Matt Broussard, the social media chef with 8 million followers, plans to open his first restaurant on Capitol Hill by October.

Char the Chicken, a counter-service rotisserie spot next to Queer/Bar in the old Mt. Joy space, will serve fire-grilled rotisserie chicken finished with chicken fat and a signature spice mix, the Seattle Times reported.

The space was still a construction zone during a late-August visit.

"I fed millions virtually. I want to feed the thousands in my neighborhood," Broussard said. "I want to feed people, in person, in Seattle — the people that made me the cook I am."

The menu features whole, half or quarter rotisserie birds alongside items like "Hot Bird" dipped in Nashville-style hot sauce, Seattle taquitos filled with chicken, jalapeño crema and caramelized onion, and a "Mini Bucket" of fried-chicken bites with queso fundido.

A housemade sauce bar will offer Char teriyaki, salsa ranchero and salsa roja.

Sides include street corn, garlic-chicken-fat rice, mac salad, cornbread pudding and charro beans.

Broussard said the rotisserie style was inspired by the way duck was done at the Dahlia Lounge, one of the Tom Douglas restaurants where he worked as a tournant, a roving cook who fills in across kitchens. He spent six years in Douglas's restaurants before the pandemic.

The restaurant is a partnership with Conscious Hospitality Group, the multi-brand operator led by CEO Norman Wu that also runs Matcha Magic next door. Mt. Joy, the chicken sandwich chain that previously occupied the space, was listed as "temporarily closed" by Capitol Hill Seattle Blog in March.

Broussard's path to Capitol Hill started in 2014, when he moved from Brownsville, Texas, with $500 and his cat, Ladybird. His first Seattle stop had bedbugs. After one night, a Capitol Hill landlord fronted him a month of rent, and he slept on the floor. He began staging at Palace Kitchen as the youngest person there and eventually worked across the Tom Douglas empire for six years.

When the pandemic shut down those restaurants, Broussard was laid off, according to a July profile in the Seattle Times. His first viral TikTok in 2020, an onion-chopping video, racked up millions of views in hours. Forbes writer Leslie Kelly dubbed him "the most fun chef to watch on TikTok" that same year.

Broussard has a Palace Kitchen chicken tattoo on his arm and another reproducing a Post-it note his Syrian grandmother tucked in his suitcase: "Forge your own dream, anything is possible." He grew up learning to cook from her in Brownsville, where she drew on Syrian, Mexican and other culinary traditions.

He told the Times he envisions future Char the Chicken locations. His long-term goal is building "an ecosystem" rather than an empire, citing lessons from watching Douglas's restaurants support each other. He has also mentioned a possible future sit-down, wood-fire restaurant he would call "Char."

Broussard's debut cookbook, "Now We're Cooking," published by Simon Element, debuted Aug. 11. A demo-and-dine event with Broussard and chef Eric Tanaka is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Hot Stove Society, 2000 4th Ave. A cookbook copy is included with the ticket.