Ruwan J.
Yelp
surprisingly, discovered the Fluffies storefront by walking the LES before the location opened and not via social media. exploration via reality LIVES! anyway, Fluffies Hot Chicken is a fast casual spot that serves a variety of its signature fried "hot chicken" in a variety ways--sandwiches, sliders, rice bowls, and more. there a few standing tables outside and a few places to sit and eat inside, but the interior is super small, so my advice would be grab-n-go as eating here would be kinda cramped. the interior itself is neatly and cleanly maintained...brightly lit and casually modern.
ordered Fluffies Filled Fries (with 1/2 macaroni & cheese) which is part of its signature menu via UberEats as a takeout order. the Fluffies Filled Fries is basically a bowl filled with fries topped with Fluffies hot fried chicken and the signature sauce. opted for 1/2 mac&cheese ion my order so it was 1/2 fries + 1/2 Mac&cheese topped with chicken and sauce. the order doesn't skimp on the chicken as the bowl is pretty weighty with a generous amount of chopped up fried chicken. the chicken was nicely fried, so you get a crunch with a moist tender piece of seasoned chicken. the sauce is fairly sweet and tangy with a tiny amount of heat. the fries beneath the chicken were so good, seasoned well, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. the macaroni and cheese was fine, not very memorable as most of the flavor and texture really comes from the fried chicken, sauce, and fries. oddly, my order was supposed to come with coleslaw and pickles, but it wasn't there--maybe Fluffies changed what's included in its Filled menu items or it was forgotten (i only know they were missing bc you can opt to remove them in UberEats). chose MEDIUM as my heat level, and it was pretty mild with only a little bit of spicy heat, so if you're hot food enthusiast you may want to opt for HOT or BLISTERING HOT. Fluffies really delivery on fast casual fast food-ish eats--realtively quick as a comfort option that is filling.
my order was ready even though i was early to pickup. the staff were very attentive in noticing me and asking me if i was there for an order. it was extremely busy with people eating as well as people on line to order, so i appreciated the staff being on top of things. my order was packed neatly.
if you are in a fast food mood but want something more substantial, Fluffies is a good option in the Lower East Side. hope they keep the generous amounts of fried chicken in the Filled menu items.
thoughts on Fluffies:
1) don't use UberEats, the Yelp ordering link, GrubHub or any other food app for pickup as the menu items are priced like ~30% higher (eg. my order was like $18 + tax in Uber, but via Fluffies website it would be $14 + tax) . Fluffies has its own proprietary ordering system on its website for pickup orders and it's way less for each menu item. if you're ordering delivery, everything is way higher as you'd expect it bc that's how food apps make money.
2) skip the macaroni & cheese and opt for the French fries as the fries are superior to the Mac& cheese but the Mac&cheese its okay at best and really isn't very flavorful or cheesy. it kinda reminded me of the instant Mac and cheese from a box.
3) oddly there is no description on any menu item other than its name on UberEats menu or any other food app menu. the descriptions are missing from Fluffies website menu as well. not the biggest deal, but Fluffies should fix this as some people want to know exactly what they are ordering and what is included. the only place where you can find actual descriptions are on the menu in-store.