Before Knott’s Berry Farm became one of California’s most famous amusement parks, there were no roller coasters, thrill rides or elaborate attractions. There was a roadside berry stand, a small tea room and a woman named Cordelia Knott, who decided to add fried chicken to the menu.
On June 13, 1934, Cordelia served just eight chicken dinners, charging 65 cents apiece. She prepared the meals in her home kitchen and served them on her own wedding china. It was a modest effort to bring in extra income during the Great Depression.
What happened next would transform the family business.
Customers began arriving in such large numbers that they sometimes waited hours for a table. To keep them entertained, Cordelia’s husband, Walter Knott, began adding attractions around the restaurant. Those additions eventually evolved into Knott’s Berry Farm, a major theme park that the family would sell to Cedar Fair in 1997 for $245 million.
And remarkably, the restaurant that helped start it all is still serving fried chicken today.
Knott’s Berry Farm Started as a Roadside Berry Stand in 1920
The story began in 1920, when Walter and Cordelia Knott settled in Buena Park, California, and began farming rented land.
Walter worked with his cousin, Jim Preston, growing berries and other produce that they sold to passing motorists. After their partnership ended in 1927, Walter purchased his first 10 acres of farmland.
In 1928, he expanded the operation with a berry market, nursery and tea room, where Cordelia served coffee, sandwiches and homemade pies. The family called the business Knott’s Berry Place.
The farm’s reputation grew even further thanks to an unusual fruit.
In 1932, Walter obtained six struggling berry plants from horticulturist Rudolph Boysen, who had developed a hybrid combining blackberries, raspberries and loganberries. Walter successfully cultivated the plants and named the fruit the boysenberry in Boysen’s honor.
By the mid-1930s, boysenberries had become a signature part of the Knott family business.
But while the berries helped put the farm on the map, it was Cordelia’s fried chicken that brought in the crowds.
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Eight Chicken Dinners Changed Everything in 1934
During the Great Depression, the Knott family was looking for ways to supplement its income. Cordelia decided to expand the tea room’s menu by serving a home-cooked Southern-style fried chicken dinner.
On June 13, 1934, she served eight dinners for 65 cents each.
The meal included fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, biscuits and dessert. It was the kind of hearty, homemade dinner that families could enjoy without spending a fortune.
Word spread quickly.
As more customers arrived, the Knotts expanded the dining area. The small tea room grew into a larger restaurant, and by 1937, the family had added a proper kitchen and enough dining space to accommodate hundreds of guests.
The restaurant also began operating year-round instead of opening only during berry season.
By 1938, its first full year of year-round operation, the restaurant had served more than 265,000 chicken dinners.
And the demand kept growing. By the early 1940s, the restaurant was serving approximately 10,000 chicken dinners every week.
For a business that started with just eight dinners on its first day, the growth was extraordinary.
The Chicken Dinner Lines Helped Inspire a Theme Park
As the restaurant became more popular, the Knotts faced an unusual problem: Customers were willing to travel for Cordelia’s cooking, but the wait for a table could stretch for hours.
Walter began finding ways to make those long waits more enjoyable.
He added gardens, decorative displays and other roadside attractions to give visitors something to explore while waiting for dinner.
Then, in 1940, he began developing what would become one of the property’s most recognizable attractions: Ghost Town.
Inspired by California’s Old West history, Walter brought historic buildings and frontier-themed displays to the property, gradually creating an immersive destination that offered far more than a meal.
The strategy worked.
Visitors could explore Ghost Town, enjoy the attractions and then sit down for one of Cordelia’s famous chicken dinners. Over time, the roadside restaurant and its surrounding attractions evolved into Knott’s Berry Farm, a full-fledged amusement park. What began as a way to entertain hungry customers had become a destination in its own right.
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Knott’s Berry Farm Was Sold in 1997 for $245 Million
For decades, the Knott family continued expanding the property, transforming the original berry farm into a major Southern California tourist attraction.
But by the 1990s, operating and expanding a large amusement park had become increasingly expensive. Knott’s Berry Farm faced competition from major entertainment companies with significantly greater financial resources.
In October 1997, the family announced plans to sell the amusement park to Cedar Fair, an Ohio-based amusement park operator. At the time, industry experts estimated the total value of the transaction, including debt Cedar Fair would assume, at nearly $300 million.
When the acquisition was completed in December 1997, the reported purchase price was $245 million. The sale marked the end of an era of Knott family ownership.
The park continued operating under its familiar name, and Cedar Fair subsequently invested in additional attractions and thrill rides.
In July 2024, Cedar Fair merged with Six Flags, bringing Knott’s Berry Farm into the combined company’s amusement park portfolio.
The business had come an extraordinary distance from the family berry stand that Walter and Cordelia started in 1920.
You Can Still Eat Cordelia Knott’s Famous Fried Chicken Today
More than 90 years after Cordelia served her first eight chicken dinners, the restaurant remains part of the Knott’s Berry Farm experience.
Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant, located in the California Marketplace outside the theme park gates, continues serving the fried chicken that made the family famous.
The menu still celebrates the original restaurant’s traditions, including country-style fried chicken, handmade biscuits and boysenberry pie.
In June 2024, when the restaurant celebrated its 90th anniversary, Knott’s Berry Farm officials told CBS Los Angeles that it was serving approximately 1,000 chicken dinners a day.
Today, visitors may come to Knott’s Berry Farm for its roller coasters, seasonal celebrations and famous Ghost Town, but the restaurant remains a reminder of how the entire attraction began.
On June 13, 2027, it will be 93 years since Cordelia served those first eight dinners.
The park has changed ownership, added countless attractions and welcomed generations of visitors. Yet one of its most enduring traditions is still a simple plate of fried chicken.
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