Fast casual fried chicken is a hot craze that’s seemingly not cooling off anytime soon. Haven Hot Chicken, Birdcode Hot Chicken, the new to Connecticut Dave’s Hot Chicken, and smaller spots like Stamford’s Cwispy Chicken are proof of that. But even newer to the coop is Dippin Chicken in East Norwalk where Korean fried chicken is their menu’s centerpiece.
Walrus Alley owner Joe Farrell has made the move to exclude all seed oils from his menus and, he’s getting quite the education. Only a week into the experiment he’s learning on the run. The popular Southern food & burger go to in Westport is now cooking with grass fed beef tallow and avocado oil. Yep! And Joe’s committed to staying the course despite the learning curve. Sure, he’s always done that popular fried chicken in tallow, used duck fat too. But it’s the fries they’re fighting with. And he and the crew are fighting a worthy fight.
Walrus Alley uses a special potato for their fries and that’s just the beginning. “Cooking with Tallow & avocado oil is a new experience. We’re starting from scratch,” Joe revealed. “And we are doing this while we are open!”
Fried chicken sandwiches are hot right now. And with no signs of dwindling down anytime soon, places that serve crispy, juicy fried chicken on a bun are popping up all over. For Cwispy Chkn—which opened in November 2023 in the former Magee’s Curbside in Stamford’s Shippan neighborhood—maybe they’re guilty of riding the fried chicken sandwich wave, but the difference is, they’re doing things their way.
Haven Hot Chicken, which brings Nashville Hot Chicken and “Not Chicken” to the area as one of the first fully dedicated Nashville Hot Chicken concepts in New England, today announced that it will be opening two NEW LOCATIONS in Fairfield, CT at 907 Post Road in Oxford, CT at Quarry Walk, later this year.
When I asked the Haven Hot Chicken team how long it took them to arrive at this just about perfect combination of crispy, juicy and flavorful chicken, they laughed and said they have been recipe testing for over a year. Their tagline is “CRISPY CRUNCHY JUICY SPICY DELICIOUS,” and I’m gonna say “nailed it.” You can truly taste the time and commitment to research in every item on this takeout/delivery menu.
Both locations will feature the brand’s signature menu of crispy, crunchy, juicy, spicy, delicious chicken and vegetarian options ranging from Country (not spicy) to Haven (extremely spicy), including the epic and signature “THE Sandwich,” as well as other featured mains, classic sides and seasonal limited-time offerings.
This Hot Chicken Sandwich News just in from Darien Patch…
Bird is definitely the word in Darien these days.
Birdcode, a new Connecticut-based hot chicken restaurant that offers up scratch-made chicken sandwiches, tenders, small chicken bites, southern sides and tasty desserts, opened a new location in Darien this week at 151 Post Road.
This represents the brand's second CT location, with the other being in West Hartford, and the first for the company to feature a convenient drive-thru.
Birdcode uses farm-fresh, 100 percent air-chilled, never frozen, steroid and antibiotic-free chicken that must meet certain specifications.
Guests can choose their heat level for chicken sandwiches, tenders or "Code Bites." Heat level options range from country, mild and medium, to hot and code breaker (eat at your own risk).
Chick-fil-A, the popular national chain of chicken restaurants, is slated to open a new location in Fairfield, after its application before the Town Plan and Zoning Commission was denied in 2021. The popular chicken restaurant is slated to move into 750 Post Road, the site that previously housed Joe's American Bar & Grill.
First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick announced the news on Monday, confirming that the restaurant will move into the former Joe's American Bar & Grill site at 750 Post Road. The property, which has sat vacant for more than three years, had been declared a blight in 2022.
Haven Hot Chicken, which brings Nashville Hot Chicken and “Not Chicken” to the area as one of the first fully dedicated Nashville Hot Chicken concepts in New England, today announced that it will be opening its fourth location in North Haven, Connecticut. Located at 146 Washington Avenue, the 1200 square foot location will feature the brand’s signature menu of crispy, crunchy, juicy, spicy, delicious chicken and vegetarian options ranging from Country (not spicy) to Haven (extremely spicy), along with their beloved fries, sides and seasonal limited-time offerings. Having recently celebrated the second anniversary of its first location in New Haven, Haven Hot Chicken opened its Orange location in June 2022, and will be opening soon in Norwalk, CT.
Cruise down the more residential part of Glenville Road in Greenwich and if it’s the right day, you’ll run into a cutoff where Neil Moore parks his food truck.
If you don’t blow right by it, park your car. Do it. Right now.
It’s where you’ll find Moore’s namesake truck, Neil’s On Wheels, griddling smash burgers and deep frying chicken thighs so big that they hang way off the Martin’s Potato Roll.
Popeye’s introduced its new chicken sandwich late last summer. After a week of rave reviews, long lines and poultry passion, Chick-fil-A took to Twitter, without mentioning Popeye’s by name, to remind the public which chicken sandwich they fell in love with first. Popeye’s taunted back in the afternoon, “... y’all good?” The beef over chicken was on.
Normally one to avoid chains, I was compelled to get to Popeye’s. I had to try this life-changing sandwich. I pulled up to the drive-thru with hangry anticipation only to hear, “We’re sold out.” Gut punch. I simply drove off. Nothing could satiate me in this dark moment over white meat.
Eventually I returned to eating, but the craving for a great chicken sandwich never left. It became my mission. Chains be damned, I have to find the best fried chicken sandwich in Connecticut. -Mike Wollschlager
The Great Fried Chicken Sandwich War of 2019 came to Lower Fairfield County last week, following the viral Twitter skirmish that began when Popeye’s introduced it’s new chicken sandwich, an attempt to go after the Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich market that has been dominated by Chick-fil-A for many a year. This has been a fascinating study in viral marketing as it has been one of the first cases where corporations have been able to use Twitter effectively to go after one another. By the end of the news cycle even Hot Pockets claimed to be a part of this Battle Royal.
If nothing else was learned, it’s that consumers like snark. As one commentator said, it became the fried chicken sandwich version of Real Housewives, and it seemed to drive everyone’s’ proverbial ratings through the roof as Popeye’s sold out nationally and others sold out in some locations.
I primarily wanted to try the national chains that are available locally (no local friend chicken sandwiches, for the sake of the review). And it had to be a fried (as opposed to grilled) chicken sandwich. The contenders: Popeye’s, Shake Shack, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s, & McDonald's.
