Local Restaurant Changes Name, not Menu

By Jackie Pierce

Nestled between Safeway and Taco Bell sits a classic Santa Clara establishment that has donned several names in the past decade without changing the menu or service.

This restaurant has been enjoyed by students and local Santa Clarans alike and has even been featured on Travel Channel's "Man vs. Food," and restaurant is famous for an almost impossible eating competition where challengers must eat a certain amount of extremely spicy chicken wings. Currently, this hang out goes by the name Wicked Chicken.

At the helm of this ever-changing chicken restaurant is employee Matt McClean, a Santa Clara local and Santa Clara alumni (‘97), recently purchased the lease. McClean worked at the restaurant for 13 years from 1995-2008, and felt a strong connection to the restaurant.

"I just don't understand why it keeps changing names. It was a different name when my older sister went here as well," said junior Nick Johnson. "I still like the food, though," said Johnson.

The restaurant opened its doors in 1995 going by the name Cluck U, part of an east coast-based franchise. Cluck U prided itself on its secret sauce recipe, which kept fans flocking back to enjoy chicken wings, tenders, salads, sandwiches and a wide variety of beer in a sports bar atmosphere.

After a falling out with the franchise, University Chicken opened, boasting the same great menu and original recipe. In April 2008, University Chicken turned into SmokeEaters.

McClean is excited about the future of the restaurant. The previous owners, who lived in New Jersey, had some issues with the landlord who was also not locally based. Eventually, the lease became available. Both the landlord and the previous owner could not be reached for comment.

McClean, however, lives locally, so the landlord found it natural to allow McClean to take over the lease. McClean said that he is thankful for the landlord's kindness, trust and generosity.

McClean has not made any big changes in the establishment of the newly-named Wicked Chicken. "The menu and food are the same," he said. The only change he plans to make is to have cheaper prices, "especially on the beer." He wants to keep the atmosphere and maintain the relationships he had with customers.

SmokeEaters fans may be out of luck for a while. The owners tried to move the restaurant to Mission City Café, according to McClean. However, due to resistance from the neighbors on issues such as parking, the relocation was blocked by the city. They also tried to move it to a taqueria on The Alameda, but found resistance as well in that attempt.

McClean commented that business was "slow at first," but is definitely picking up. At the time of the interview, a large crowd had gathered to watch both a 49ers game and a Raiders game. A predominately non-Santa Clara student crowd, fans were sporting jerseys and cheering on their favorite teams, while enjoying their meals and beers.

Customers and chicken lovers are relatively unaffected by this change.

"The food isn't really different, and the atmosphere isn't really different. It's still a pretty fun place," said frequent customer Rick Garcia.

Contact Jackie Pearce at jpearce@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.