TikTok hype in Cologne: "Nhas City Chicken" opens

Image source: WDR/Eva-Maria Elias

TikTok hype in Cologne

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You stand in line for hours for this chicken

Last Update:

09/19/2026, 10:19 pm

In Cologne's city centre, people wait up to five hours for a portion of chicken: the "Nhas City Chicken" snack has opened its first branch outside Berlin and is becoming a hype thanks to TikTok. A lot of garbage remains around the shop - similar to the matcha café "Impi" in Cologne-Ehrenfeld.

By Eva-Maria Elias, Inga Neuhausen

When asked why they are standing in the 80-meter-long queue, they all answer the same: "TikTok!". The young people want to go with the trend, they want to be there.

Young guests travel from all over North Rhine-Westphalia to the chicken snack "Nhas City Chicken"

Yunis from Essen has been waiting with his friend for two and a half hours to finally be allowed to enter the restaurant. "If it's that close now, you have to go there. You don't always come to Berlin." If he had to, he would wait for his food for five hours, "adds his Düsseldorf friend. He had been impatient and wanted to try the hyped chicken immediately.

They travelled to Cologne for the TikTok chicken from Recklinghausen.

Image source: WDR/Inga Neuhausen

Further ahead in the line, a group of friends has been waiting patiently for hours. "We have travelled more than 90 kilometres," say the young men from Recklinghausen. They definitely want to follow the TikTok trend, they say.

From Lebanon via Berlin to Cologne

The snack chain originated in Lebanon. She still works with family recipes for her chicken recipes, according to the website. The offered chicken meat comes exclusively from halal-certified slaughter. The founder of today's brand, Omar Nhas, grew up in his family's chicken business in Berlin.

Young fans want to meet owner Omar Nhas

But there are also hungry people lining up who have spontaneously passed by. "We didn't really want to go to Cologne today," reports Abeer. She came to Breite Straße together with her friend Lina from Bergisch Gladbach.

Kayan and Karim traveled with their mother from Krefeld. The brothers wanted to come to the opening of the "Nhas City Chicken" on Saturday to meet the owner. “He's going back to Berlin soon, I think,” Kayan fears.

When a group of young people is allowed to advance one section in the direction of the snack bar, cheers briefly break out. The entrance is noisy when the owners come out. Countless young people want to take photos with them, a short video for social media is shot with a professional camera.

TikTok Hype in Cologne: Hours of chicken queuing

WDR

19.09.2026.

1min

Available until 18.09.2028.

WDR Online.

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Long wait times and rejected guests

At the very end of the line are two young women. They think about how long they would be willing to wait at most. “I think five to ten minutes, I'll have to wait for my food,” they say as a security guard approaches the last section of the line. He asks the last ones waiting to leave. They wouldn't have a chance to get at it. He estimates the waiting time to be at least four hours, but the shop closes at 10 pm, so in two hours.

On Friday, the rush to the restaurant was so great that the operators had to end the opening prematurely. On Saturday morning, there were already waiting guests on the street before the store opened at 10 a.m.

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Mountains of garbage triggered by TikTok trends are not a new problem in Cologne

Overcrowded garbage cans on the wide street.

Image source: WDR/Inga Neuhausen

The garbage cans next to the young visitors who sit down to eat around the shop are overflowing. There are packages, empty beverage containers, disposable gloves and leftovers around - including many chicken bones. The pictures are reminiscent of the already familiar garbage problem around the "Impi" café in Cologne-Ehrenfeld.

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Deployment in Ehrenfeld: Public order office intervenes again around Matcha Café

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Our Source

WDR reporters on site

Corporate website

Broadcast: wdr.de, "TikTok-Hype in Cologne: Stundenlanges Anstellen für Hühchen", 19.09.2026, 9:56 pm.

Cologne

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