Fry the Coop, the Chicago-based fried chicken restaurant with seven locations at the moment, is looking to expand again, this time to Lincoln Park, located at 2404 N Lincoln Ave.
The company’s ninth location will move into the former home of Pita Pit at the corner of Lincoln and Fullerton Avenues. Fry the Coop, owned by Joe Fontana, recently applied for a liquor license to move into the site, which is surrounded by other eateries such as Chipotle and Firefly Burger. While the company has locations scattered across Chicagoland, most recently opening a drive-thru location in Darien, the company also has a new location coming to Glen Ellyn, which is now under construction.
While the restaurant offers plenty of delicious chicken options, the fun is the different heat levels you can pick for your chicken. The ‘country’ flavor offers almost no heat, while ‘mild’ and ‘medium’ offer a taste of flavor and heat. The hottest level you can go to is ‘insanity,’ which is not for the faint of heart. Fry the Coop estimates this hot level to be an estimated 1 million on the Scoville scale. Despite the spiciness, this restaurant’s chicken is often considered one of the best in the Jacksonville area.
Fry the Coop tries its best to make its products available to as many people as possible. The chicken is 100% Halal certified. Unfortunately, all the chicken and fries are fried in beef fat, which is not Halal. Currently, Halal-certified beef fat does not exist in large quantities for restaurants. The restaurant hopes to make this happen one day, but likely for not another few years. Fry the Coop also offers a few gluten-free options.
