Skip's Chicken will serve its last chicken sandwich out of its Wrightstown storefront on September 1, 2026, closing the Durham Road location just two years after it opened. The fast-casual fried chicken brand, known for hand-cut chicken and gluten-free options, says the brick-and-mortar restaurant became financially unsustainable to keep running, even as its mobile food truck stays on the road serving Bucks County.
Co-owners Jeremy and Dan Cruz, who partnered with the brand's original Lancaster County founders to bring Skip's to Bucks County in August 2024, explained in a statement reported by Newtown Patch that continuing to operate the storefront at 557B Durham Road in Upper Makefield was no longer viable without compromising food quality or customer experience. The closure was first reported by WhatNow, which noted the Skip's Chicken team publicly thanked the Wrightstown community for its support as they wind down the location. Gift cards can still be used at the Wrightstown store through August 30, and customers who can't redeem them in time can contact Skip's Chicken directly for a refund of any remaining balance.
From Food Truck to Storefront and Back Again
Skip's Chicken got its start in 2021 as a pandemic-era food truck in Lancaster County, founded by Daniel “Skip” Stoltzfus, his wife Kathryn, and Marcus Stoltzfus. The brand built its following at regional community events before branching into full restaurants, and the original food truck still operates across eastern Pennsylvania today. Days before the Wrightstown closure announcement, that mobile trailer was parked at the 78th annual Middletown Grange Fair in Wrightstown, serving fairgoers from August 12 through 16 as part of a Bucks County agricultural tradition dating back to 1948.
That mobile presence isn't going away. Skip's food truck will continue serving local events and stops around the community, including gluten-free options, and the company says it will share additional food-truck stop details on social media going forward.
A Loyal Following, Especially Among Gluten-Free Diners
Part of what made the Wrightstown location a neighborhood favorite was its dedicated kitchen prep space for gluten-free fried chicken and loaded waffle fries, a setup that built real loyalty among diners with dietary restrictions. That loyalty is part of why the closure stings for regulars, even as the company frames it as a business decision rather than a rejection of the brand itself. The Durham Road building previously housed a retail tasting room for Allegro Winery before Skip's moved in during August 2024, and the site sits in Upper Makefield Township near Wrightstown Elementary School.
Not Alone: Bucks County's Restaurant Squeeze
The Wrightstown closure lands amid a wider wave of restaurant turnover across the county. Newtown Patch has reported that Bucks County eateries faced mounting business headwinds throughout 2025 and into early 2026, with rising operational costs and shifting consumer spending habits forcing several dining establishments to shut down. Per Patch's reporting, the Wrightstown closure itself is attributed to financial challenges and shifting economics across the restaurant industry more broadly.
Statewide numbers help explain the pressure. According to reporting by TribLIVE citing the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, food costs for Pennsylvania restaurants have surged 34% and labor costs have climbed 39% compared to pre-pandemic levels, with more than 80% of operators reporting diminished profitability. The National Restaurant Association's 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report found wholesale food prices rose 16.3% year-over-year while menu prices increased just 7.6%, leaving 85% of operators with lower profit margins than in 2019 — a squeeze that has pushed many food-service brands to lean more heavily on lower-overhead formats like food trucks instead of standalone dining rooms.
Expansion Continues Elsewhere in Lancaster County
Even as the Wrightstown dining room shuts its doors, Skip's Chicken isn't retreating from brick-and-mortar entirely. The company opened a new 30-seat restaurant this month at 11 West Main Street in Strasburg, Lancaster County, inside a former winery building situated directly behind the historic Strasburg Creamery. As The Lancaster Local reported, the Strasburg location even points customers to the neighboring creamery for dessert. That Strasburg store will remain operational, giving the brand a physical dining presence in its home county even as its Bucks County footprint contracts.
The demographic backdrop in Wrightstown underscores why a standalone storefront proved difficult to sustain. U.S. Census Bureau data for the Newtown and Wrightstown area shows a local population of nearly 30,000 with an average individual income of $84,359 and a median age of 45.4 years, an affluent suburban market that nonetheless relies heavily on personal vehicles for retail dining rather than dense walkable foot traffic. For now, Bucks County customers who want Skip's Chicken will need to catch the food truck at its next stop rather than walk into a dining room on Durham Road.
