywhere better, I got to better my own. I still consider West Virginia my home. I still have family and friends here. I just want to bring something back to the state.”
Crisppi’s has seven different variations of chicken sandwiches along with chicken wings and waffles, and donuts are also coming soon to the menu. Moss said there were other places he could have taken his restaurant. But throughout his travels, he said the mountains of West Virginia always call him home, and this was his way to give something back.
“I’ve never forgotten where I came from,” Moss said. “You always hear the saying, ‘You can’t get nowhere by yourself.’ Eventually, we’ll expand and grow throughout the state, but first stop was Huntington, West Virginia.”
It’s the same place he made an indelible imprint on Marshall football and the college game. His blessings of blinding speed, sure hands, incredible athleticism and football acumen translated into unheard-of numbers. In two seasons, Moss caught 174 passes for 3,529 yards and scored 54 touchdowns. In December he will be inducted into the 2024 class of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Two days after the “soft opening” of Crisppi’s, Moss joined the crowds outside the restaurant to cut the ribbon for the grand opening. Amid the flying confetti, Moss tossed out this gem: “I feel like we just won the Super Bowl!”
There goes Randy Moss again, drawing big crowds in Huntington.
