Cluck Kitchen
17915 MacArthur Blvd.
Irvine, CA 92614
During these trying times, I'm really seeking out comfort food big time. Yes, I liked barbecue, Mexican food, fried chicken, and other stick to your rib favorites before all of this craziness started, but food that makes me feel good inside is more important to me now more than ever. That's probably why I spend a great deal of my day on Instagram looking at pictures of food.
One spot that piqued my interest was Cluck Kitchen in Irvine. It's got to be pretty intense to open a restaurant during a global pandemic. You have to have great faith in the food that you are selling, and make customers feel comfortable enough to come and try it. With the track record of founder Steve Kim and his former sous-chef at The Cut, they were probably pretty confident in what they were going to be serving, and their pictures got me out very soon after I spied their fried chicken snaps on social media.
Originally set to open at the first of this year, but as is the case with most restaurants, even during non-pandemic times, the opening date got pushed back all the way to the first week of July. The simple, uncomplicated menu of chicken sandwiches, tenders, wings, and six sides must have not only enticed me but lots of others as well. In the month that they have been operating, they garnered a very impressive four and a half stars on Yelp, with well over a hundred reviews. On Instagram, they have close to 5,000 followers, who droll over their beautiful photos.
Cluck Kitchen is situated at the corner of MacArthur and Main, in the same shopping plaza as Carl's Jr., Flame Broiler, Jersey Mike's, and also new to the center, and the best cookies in OC, Paderia Bakehouse. I've heard parking can be a hassle around mealtimes due to all the eating places in this center. I've also heard that when they started, Cluck Kitchen had long waits to get your food after ordering. I went at half-past 11 on a Thursday, and had no trouble with parking or getting my food within five minutes. Maybe they've worked out the kinks a bit, or maybe a little before or after the lunch rush would be the best time to visit. Just keep in mind that they are closed on Sundays. Now, let's see if their food tastes as good as it looks.
At Cluck Kitchen, they offer three types of sandwiches. The Cluck Classic, the Nashville Hot Chicken, and the Havarti Hen. I went with the Nashville Hot Chicken ($12) which came with vinegar slaw, pickles, and comeback sauce, which I'd describe as a thousand island style sauce with a little kick to it. There are five spice levels to choose from here. With this sandwich, I went with their hot, which is situated right in the middle of their heat level index. It was not overwhelmingly hot, but a tinge of heat hung out in the background of each bite. The sandwich was excellent, good bun, the vinegar slaw added a nice textural and flavor to the sandwich, and the comeback sauce brought everything together. The chicken itself was moist and tender inside, and the breading had a nice crunch to it, even after my fifteen-minute car ride home. Sides are sold separately, and I picked the Fried Pickles ($5) to go along with my sandwich. These were a good version of this southern staple. The pickles had an excellent breading coating the pickle lurking underneath and was made even better with the made from scratch ranch dressing. I appreciated that they use pickle chips instead of spears, which I think is better for dipping.
The sandwich above was delicious, but these Chicken Tenders ($10) are what really got me excited about Cluck Kitchen. Probably the best chicken tenders I have had, not that I'm really a big chicken tender guy. These come three to an order, and they were very good sized. With these, I went with the extra hot spice level, which was just the right amount of spiciness that did not overpower the tender chicken underneath the crispy breading encasing the poultry. A practically perfect tender in every way. To finish out my meal here I tried their Bacon Potato Salad ($5) which was another winner. This potato salad had a good chunk to it, the celery added a nice crunch, and there was plenty of bacon included in this. One of the better potato salads I have had in a while.
After my meal at Cluck Kitchen, I was pretty jazzed up with my experience and the food. Fried chicken is really having its moment in OC right now. Gus's Fried Chicken, Crack Shack, Two Birds, Buttermilk Fried Chicken, and now Cluck Kitchen are just the standouts that I've visited so far, with Holdaak's, Hotties, and Summer's Fried Chicken still sitting on my list waiting for me to get to them. Cluck Kitchen had delicious chicken and even though they don't have an expansive menu, with the different spice levels, wonderful house-made sauces, and very well done sides I can not fathom that I'm going to be getting tired of this place anytime soon. A return trip is all I've been thinking about since my initial visit, and it will happen again very soon. Especially with my increasing comfort food cravings recently.
Out of five Red Delicious apples, (because the state of Iowa not only gave us this variety of apple but also provides the most chicken out of any of our 50 states), five being best to zero being worst, Cluck Kitchen gets 4 Red Delicious apples.
For more information about Cluck Kitchen, head to their website here: https://www.cluckkitchen.com/
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