Tanisha Godfrey recently became viral following a TikTok video of her saying, “Y’all better come up here and snag one of them… It’s chicken salad… “81st Deli…superior” quickly went viral.
“I ordered chicken, pickles, banana peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions…,” she says as the video abruptly ends. According to Today, the video has received over 17 million views since August, and the social media attention has increased sales at Wael Herbawi’s restaurant.
The Cleveland native has also signed a partnership agreement with Weight Watchers and visited their kitchen to prepare her dream chicken salad, “The Nisha Chicken Salad.”
“Y’all better come up and get (or make) this #chickensalad. TikTok star Nisha Godfrey came to visit us at the WeightWatchers test kitchen and made us her dream chicken salad. The key ingredients? Raw mushrooms and banana peppers. Loaded with other ZeroPoint faves like pickles, grilled chicken, and tomatoes, this salad only needs a sprinkle of Parm and a bit of vinaigrette, plus a dash of lemon pepper for superior flavour,” Weight Watchers wrote.
According to Today, the sound byte went viral last month after Godfrey was caught eating at Herbawi’s eatery. “I had just gotten off work. I didn’t want something substantial because it was so hot. “So I went to the supermarket as I always do,” Godfrey explained.
“And I was like, ‘Hey, you guys make salad now, right? And (Herbawi) was like, ‘Yes.’ So I was like, ‘Can I get a chicken salad?’ and I gave him the extra things to put in. And once he was done, it was a beautiful salad. So he said, ‘Hey, let’s make a TikTok.’ And that’s where it started.”
“Like, it’s me. Wow, it’s me. So I’m still in a moment of surreal,” she said about going viral. “It’s weird. I can’t really explain it. It’s just the whole world knows my name now.”
Herbawi, the proprietor of East 81st St. Deli, told Today in October that he used to sell 40 chicken salads a day on average, but now sells 300. To fulfill demand, he has also employed five new employees. He also intends to extend the structure to accommodate more people safely.
“I had to get all my contacts out because it’s not simple,” he explained. “I just placed an order for 20 cases.” Over 200 pounds of chicken is at stake. “That is a one-day order.”