These eight new chicken places are opening in Fresno, from restaurants to food trucks
Chicken is hot in Fresno right now.
A flurry of chicken eateries are opening in town, including restaurants, food trucks and food available via delivery apps.
Why are so many chicken places opening? Read our other story about that topic for what’s driving the trend.
But if you just want to know where to eat, here’s who is open or coming soon.
Pacific Fried Chicken Company
This little restaurant is just getting on its feet at Butler and Chestnut avenues in southeast Fresno, near the Vallarta supermarket.
Pacific Fried Chicken opened in August in the former Izy Deli (the deli’s sign is still up, but look for the “now open” banner). It’s tiny, just three tables, but is already getting rave reviews.
The restaurant offers both traditional fried chicken and wings with Asian-inspired sauces made with garlic, ginger and soy sauce. They include the Korean sauce with a little kick, a Thai pepper sauce inspired by southeast Asian flavors, and a Japanese togarashi sauce.
The menu includes sides like a garlic-scallion rice, cornbread, and mac n cheese.
Owner Long Nguyen is a 2006 Clovis High School grad who’s been cooking for years on cruise ships and places like Facebook’s headquarters. He decided to open the restaurant in his hometown.
Details: Pacific Fried Chicken Company is at 4821 E. Butler Ave., and is also available on DoorDash. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 pm. daily, except for Wednesday when it closes at 3 p.m. 559/449-3209.
Spicy Birdz
Spicy Birdz is a food truck and eatery that opened about four weeks ago in the same shopping center as The Market at Herndon and West avenues.
Formerly the European Market & Deli, it’s in the process of transitioning into a carry-out restaurant with two brands: Spicy Birdz and Real Philly Cheesesteaks.
The men behind the two Real Philly Cheesesteaks food trucks play a role in this (regular readers will remember our story about them from March). One of the partner’s parents ran the store, ran into some difficulties and so the pair decided to take it over.
Their wives run the store day to day, and the cheesesteak makers are using the large kitchen in back to prep food for the trucks.
Spicy Birdz is also the name of the newest truck they launched serving Nashville hot chicken. That’s a spicy fried chicken that’s getting popular in Fresno.
It’s also served at the store in to-go orders only. You can get it as a sandwich, in a burrito, in tacos, as part of loaded fries, in a quesadilla or on top of mac n cheese. (There’s also a full menu of cheesesteak sandwiches.)
You can choose your spice level, from no spice to mild, medium, hot or extreme.
“I think people love how crispy the sandwich is,” said co-owner Paul Yanbekov. “Not only is our sandwich crispy, but the french fries are too.”
Details: The Food Market and Spicy Birdz are at 7070 N. West Ave. Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Spicy Birdz is also available on Grubhub and soon on DoorDash. 559-437-3898.
FURY Hot Chicken
FURY Hot Chicken is a food truck specializing in Nashville hot chicken.
It launched this summer and is a Black-owned business based in Madera that’s an evolution of the former Hot Birds and Toot-A-Roos.
The menu features a chicken sandwich, chicken tenders, and nuggets. Loaded fries with diced chicken, cheese and a honey blaze sauce are also available.
Owner Marcel McAlister said they dry their own peppers and grind them into the seasoning mix used on the chicken.
“It’s like a spice that is smoky and it has a semisweet taste to it,” he said.
Keep an eye out for secret menu items, like the Rigo fries served with chicken, cheddar cheese, pickles, ranch dressing and the honey blaze sauce.
Details: The best way to find FURY is to follow them on Instagram. Lately, the truck has been showing up at Enzo’s Table on some Saturdays, Madera High School football games, and is sometimes parked at 5030 W. Shaw Ave.
The Chicken Shack
The restaurant that got its start in Hanford has one new location in the Valley and two more on the way.
The Chicken Shack is known for its wings, chicken tenders, shoestring fries and more than 30 sauces.
It now has 23 locations, many of them opened through licensing agreements with different owners.
Another Fresno restaurant is slated to open next month in the former Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in the Marketplace at El Paseo, the Target shopping center near Highway 99 and Herndon Avenue.
Last week, it opened a Merced location at 560 W. Olive Avenue.
More are in the works for Madera and Bakersfield in the coming months.
Raising Cane’s
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is planning to open a slew of restaurants in Valley cities, including Fresno and Clovis.
One is going up quickly on the site of the former Logan’s Roadhouse on north Blackstone Avenue. Another in Fresno is slated to open, along with a Dutch Bros Coffee, at East Kings Canyon Road and South Willow Avenue.
The Clovis Raising Cane’s is being built on the site of the former Pier 1 on Shaw Avenue. Both will have drive-thrus.
What is Raising Cane’s? It’s all about chicken fingers. They are the only entree and served in various forms, like sandwiches or meals. They come with french fries, Texas toast and coleslaw.
The Visalia and Hanford location are open and a total of 10 new restaurants are coming to central and northern California.
Hot Chicken Boyz
Hot Chicken Boyz is another Nashville hot chicken concept, this one operating inside of the 559 Taqueria at Cedar and Shepherd avenues.
It serves chicken sandwiches with pickles an cole slaw, tacos and fries.
Details: 8963 N. Cedar Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays. Follow them on Instagram for details. 559-360-4706.
Jollibee
Jollibee is a global chain specializing in chicken that is planning to open a restaurant near Fashion Fair mall.
The Filipino fast food restaurant has demolished a bank on Shaw Avenue in front of the mall, with plans to build a restaurant with a drive-thru on the space, The Bee reported this summer.
It’s known for its “chickenjoy,” fried chicken served in buckets with sides like mashed potatoes, spaghetti topped with chunks of ham and hot dog or a Filipino noodle dish.
Chicken tenders, sandwiches and burgers are also on the menu.
This restaurant could be a ways off from opening as the company is still in the permitting stage of building the restaurant.
Fire Wings
Fire Wings is one of 14 new restaurants coming to northwest Fresno. At the Marketplace at El Paseo, Fire Wings hasn’t announced an opening date yet, but it coming soon to one of the outbuildings near Riverside Drive.
The restaurant specializes in chicken wings in over 20 flavors, from original barbecue to the spicy “Korean kick.” It also serves chicken tenders, sandwiches and salads.
The company has dozens of restaurants across California, mostly in the Los Angeles area and northern California.
Details: 6479 N. Riverside Dr.
This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 10:38 AM.
