Cluck-U Chicken

As a more ‘local’ or at least not as national chain — this place was GOOD. Cluck-​U is a unique chicken joint with their honey and toasty muffins (yeah it’s been a while but that’s basically what they serve) and atomic sauce and thanks to the addictiveness of the sweet, crispy, carb loaded eats, it pretty much cancelled out any calories lost doing Bikram Yoga just down the street.
The service was spotty and ranged from ‘bad’ (15 minutes to get a side of premade mashed potatoes or forgetting your order entirely) to ‘good’. But, by god, the management tried and the interior was kept clean with a flat screen TV and pretty nice for a fast food chain.
I just wanted to add some more urban folklore (or just talking smack) about why this placed closed.
Apparently the opening of a ‘non-​sit down’ restaurant was not approved by the ward council? At the time it opened, H St. was even more of the ‘up and coming’ neighborhood it is now, which is to say only a very few frontrunners were throwing their hats in the ring of the gentrification game. And a lot of buildings were still boarded up or else unused.
There was however, a LOOOOT of talk about re-​inventing H St. and fast food joints were apparently out of the gleaming new picture. There were a lot of carry-​outs, dollar stores, convenience stores, etc. at the time and apparently those are *not* in line with the new face of H St.
Anyhow, The last time I was in DC I read the owner was negotiating to try to keep the franchise location open on H St. including offering plates and silverware (thus making it NOT strictly a ‘carry-​out’)
And now there’s apparently a club in it’s place? Very nice. I can’t wait to check out the old ‘hood.
And Unilocal about it!

Cluck-​U is the first and last name in «fast food» chicken, period. I use the quotes because each order is cooked fresh to spec. You have to wait several minutes, but it’s well worth it! Their varying levels of spice in the wings (and other flavors not along the thermometer spectrum painted on the wall) each have their own charm. The fried chicken is also way better than at KFC or anywhere else. And I discovered that their salads are actually fresh and have a good mix of dark, leafy greens!
Unfortunately, this Cluck-​U location — which was the cleanest and brightest I’ve seen — shut down a couple months ago. The owner of the building is making modifications necessary to open a separate business upstairs (likely a bar). I believe he may re-​open the downstairs as Cluck-​U again. I certainly hope so! (EDIT: Unfortunately, the new club XII has consumed the entire property, so Cluck-​U on H Street is history! It’s a step back as far as I’m concerned.)