Rapper’s Iowa Restaurant Closed Only 4 Months After Opening

Do you remember this failed fried chicken spot?

It was supposed to kick start a national chain of fried chicken restaurants, but the eatery closed after less than six months of being in business.

The thing that ultimately took down this chicken spot was some beef.

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When you think of the Hawkeye State you think of celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Johnny Carson, and even Elijah Wood.

A surprising celebrity once tried to set up his own food chain empire right here in the Hawkeye State. You might know Flavor Flav as a rapper, reality star, but did you know he's also a talented cook?

The musician went to cooking school back in the 70s and was even the head chef at several restaurants. He brought his own culinary skill and flair to a restaurant in Clinton back in 2011.

The eatery was called Flav’s Fried Chicken and it was set to be the very first location of a national chain. His business technically started out in Las Vegas, where he sold 99-cent chicken wings at Mama Cimino’s. That is also where he met his business partner, Nick Cimino a local restaurateur at the time.

Cimino even helped him pick out the location in Clinton and even bought the building located at 916 N. Second Street, according to reports. The Clinton Mama Cimino’s was located right next to it which was owned by Flavor Flav's business partner.

The deterioration of the relationship between the business partners is one of the major factors that ultimately led to the closure of both of their businesses.

"I gave this man permission to take my name and my likeness, to go and operate a business," the rapper said in a 2011 interview.

According to reports, the employee paychecks frequently bounced during the four-month period that it was open. Flav confirmed that this was part of the reason that he closed the restaurant back in 2011.

Cimino claimed this was due to a credit card issue.

In addition, he didn't like the alleged restaurant practices of Cimino. The Long Island native claimed that he went to check out the Clinton restaurant one day and found they were serving potato salad that expired days before.

FFC opened for business in January of 2011 and closed four months later in April.

Unfortunately, this pizza spot also closed its doors as well six weeks after the fried chicken eatery shut down. This closure was due to "dwindling profits" and the public beef between Flav and Cimino, according to a report from the Clinton Herald.

Now, a business called Cousins Family Restaurant is taking up the space that the rapper's failed franchise was supposed to get its start.

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