This new Fresno restaurant is named Fluckers. What’s behind the name — and on the menu?
When a polite young employee asks you what level of spice you want for the sauce in your meal, it feels a little odd to reply “flucking medium.”
But that’s all part of the shtick at a newly-opened restaurant in northeast Fresno.
It’s name? Fluckers Nashville Hot Chicken.
The restaurant is at the southwest corner of Cedar and Shepherd avenues in the same shopping center as Vons.
It’s a fast-casual Nashville hot chicken place, with seven entrees on the menu, all featuring some variation of seasoned breaded chicken tenders.
Fluckers
So that name? It’s not a franchise, but the creation of locals Jack Garayan and his wife Mariana.
“We were just trying to come up with a very savvy name,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to do something out of the ordinary. It was just me and my wife talking about it, and we just kinda came up with the name.”
They were tossing around words like cluck, cluckers and pluck, and when one of them said “fluckers” they decided to run with it.
Now, they know it’s one letter away from a swear word. They didn’t set out to use an almost curse word, he said, but they sure are running with it.
The sign outside the restaurant blinks “flucking open.” The sauces you choose from are labeled “flucking mild” and the hottest is “you’re flucked.”
One big wall is dedicated to letting customers write their own twist on the name in marker on the wall. They ask them not use profanity, but puns like “Let’s get flucked up” are common.
An for an extra shot of whimsy, the walls are covered in murals of major movies, the characters replaced with chicken heads. Local artist Sal Navarro painted them.
A scene from the film “Meet the Fockers” is recreated (as “Meet the Fluckers,” of course). Robert DeNiro, Ben Stiller and all the other actors are painted with chicken heads.
Garayan said he’s only had one negative reaction.
“I’ve had an elderly lady who walked into the restaurant. She said, ‘I’m very offended by your name,’” he recalled. “I told her, we’re not (trying) to be offensive toward anybody, but I’m sure you’re not going to forget this name.”
She laughed and walked away.
The menu
The restaurant focuses on Nashville hot chicken. It’s the latest in a slew of chicken restaurants to open in Fresno, including Angry Chickz, Raising Cane’s and Spicy Birdz.
Garayan bought the business, which was formerly a location of 559 Taqueria that opened about a year ago with amusing neon signs on the walls. He’s also the owner of Deals & Stealz stores in town and spent years in the restaurant industry.
The menu items are all combos with a twist on chicken tenders. The most popular: A tender served with another tender on a brioche slider bun with fries, cole slaw, pickles and a drizzle of “fluck sauce.”
There are also chicken and waffles, tacos and taquitos made with the Nashville tenders. Sides include mac n’ cheese (topped with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos if you want).
The chicken is shipped in daily and never frozen.
Meals range from $12.69 to $13.39. The restaurant will soon be on DoorDash.
Details: Fluckers is at 8963 N. Cedar Ave., #101. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. 559-900-4019.
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 12:34 PM.
