Sweet meets heat at Fluster Cluck Hot Chicken

I should be tired of writing about Nashville hot chicken by now, considering some gazillion new hot chicken joints have opened in the past year. So many, the San Diego Chicken guy might want to consider a brand refresh: the San Diego Hot Chicken sounds more in line with the times.

This time, I found myself wandering into the Liberty Public Market in search of Fluster Cluck Hot Chicken. Only a few months back, I had planned to come here looking for the Liberty Chik hot chicken booth. But times being what they are, that brand was short-lived. So the guys behind Mastiff Sausage Company apparently took it over, getting into the hot chicken game with a spoonerism worthy of 2020.

I’ve had a few chances to visit the public market during the pandemic, and the changeover isn’t too surprising. With social distancing in effect, the once crowded market has thinned out a bit, and the whole vibe seems a little darker than it once did. Several of the small businesses lining the stalls have closed or are not yet opened. Others serve in limited capacity, such as Chris Ono Grinds. The North Park-based Hawaiian food brand serves its popular musubi and kalua pork, but doesn’t see enough foot traffic to justify keeping its raw tuna poke salad on the menu; a shame because it’s among the best in the city.

I have watched a steady flow of customers turn up at Fluster Cluck lately, choosing from an all chicken tender menu. Options include chicken sliders, chicken tenders, fried chicken salad, chicken fries, and chicken & waffles.

As is the hot chicken standard, these tenders range from no spice to extra spicy. Like Dave’s Hot Chicken, the Los Angeles brand that opened this spring in Pacific Beach, Fluster Cluck’s hottest iteration builds its heat off the notorious Carolina Reaper, purported to be the world’s hottest chili pepper. Also like Dave’s, the menu suggests customers must sign a liability waiver in order to eat it.

My “cluckin hot” tender, sprinkled with hot chili powder, had enough heat to give me hiccups — a sure sign it was spicy enough. But the kind souls working the booth this day must have been going easy on me. First, they didn’t make me sign a waiver, and then the spice level actually fell far short of the Dave’s reaper seasoning, which brought (manly) tears to my eyes.

While anyone seeking extreme spice will want to stick to the hotter end of the menu, those looking to subdue their heat should aim for a slider, which combines coleslaw, sweet pickles, and a cooling, mayo based “comeback sauce” to dampen the heat. My medium sliders verged on too sweet for my plate.

Without syrup, even the waffles proved less sweet than the sliders. Which I consider a plus, as far as waffles go. What I consider a minus is the Fluster Cluck menu stating its chicken and waffles are served with maple syrup, when really what they serve is a Smuckers corn syrup bomb, no maple included.

Ultimately, though, these are some of the crispiest hot chicken tenders I’ve eaten. When the spice is right, Fluster Cluck is a stop within a Liberty Public Market that is worth a revisit, for those hungry in and around Liberty Station.