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glencoeanchor.com DINING OUT<br />
the glencoe anchor | June 21, 2018 | 37<br />
Clucker’s Chicken idea hatched in Mexico<br />
Michael Wojtychiw<br />
Sports Editor<br />
Clucker’s mild chicken wings (10 for $8.79) come with<br />
celery and homemade ranch dressing.<br />
Every restaurateur has<br />
his or her own inspiration.<br />
For Reed Merdinger,<br />
founder of Clucker’s Charcoal<br />
Chicken, it was a trip<br />
to Mexico.<br />
“In Mexico City, I saw<br />
this concept that was unbelievable,”<br />
Merdinger<br />
said. “It was a restaurant<br />
with chickens on these<br />
open grills with charcoal.<br />
There’s a guy standing behind<br />
there with a cleaver,<br />
standing behind the grill<br />
and just cutting them up,<br />
into a line where people<br />
could get them.<br />
“I came back to Chicago,<br />
I was then working for<br />
Don Roth, and said to Don<br />
Roth, ‘I got an idea to open<br />
up a chicken restaurant.’<br />
He said, ‘I’m 80 years<br />
old and I’m not looking<br />
to open a new restaurant.’<br />
So, my wife and I went<br />
around, I found the equipment,<br />
and in 1985, we<br />
opened the first Clucker’s<br />
on Clark Street.”<br />
After opening in Chicago<br />
and operating for<br />
nearly 13 years, the couple<br />
became tired of managing<br />
their own day-to-day<br />
business and Merdinger<br />
went to work for Levy<br />
Restaurants, running all of<br />
the company’s restaurants<br />
throughout the country.<br />
After 13 years of working<br />
with Levy, he suffered<br />
an injury that left him paralyzed<br />
in a wheelchair. According<br />
to Merginger, in<br />
1998, he went to sleep one<br />
night and woke up paralyzed.<br />
He decided to work<br />
on his health and moved<br />
to Florida to work at The<br />
Miami Project, a hospital<br />
that focuses on spinal cord<br />
research. He came back in<br />
a walker.<br />
Fast forward five years,<br />
Merginger made this return<br />
to the restaurant<br />
business. He looked for a<br />
space, and in 2008, Clucker’s<br />
in Highwood opened.<br />
“It was amazing how<br />
many people remembered<br />
Clucker’s from when it<br />
originally opened,” he<br />
said.<br />
An amazing fact about<br />
the menu is it’s essentially<br />
the same as it was when<br />
the restaurant originally<br />
opened in 1985. And, all<br />
of the food is made from<br />
scratch.<br />
“There’s a Jewish and<br />
Mexican flavor here,” the<br />
owner said. “The Jewish<br />
influence is partly in the<br />
chicken noodle soup. The<br />
brick chicken has a bit of<br />
the Mexican flavor to it,<br />
with a little bit of lemon<br />
to it. Our enchiladas are<br />
that way, our tacos are that<br />
way, our salsas are that<br />
way.<br />
“I picked the food I<br />
liked to eat.”<br />
When 22nd Century<br />
Media editors visited the<br />
restaurant, across the street<br />
from Fort Sheridan, they<br />
were treated to large portions<br />
of many of the more<br />
popular items on the menu.<br />
We started with the 2350<br />
salad ($10.99), named after<br />
the original restaurant’s<br />
address on Clark Street in<br />
Chicago.<br />
The 2350 salad, one of<br />
Clucker’s Charcoal<br />
Chicken<br />
760 Sheridan Road,<br />
Highwood<br />
(847) 432-2582<br />
11 a.m.-9 p.m.<br />
Monday-Saturday<br />
11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday<br />
the numerous gluten-free<br />
menu options, featured<br />
grilled chicken, bacon,<br />
tomato, chopped egg,<br />
avocado, scallions, Swiss<br />
cheese, mixed greens and<br />
the restaurant’s famous<br />
sweet poppy seed dressing.<br />
One of the more popular<br />
dishes is the wings.<br />
According to Merdinger,<br />
on Super Bowl Sunday,<br />
Clucker’s sold more than<br />
7,500.<br />
We received 10 wings<br />
($8.79) dipped in mild<br />
sauce and served with<br />
celery sticks and homemade<br />
ranch dressing.<br />
Wings are also sold in<br />
orders of 20 ($16.99), 30<br />
($24.99), 50 ($39.99) and<br />
100 ($79.799). Additional<br />
sauces include barbecue,<br />
plain, hot or The Coop’s<br />
on Fire sauce.<br />
A third item we had was<br />
the Cajun crispy chicken<br />
sandwich ($9.99), one of<br />
the few , if not the, fried<br />
items on the menu. The<br />
sandwich is a pan-fried<br />
Cajun chicken breast<br />
The half Clucker ($10.29) comes with rotisserie chicken and a choice of sides at<br />
Clucker’s Charcoal Chicken. Photos by Kelly Page/22nd Century Media<br />
The chicken enchiladas ($10.99) are stuffed with rotisserie chicken and topped with<br />
cheese, avocado and salsa verde.<br />
with remoulade sauce and<br />
topped with your choice of<br />
cheese.<br />
The sandwich offered<br />
a perfect blend of cheese<br />
and chicken, with neither<br />
item overpowering the<br />
other. We also had the fries<br />
as our side. The fries were<br />
crispy, but not overdone.<br />
The chicken enchiladas<br />
($10.99) ended up being<br />
one of our favorite dishes.<br />
Packed with flavor, the<br />
dish had three corn tortillas<br />
stuffed with rotisserie<br />
chicken, topped with<br />
cheese, avocado and salsa<br />
verde. The dish is also<br />
served with red beans and<br />
rice.<br />
Last, we had the half<br />
Clucker rotisserie chicken<br />
($10.29) with potatoes<br />
and corn bread. The bird<br />
is marinated in a vibrant<br />
blend of natural fruit juices<br />
and zesty herbs, then slowly<br />
cooked to golden-brown<br />
perfection over live charcoal<br />
fire. All birds come<br />
with coleslaw, tortillas,<br />
Bathe Your Bird sauce and<br />
a side. Along with the half<br />
Clucker, a quarter Clucker<br />
and half brick are also<br />
available.<br />
The restaurant, currently<br />
located at 760 Sheridan<br />
Road in Highwood, will be<br />
relocating to 405 Sheridan<br />
Road sometime in July.