box of fried chicken
If you don't get a little grease on the box, are you even trying?
Not everything is bad news, the good news is that I ate some seriously delish fried chicken bits this week. And you can too.
CHX (we say chicks) is a window to happiness that opens at 4pm, though the line will have started before that.
three owners of chx
Fredrick Huballa, Shawn Edwards, and Marques Johnson in front of their CHX window in Uptown.
Marques Johnson, Fredrick Huballa, and Shawn Edwards are the ones whipping up the magic that is a fried chicken tenders takeout window off the side of the Pourhouse nightclub in Uptown. The three friends who have worked in nightclubs, hospitality, and consulting, saw the dormant window on the side of the building as an opportunity. "Marques lived right next door," Huballa said, "and when everything shut down, he looked at the window and said what can we do? And I was like, actually, I have an idea."
They started working on their signature recipe at home, "none of us are culinary experts, but we've all grown up eating real fried chicken," Edwards said. "It was just a lot of time in front of personal fryers and then commercial fryers, trying to get the ingredients and seasoning right, trying everything under the sun until we found something we love."
Then they went to the Pourhouse guys and pitched their idea of running it out of their unused takeout window, and the deal was made. They launched earlier this summer but feel like they are still getting their systems down. The window opens at 4pm, on Thurs-Sun for now. Online ordering is still on hold, so just plan to show up and wait for your bird. They stay open until 10pm, as they know there's not a lot of late night snacking in the area, and think they'll expand to even later hours once the nightlifers start to return and need their chicken.
And what about that? Can attest: these are crunchy good, hand-dipped fried chicken tenders. That is some sturdy sauce-lovin' batter around really tender, juicy chicken bits. I saved some for a late night cold snack last night, and it proved out. I love the fact that they are embracing the do one thing, and do it really well idea. You can order your box with three, four, or six tenders and it comes with crinkle cut fries, secret sauce, a buttermilk biscuit, and a can of Northern Soda. It's a lot of food, and that sixer for $15 is a value.
These guys aren't out here alone, they love a good collab. "Northern Soda has been great, we love those guys," Johnson said, "and that biscuit was created for us by Shawn McKenzie at Penny's Coffee. It's a secret weapon." Truly flakey, buttery and sticky with honey that one. "Yeah that's Skinny Jake's local honey!"
the line outside CHX
At 4pm yesterday when they opened.
This is really just the beginning. The trio is getting ready to throw some fun promotions together (hello, nightclub background) and there will be some special menu additions as they roll on. Think chicken sandwich, chicken biscuit, maybe something hot. And then, sky's the limit. Don't think for a second that winter will slow these three down.
They have a few more concepts that they want to create, and are always on the lookout for more creative locations. Though, they want to play it smart and get CHX running smoothly before they think of anything else. Huballa hit it home, "We just really want to be those operators that the customers will really be fond of, we want to make sure the quality is absolutely the same, that every single time your chicken is great."
I never thought I'd say this about chicky tendies, but: I guess, go get in line and stay tuned.
