Food entrepreneurs in Seattle are capitalizing on the massive influx of visitors during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Cookies Country Chicken, owned by Brian Chandler, who brings his oil field-inspired fried chicken recipes to the city (0:43) Toasted, a Mediterranean-inspired bagel shop run by partners Jaafar Altameemi and Murat Akyuz (8:45); and De's Dogs, a hot dog cart operated by Nimoka that serves local "Seattle dogs"(13:21). Together, these operators share their personal journeys, business strategies, and how the surge in global sports tourism has significantly impacted their daily revenue and operational challenges.
Cookie's Country Chicken in Seattle pulled in $150,000 in revenue on a single FIFA World Cup game day. Such figure normally represents the restaurant's entire monthly output. That number, shared by the restaurant's owner in an UpFlip interview published July 16, 2026, frames what the 2026 World Cup meant for Seattle's food business owners: not just a bump, but a category-shifting event.
Cookie's Country Chicken: 4,000 lb of Chicken a Week
Before the World Cup arrived, Cookie's Country Chicken was already operating at a scale that surprises most people unfamiliar with high-volume fried chicken operations. The owner described a baseline that puts the kitchen's throughput in sharp relief (1:39).
“We feed the same amount of people I'd feed in any given hour, but we go through like 4,000 lb of chicken a week.”
That volume is the foundation the World Cup demand landed on. The owner put the restaurant's normal monthly sales at $100,000 out of a single location (4:14), then described what three World Cup game days did to that number.
“On any given month, we're going to produce about $100,000 in sales out of this location.”
With three World Cup games driving foot traffic, the location reached $150,000 — a 50% jump over a standard month, compressed into a fraction of the usual time (4:20). The owner did not break out per-game figures, but the implication is that a single high-attendance match day could move the needle by tens of thousands of dollars.
| Metric | Normal Month | World Cup Period |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Revenue | $100,000 | $150,000 |
| Revenue Increase | — | +50% ($50,000) |
| Game Days Driving Lift | 0 | 3 |
UpFlip has covered high-volume fried chicken businesses before, including a fried chicken operation generating $3M a year and a fried chicken sandwich concept that cost $63,000 to start and now does $39K a day. Cookie's Country Chicken adds a different data point: what happens to an already-established location when a global sporting event lands in its city.
Toasted Bagels and Coffee: A 100% Sales Increase
The second Seattle business featured in the interview, Toasted Bagels and Coffee, reported a different kind of result. Where Cookie's Country Chicken saw a large absolute dollar gain, Toasted Bagels and Coffee saw its sales double during the World Cup period (11:29).
“Toasted Bagels and Coffee saw about a 100% increase in sales during the World Cup.”
The shop is not a conventional bagel counter. The owner described it as a Mediterranean spin on the traditional bagel experience (8:58), a positioning that appears to have resonated with the diverse crowds the tournament drew to Seattle.
A 100% sales increase is a meaningful figure for any food business, but it carries particular weight for a café-style concept where margins on coffee and bagels can be thin. The owner did not disclose baseline monthly revenue, so the absolute dollar gain is not calculable from the interview alone.
What the Owners Said About Running a Food Business Under Pressure
Beyond the revenue figures, the Cookie's Country Chicken owner addressed how the surge in demand affected day-to-day operations and staff. When asked about managing the stress of a sudden volume spike, the owner reframed the situation as a management opportunity rather than a crisis.
“If you can create and cultivate that, instead of being angry or stressed out, it's a teaching moment.”
The owners also addressed startup costs, offering a warning that applies well beyond World Cup preparation. The advice was direct: whatever budget a prospective food business owner has in mind, double it.
That caution echoes what UpFlip has heard from food entrepreneurs repeatedly. A Seattle hot dog vendor who discussed pulling $3,000 to $4,000 a week made a similar point about underestimating operating costs in a city with high foot traffic and high overhead. The restaurant industry's notoriously thin margins, often cited at around 5%, make startup cost overruns particularly dangerous, a point UpFlip has examined in depth in earlier coverage on what prospective restaurant owners need to know before opening.
- 1Audit your baseline monthly revenue before any major event so you can measure the actual lift.
- 2Pre-position inventory, Cookie's Country Chicken's 4,000 lb weekly chicken throughput required supply chain planning long before game day.
- 3Train staff for volume surges in advance; treat high-demand periods as teaching moments rather than emergencies.
- 4Double your startup cost estimate before committing capital to a new food business or location.
- 5Identify what makes your concept distinct, Toasted Bagels and Coffee's Mediterranean angle helped it stand out in a crowded event market.
Both businesses operated in a city that hosted World Cup matches, which is a circumstance most restaurant owners will never replicate exactly. But the underlying mechanics, volume preparation, staff management, and a differentiated product, are the same ones that determine whether any food business survives a demand spike or gets buried by it. Cookie's Country Chicken's $150,000 game day is the ceiling; the 4,000 lb weekly chicken order is what made it possible.
