Long Beach rapper Warren G is collaborating with Postmates and the famed LA-based Nashville hot chicken restaurant Howlin’ Ray’s to create a pop-up kitchen in Long Beach. The exclusive menu will be available for delivery only from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 11 and 12.
Listed under “Howlin’ Ray’s Long Beach” on Postmates, customers will be able to choose from three combo meal options: the quarter set for $27 which includes six chicken wings, a choice of side, three sauces, and a drink; the full plate for $47 which includes six chicken wings, a side of collard greens, honey butter glazed hush puppies, banana pudding, three sauces, and an exclusive sticker set; or the LBC VIP for $75 which includes everything in the full plate meal plus an exclusive T-shirt.
Banana pudding and extra sauces can be ordered separately for $7 and $3, respectively. All chicken wings are fried in refined peanut oil, and meals come with a mixture of drums and flats.
In an email to the Long Beach Post, Warren G said he was introduced to Howlin’ Ray’s through his friend, rapper Bad Lucc, who previously collaborated with Howlin’ Ray’s and floated the idea of Warren G and his barbecue sauce brand doing something similar.
“I knew I was down once I tried their sandwiches and knew it paired well with my Sniffin Griffin BBQ sauce,” Warren G said.
And for Postmates, this collaboration was a dream come true, said Brand Marketing Manager Jasmin Booker.
“We’ve been fans of Howlin’ Ray’s since they first opened and bumping Warren G forever, so bringing them together just made sense. It’s Long Beach through and through: good food, good music, good energy,” Booker said.
Though Warren G is best known for his music career and popularizing the G-funk genre of hip-hop, in 2019, he took inspiration from his father’s cooking and started Sniffin Griffin’s BBQ.
Growing up, Warren G enjoyed watching his father cook, and was especially excited when his father brought out the grill.
“The flavor of the smoke on the meat and just the good feeling of having family around caught me up and rang a bell in my head,” Warren G wrote on the Sniffin Griffin’s BBQ website. “As I got older, all I wanted to do was be like my dad on the smoker and grill because it reminded me of his morals and good family fun.”
People in Long Beach have been asking for Howlin’ Ray’s since 2018, according to Tess Meza, the restaurant’s executive coordinator. The restaurant made a name for itself serving fiery chicken in Chinatown for the last decade, but it’s quite a trek for Long Beach residents.
“We’re excited to finally give them a unique experience that’s exclusive to the city that they call home,” Meza said.
In the future, Howlin’ Ray’s is hoping to do more pop-ups in other cities as well.