Fried chicken news

Houston's Clutch City Cluckers brings tender chicken sandwiches to Frisco

Clutch City Cluckers chicken sandwich

Photo courtesy of Clutch City Cluckers

There’s a new hot chicken sandwich on the horizon for Dallas-Fort Worth: Clutch City Cluckers, a fried chicken sandwich concept from Houston, is making its Dallas-area debut in Frisco at 15801 Rolater Rd. #206, in a new shopping center at Custer Road.

Clutch City serves Nashville-inspired hot chicken sandwiches made with fried chicken tenders, using Halal chicken, meaning they’re permissible or kosher to Muslim diners.

According to owner Ahmad Kilani, the Frisco restaurant will open in May.

Kilani founded Clutch City in Houston in 2021, launching as a food truck during the height of the pandemic, in response to a heightened demand for both food trucks and hot chicken.

“There was a lot of demand for hot chicken, but there was no supply for it,” Kilani says. “That’s part of why we got started.”

The company has nine Clutch City food trucks: seven in the Houston area, plus one in San Antonio and another in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; plus two brick-and-mortar restaurants in Humble and overseas in Jordan, Kilani's native country. Frisco will be the third.

“DFW has always been on my radar, but Frisco in particular because it’s growing exponentially,” Kilani says. “Frisco has the most potential for us.”

The concept’s name is a nod to its hometown of Houston, which was nicknamed Clutch City after the Houston Rockets won the 1994 and 1995 NBA championships. And “Cluckers” is chicken, duh.

The menu is simple, with ample clucky puns. In addition to the fried chicken sandwiches, there are wings, tenders, tacos, and a chicken salad. Sandwiches are as follows:

Cheesy Buns: queso cheese and pickles on a challah bun
Cluck It Like It’s Hot: slaw, pickles, and cluck it sauce on a challah bun
Juicy Cluckin Lucy: slaw and pickles between two challah buns stuffed with cheese
Toasted Juicy Lucy: slaw and pickles between four pieces of cheese-stuffed Texas toast

There are two variations of chicken & waffles including chicken tenders placed between two waffles like a sandwich. There's also fried shrimp and a vegetarian sandwich made with a fried cauliflower "tender." Beverages include milkshakes in flavors such as Oreo, Biscoff, and chocolate; a root beer float; and a Mexican coke float.

The Frisco restaurant will be fast-casual with indoor seating for about 40, plus a drive-thru that will open at a later time TBD.

The decision to open as a restaurant rather than food truck happened somewhat by necessity. Kilani had his sights set on the city for some time but couldn’t make a food truck work with Frisco’s strict food truck regulations.

Nashville hot chicken has been one of the biggest trends in DFW in the past few years with entries such as Hattie B's, Birdcall, Budlong, Rise Southern Biscuits & Chicken, Crimson Coward, The Cookshack, Sammy's Famous Chicken, Hangry Joe's, and Palmer's, with Guy Fieri's Chicken Guy! and more to come.

"What makes Clutch City different is that everything on our menu is unique to us," Kilani says. "Our breading, our spices, everything in our sandwiches is made in-house. You can’t buy it anywhere else."

restaurants food truck frisco fried chicken

Coffee News

New Dallas coffee shop opens with good coffee — and great hair

Common Good

Common Good coffee and good vibes

A new coffee shop with some serious styling has opened near downtown Dallas: Called Common Good, it's located at 1619 N. Hall St., right off Ross Avenue, in what was previously a retail outlet for Rakkasan Tea Company, who left the space in mid-2024.

Common Good is more than just a coffee shop – it's a coffee shop-hair salon from Christopher Bermudez, a stylist who previously owned Ellum Salon in Deep Ellum which he sold in 2022. Their motto: "Good coffee, good hair, good vibes."

Bermudez was born in Mexico City and moved to Dallas when he was one year old but remained close to his culture and often travels to Mexico City, where he found the inspiration behind this new concept.

"I was inspired by the multiuse spaces in my hometown of Mexico City: coffee shops that turn into a nightclub or tequila tasting rooms in the evening. Great vibe is what we are going for," he says.

The coffee shop is in the front, while the hair salon is in the back, divided by a large glass. The salon has eight stylists, including Bermudez.

The shop also features all-vinyl jam tables where guest DJs play music most weekends, creating a cool atmosphere. The décor resembles listening rooms that are popular in South Korea, with custom-made wooden walls and modern furniture.

Good vibes at Common Good Coffee and hair salonCommon Good

Heading the coffee operation is Jesse Nava, who recently worked at Xaman Coffee in Oak Cliff, and they're partnered with Lemma Coffee for beans and barista training. The shop offers a small but solid menu, with espresso and coffee classics, plus some specialty drinks including pistachio matcha, cardamon rose latte, espresso freddo, and a Mexican mocha.

“We want to stay consistent with a small menu — we want to get it right, then eventually add to it," Bermudez says.

They plan to add food, as well, working with a local bakery still to be decided for muffins, croissants, kolaches, cookies, and bagels.

They're open Tuesday-Saturday from 7 am-7 pm, with shorter hours Sunday and Monday, from 7 am-2 pm, since the salon portion is closed those days.

They've witnessed a big demand for coffee, since the center they're in had coffee history: The storefront on the corner at 1623 Hall St. was once Method Coffee, then Fiction Coffee, which closed at the end of 2023. (It's now home to Black Swan Saloon, the resuscitated bar from acclaimed mixologist Gabe Sanchez.)

They see themselves as a neighborhood coffee shop, where residents of the multiple apartment complexes around can become regulars. They are dog-friendly, serving pup cups.

"I always believed that if you have a good product people will come," Bermudez says.

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