Having worked inside a food truck while attending the University of Houston, it didn’t take long for Ahmad Kilani to realize how he wanted to start his career.
“When I came to the U.S., it was as a student,” he told The Dallas Express. “I was an employee at Halal Food Truck in the Houston market at that time. It was maybe five food trucks in the entire city. That is where my journey started.”
That was in 2015. About six years later, Kilani opened his first Clutch City Cluckers in Houston.
“We have expanded so much now with 12 locations,” Kilani said. “The inspiration behind it at the time was the demand for Nashville Hot Chicken in Houston was very high. We didn’t have many players in the game, so I launched my brand, and it blew up.”
Eight of Kilani’s Clutch City Cluckers are now in the Houston area.
“People like my food, so I decided to open more locations,” Kilani said. “Inspiration for the name comes from the Houston Rockets. I’m so in love with my city that my brand was inspired by it.”
The back-to-back NBA champion Houston Rockets in the 1990s were nicknamed “Clutch City.” The restaurant chain’s logo — a chicken on a rocket — is a nod to Houston’s Johnson Space Center, Kilani said.
Clutch City Cluckers has also opened restaurants in San Antonio and Baton Rouge. By April, another will open in Frisco.
“The Dallas-Fort Worth area has been on my radar for quite a bit now,” Kilani said. “I’ve always wanted to expand there because the market for Nashville Hot Chicken is also expanding in that area. There’s not much competition there. And Frisco, in particular, is growing exponentially. That’s one of the main reasons why I chose Frisco over Plano or Dallas or Fort Worth.”
Kilani, 33, studied business administration at the University of Houston after migrating from Jordan. He’s since opened a Clutch City Cluckers there in his hometown of Irbid.
“What’s unique about Jordan, as an American brand, they have never seen something like this before,” Kilani said. “It’s very intriguing for everybody to try it. It’s been doing very, very good, actually.”
Kilani’s recipes are proprietary. What makes Clutch City Cluckers different from other chicken restaurants is partly found in those recipes.
“Nashville Hot Chicken is fried chicken in flour breading and spices,” he told The Dallas Express. “It is not ordinary fried chicken like you find at Chick-fil-A or Popeyes. The spices being used and the breading are unique to us. We have different heat levels. ‘Cluck It Like It’s Hot’ is extreme. That’s what differentiates us.”
Cluck It Like It’s Hot is one of the many chicken sandwiches on the menu. Others include Juicy Cluckin Lucy, The Possible, and Toasted Juicy Lucy, along with platters, side items, wings, and tacos.
All 12 Clutch City Cluckers restaurants are corporate-owned. But Kilani said he’s preparing to franchise the brand.
“In the second quarter, I will be officially open for people to franchise my name. Legally, we are ready to go. For any future locations as a franchise, it would be most likely outside of Texas or in North Texas. We have so many organic leads for franchises, and we get those almost on a daily basis.”
