- It's there, you gotta do it.
- Uh huh.
- I'm Nicole Wilhelm, your Bay Area host
for "5 Buck Lunch."
Having lived in the Bay Area my whole life,
some would call me a unicorn.
As a real native should, I've got all
the Bay Area spots for cheap eats.
Let me take you on a magical journey
from hangry to happy for five bucks or less.
So we're headed over to the SoMa District.
For those of you who don't know,
the SoMa stands for the South of Market
and it's home to the most innovative
tech startups in the world.
And, oddly enough, the most affordable chicken sandwiches.
And lucky for you, I know a great spot
where you don't have to sacrifice taste for price.
But first, let's see what the fine folks
are craving in the SoMa.
How would you like your fried chicken and your biscuit?
- With hot sauce.
- Oh, that sounds fire.
With gravy for me.
- Smothered?
- Oh yeah, just all over.
- What would you like on your fried chicken and biscuit?
- Oh man, you gotta have the honey,
and then you gotta have the hot sauce on there.
- Oh, so you like the sweet and savory?
- Exactly.
- Now, do you have like a bird call that you do?
- I don't know.
I don't know about a bird call,
but I know in New York we would be like, "Yerrr!"
- So do you have an eagle call?
- Aawwh!
I named after an Aztec God, Guatémoc.
- Guatémoc!
- Yeah, it means "eagle descendant from the Heavens."
- Bird calls?
Any bird calls?
- Oh no!
- Go for it!
- Caw caw! Caw caw!
- You guys wanna get in for a new girl group?
- Oh, yeah.
- OK, what should we call it?
- I say Cluckin' Hot.
- Cluckin' Hot.
I like that.
You ready?
All right.
Our first song, one, two, three.
- Caw caw! Caw caw!
- So we're at The Bird and you're probably wondering,
"What the cluck is up with this place?"
Like many Bay Area restaurants, they pride themselves
in the farm-to-table approach.
But The Bird's a little different
because it allows you to do a grab and go.
So let's check it out.
So can you tell me a little bit about
why you would give people the bird every single day?
- Yeah, I mean we just keep it casual in here.
We're selling fried chicken sandwiches,
not, you know, building rockets here.
- What do you order when you eat here?
- Fried chicken sandwich with the spicy version.
The sleeper on the menu is the biscuit
and then you can get it loaded with all the slaw
and the pickles and all that kind of stuff, so.
We don't charge extra for it.
- Like that little secret menu?
- Yeah, it's a secret menu.
- You're welcome.
I heard that you use dark meat and not white meat.
- Yes.
- Any particular reason why?
- Two reasons.
After lots of testing, we just thought
that it was just the thing that retains the
most moisture, so it's like the juiciest.
I think it has the most flavor on the whole animal.
White meat tends to dry out a lot
but it also in doing so, we were able
to keep our prices down, so that's the reason our stuff
is priced the way it is.
It's free range!
- What part of the animal is this?
- It's the thigh.
It's the boneless thigh.
- Thighs are in right now.
Everyone likes thick thighs.
So I get it.
- What's not to like?
- And then your biscuit is amazing.
- Thank you, thank you.
- Yeah, where do you get your biscuits?
- Well, we get them from the baker
and we bake them here in the morning
and then brush them with the brown butter.
I think the butter is really
what gives it all the flavor and everything.
- So I think I'm gonna go with the
chicken biscuit because it sounded delicious.
- Yes, fantastic.
Now I got the chicken biscuit.
I like mine spicy, but you can also get it mild.
Now there's a debate out there
between dark meat and light meat.
You should go dark meat, and once you go dark meat
you'll never go back.
Now this biscuit is delicious.
It's fluffy, buttery,
almost tastes homemade -- just like Mom used to make.
And the chicken is crispy, but still moist
on the inside.
That's very difficult to do.
Now don't let this size fool you.
The biscuit will fill you up.
And it gives you all the things you need for the day.
The carbs, the protein.
Now it's no wonder why LeBron came here
after he lost the 2017 NBA Finals.
It's because he needed to eat his feelings
even though I'm a Golden Warriors fan.
Now I'm gonna go ahead and get my grub on.
Did you want some?
Oh, no, no, no, no.
You're gonna have to go ahead and get your own.
Excuse me.
So if you have a couple of extra bucks,
I would go with the apple fritters.
You get three of these delicious, tiny, little,
little, scrumptious bites for $1.50.
You should do it.
Thank you again for watching.
And as always, remember to stay hungry and hustle,
but full enough to give to others.
And do you have a favorite lunch spot?
Remember to leave it in the comments below.
And remember to always subscribe, like, comment
and share because sharing is caring.