San Francisco’s Viral Chicken Sandwich Has Landed in New York — Claw and All (2024)

I had just put the finishing touches on Eater’s Best Fried Chicken in NYC when I received an email from Zoee Wong, an R&D chef at Birdsong — the San Francisco restaurant with two Michelin stars. The email suggested I check out Birdsong’s fried chicken spinoff near Times Square called Birdbox.

Birdsong comes from Christopher Bleidorn and Aarti Shetty, and the Michelin review describes the cooking with live fire as having a sense of whimsy. It was here that the “highly Instagrammable” chicken sandwich with a claw took flight during the pandemic.

Back in 2021, Bleidorn told Eater SF that the sandwich had “taken on a life of its own.” It came about when Birdsong had a walk-in full of chickens, Eater reported, heads and feet still on. The chef thought their regulars might be intrigued by a sandwich with a claw. “Everyone sees the claw and takes photos … ” he says. “But this is the thing — you shouldn’t be scared of a sandwich with a claw. You should be scared of a sandwich without a claw,” he said, referring to industrial-grade chickens raised inhumanely.

So when lunchtime rolled around late last week, I found myself on the M20 bus heading north to check it out.

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

The address, 245 West 46th Street, just east of Eighth Avenue, turned out to be Backstage Food Hall, made to look like a Broadway theater. Entering the darkened space, I stumbled into what looked like a production of a lost Samuel Beckett play: A man sat in a window, head cradled in his hands as if waiting for delivery cyclists. In front of him were three tables, to his right, a bank of green numbered lockers, and beyond that, a pair of upright touch-screen consoles.

These consoles listed 20 restaurants, mainly featuring bowls, burgers, cookies, salads, and sushi, including Birdbox. (Eater is checking into whether Birdbox is a pop-up, here for the long haul, or introducing a Birdsong spinoff in a different location in the future.) The Birdbox menu offered several versions of a fried chicken sandwich, a vegetarian sandwich made of hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, as well as waffle fries, coleslaw, and four sauces. One sandwich caught my eye.

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Claude the Claw ($19) is described as a thigh and drum combination, and in the tiny photo, a bone seemed to be protruding. I ordered and the screen told me it would be ready in six to nine minutes. Nearly 30 minutes later, the guy in the window handed it over to me. My order came in a box with chicken tracks cut out of the cover: It was so nice it could have been a wedding present.

It turns out it was a talon that sticks out from a sandwich that sports a conjoined thigh and drumstick, deboned for easy eating. The dark meat had been extensively brined, so it was very juicy and overall delicious, with a thick, crunchy breading that contrasted nicely with the seeded bun — too small to contain that large a quantity of chicken. The bread-and-butter pickles were a nice touch, and it came with an agreeable yeayo sauce, the name a portmanteau of “yeast” and “mayo,” like something from a health food cookbook.

The sandwich was great, but what to do with the claw? The deep-fried appendage was pretty much inedible, though there was some good flesh at its base. As I sat there chewing, a group of tourists entered the space timidly, took one look at my sandwich, and ran out.

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

I tried the hen of the woods ($14) sandwich, much smaller, on round slices of what seemed like wheat toast. The waffle fries were coated in a spice powder that I did not particularly like. The slaw, dressed mainly with lemon juice and nutritional yeast, is primarily for sandwiches as opposed to something to eat on its own.

I’d definitely get Claude the Claw again, less for its standout appearance than for how it tastes: juicy, crunchy, and rich with dark meat. And if you’re intent on calling attention to yourself in a public place, this is your sandwich.