University Chicken Sports Pub

I really like this place! I can see how it is a 3.5 star place though… I just really really like wings! Much better than wing stop in my opinion.
Make sure that you don’t go too adventurous with the sauce here. Know what you can handle, and don’t get crazy because you will regret it. What I sometimes do is ask for spicer sauce on the side, so that everyone in my party can enjoy the wings.
The onion rings and jalaeno poppers are also yummy here.

mmmm good wings! juicy and good sauce! i love the celery sticks with ranch! I would come here again for wings!

One of my friends in college absolutely loved this place, so he’d drag me out to go and eat wings and beer here for lunch. Personally, I haven’t been a fan of chicken wings for quite some time. I guess the sauces for the wings are good and the level of spiciness is completely customizable.
The place itself is clean, located not too far from SJSU, and is a decent place to watch some sports games. The wings, although loved by many, are in reality frozen/​refrigerated and re-​heated/​fried according to order. I know many places do this, and some do it better than others. Unfortunately that’s the only real way they can sustain the chicken orders in this joint. Additionally, they use the sauce and even hot sauce combinations to mask the below average taste.
Have never come here because I wanted to, and probably never will.

Wings to me are like chicken poetry. They are short and if made with passion can blow your mind. This place has written words that surpass their meaning.
I will spare you anymore abstract babble. I spent the weekend here in San Jose with some girls I know from backhome and they showed me the ropes. If you know what I mean. Nothing bettter then women that treat you like a king and then buy you wings.
UCSP is hot like their wings so dig in.

I’m very sad about Cluck U. It used to be so awesome, but since its changed over to Smoke Eaters, its kinda started to suck.
First of all, do NOT come on Tuesday nights. Due to their wing special [which, btw, used to be 35 cents per wing… and now is 50 cents per wing! freaking huge ass increase] it took us approximately an hour to get our food. Secondly, is it just me, or are their wings getting tinier? And they’re going skimpy on the sauce.
Oh smoke eaters… how dare you ruin my cluck u :(please go away and bring back our 9−1−1 challenge.

I wrote this review for the Santa Clara location by mistake, when this one was for the location near SJSU in particular… the original review was 1÷7÷08, here it is.
Alright well this place is one of those local spots you would know, if you attended SJSU. Fortunately for my local friend Hawk, he is a student at the state university, so he knows San Jose like the back of his hand. In any case we approach this place, after waking up from a pretty bad hangover from Taste Ultra Lounge the previous night.
During the moody and rainy afternoon, we came inside to find it to be set up as a typical sports bar. TVs propped up on the right side of the wall with the chairs and tables all lined up. They have a pool table, and a decent facility of bathrooms. I looked over the menu up above the cashier counter, and saw on the wall there are certain levels of spicyness that you can have on your chicken.
From traditional (lowest level of spicyness) to Thermo-​Ultra Nuclear (highest level of spicyness).
My friend Hawk ordered for us the following stuff:
1 Chicken Tender Combo (Chicken tenders, fries, and a drink)
1 order of 25 piece Buffalo Wings
2 Sodas
I believe the total came out to 20 something bucks, so it’s not that bad of a deal. The wings were delicious nevertheless, but there was one thing that piqué my interest on the wall, while gorging upon my freshly cooked wings.
Unlike other food places, they have a hall of fame of people who passed the University Chicken Challenge.
The rules from what I remember are as follows:
–No drinking before, during, or after challenge
–You have 12 minutes to eat 10 wings (thermo ultra nuclear)
–You must lick your fingers off clean after the 5 minute mark has passed.
–You have to wait an additional 10 minutes after the challenge to get a picture and t-​shirt right after accomplishing the task.
Now I don’t know how it works as a group, but as individual trying to accomplish this feat, this is what you have to do to retain your legacy at this establishment. Nifty, I might go back and try it out sometime… nuclear level chicken was a bit of a challenge to deal with so I need more prep time I suppose.
Now why did I give this place 3 stars… instead of the original four… simply because it isn’t a place to go after having a bad hangover, and throwing up 3 am in the morning because of alcohol consumption. Later on that night after eating at University Chicken, I nuked my friend’s toilet.
The End

The «newer» University Chicken location. It’s a bit cleaner than the Santa Clara restaurant. And you have way more options once you are done eating, drinking, or watching whatever game is on TV.
I must admit, that back in the day, I enjoyed this place more when it was called «Cluck U.»
The food tasted a little better and well, the name was a lot cooler. I have no idea why the name change came about. But in the end, this place does serve up some pretty good chicken wings. Somehow, as good as the wings are, I always end up ordering the «Devil Tenders.»
They have different levels of heat for your chicken to be smothered in. For those that love their food mild, that can be done. And if you want to be a dragon, and blow fire (out of your ass) all day, they have that option as well.
I tend to enjoy spicy food, but it seems the spicier I go here, the more my stomach hurts after. I eat spicy food elsewhere and it does not do that to me. I am not sure if’s how the chicken is cooked or how the sauces are prepared.
A good side dish are the cheese curly fries. Wow. A block of cheese over greasy, spicy curly fries. Sometimes, happiness can be found in the simplest of foods.
This place also offers up good beer prices on their «gallon» of beer option. The SJSU kids must love that.
Anyway, if you want a good place to eat some wings (or tenders), drink beer, and watch a game with some friends, University Chicken is always a good option.

God I love meat. This place is great.
I might be slightly partial because I use to come to Cluck U. all the time when I was a college student (not this location, but the one next to Santa Clara University, this was didn’t exist when I was at State, that was a long time ago…)
Anyways, I always get the third one from the bottom (I think it’s called nuclear). They also provide celery and ranch sauce which tastes great with the slight spiciness of the nuclear sauce. I always want to go a little bit higher, but the next one up is too spicy for me to enjoy all of the wings.
They also serve sides and beer (no hard liquor). It’s a fun place to go with a bunch of friends before heading out to the clubs or bars in downtown San Jose.
Although the last couple of times I’ve been here on a Saturday night it’s been kinda dead inside (but that doesn’t really bother me).
Also play the games, they are FUN! :)

They changed their name to Smoke Eaters!!!
Seriously? Smoke. Eaters? Are they insane? That’s the most stupid and idiotic name I’ve ever heard…
But aside from their bad choice in a new name probably by new management, their chicken wings are effing awesome.
On tuesdays, from 6pm-​10pm it’s 50% off wings so you can get 10 wings for about 4 bucks and it is SOOOOO good. It’s crispy and delicious with the hot sauce flavor of your choice.
Dude. Seriously, this place is so good, and definitely fun to just sit here and enjoy the Sharks game or basketball games, etc
They’ve now recently let you order to-​go on the Special Tuesdays AND they give you boxes if you dont finish your food. It’s cause the place was too packed before. Oh yeah, and it’s mostly packed with teens like me, my bad =X

This place is more about the experience than the actual food.
Tuesday night deals on wings will bring in a ton of kids from the area. It gets packed and it’ll be hard to find a table so keep that in mind if you’re the price conscious chicken eater coming on Tuesday evenings.
They’ve got other specials too. Just check the website.
The real experience here is seeing how far up on the hotness scale you can make it before realizing that you’re an idiot for even trying to go any higher than nuclear. I used to come here in high school with friends and get the global thermo nuclear and eat until my lips turned purple from how hot the sauce is. Ultimately, I’d end up regretting the GTN so I just go with nuclear these days. That way I’ll actually go and talk to friends vs. asking them to get me ice so that I can numb my entire mouth.

I ordered wings, mashed potatoes and beer.
I don’t like being negative, and I’ve avoided writing this review because of it, but honestly, what they do to chicken is an abomination. Dried out, crusty, over-​sauced and just not good eats.
I’m a recovering purist. Hamburger w/​cheese? No. Mayo on fries? No. Regret without a hangover? No. Soy sauce on rice? I will kill you. Then I realized, adaptation and inspiration are stymied by absolute thought. Though, still if you put soy sauce on that beautiful steamed white rice in my presence, my eyes will bulge in apoplectic shock, at…
Well, perhaps that’s saved for a different venue of discussion. Just realize, I still have my biases.
A «hot wing» is a Buffalo wing. A Buffalo wing is any of the three sections of the wing, be it the drumette, center or tip section, lightly floured and fried and lightly sauced in a combination of Tabasco and butter. It’s about purity. It’s the elegant answer to the complex problem. Grace under fire. The gift of fire.
Though, one doesn’t have to make it the same, you can have more sauce, less sauce, add garlic, serve with breadsticks. (Sorry, but celery and carrots should be standard sides, along with the blue cheese dressing, and don’t be stingy). So, I think I’m fair in saying that I’m open minded enough to accept variations on this.
Good food should not make you vomit. Good food should not drop in your gut, like stones. Good food should not make it difficult to drink a beer. Good food does not give you cold sweats.

The new management and new name sucks. They changed the names of their sauces too and changed their menu and prices. What ever happened to good old Cluck U’s?
I think this place is called like Smoke Eaters now or something wack like that.

⁹⁄₁₂ update.
Hmmmm…tried to update the review, but only allows edit… maybe it’s too soon.
So, now it’s been almost 15 hours since the dreaded challenge and my body is starting to get back to normal. I’m weak, but recover fast (^-^).
Compared to the University Chicken on Alameda, this one looks more Sports Bar’sh, with large glass wall panels on two sides (it’s at one corner of a building), large beer neon signs, and big TVs.
Inside, there is plenty of seating, seating maybe a hundred or more, though it fills up pretty fast as the evening wears on. You order at the counter, get a receipt and wait for your number to be called. Pretty standard cafeteria style eating.
Unlike most people, rather than try different foods, I had one goal in mind last night… and that was the 911 challenge, where you have rules to follow, a waiver to sign, and a manager who times you to make sure it’s all legit.
Lets talk about it for a sec…
First off, if you see all the other sauces, from Mild to Global Thermo Nuclear, the color goes from yellowish orangish wet sauce to increasingly orangish reddish, but the consistency and overall look and coloring is similar enough that you think you’re having variations of the same sauce.
Not so with the 911 challenge. It is completely different. The sauce is so dark it is mostly black with some reddish coloring if you look at it in a certain light. Next up is the consistency… It is like a very dry paste and clearly thick enough to cut and eat with a fork.
More importantly, the taste… it’s not so much that it’s spicy. It is, of course. But more importantly, it’s vile… it’s nasty… it’s downright repulsive. The challenge is just as much to eat something disgusting as it is to eat something spicy. In fact, it’d make a good Fear Factor item. No sane person would eat it voluntarily if they already knew what it looked, smelled, and tasted like. Just thinking about it makes me a little sick. I realize, of course, that some people have completed the challenge, and my hat’s off to such brave souls. I, for one, could not finish, and would never try again…
Now on to the other food… oh…wait a sec. I didn’t have any other food, cuz I felt sick the entire time after eating just four pieces of that crap.
Having said that, on a good note, though I’ve eaten plenty of spicy food in the past, never have I recovered so fast.
The incredible speed in recovery (just a day) is due largely in part to tricks learned on the internet just hours before the challenge to help alleviate what I had expected would be a painful experience. That hour of study and a quick stop at Safeway helped in ways you wouldn’t believe. Like chapstick to put a coating around your lips and mouth. It really does work. Take it from a guy who loves spicy food and has eaten it all his life but never used chapstick until today. It really works. Doesn’t prevent it completely, but the difference in pain and duration of pain is surprising and pleasant.
And don’t believe the hype. Of course, water/​soda/​beer is bad. But more importantly, the most common myth, milk, is also bad for after. Milke, yogurt or sour cream as a coating beforehand works wonders. I mean WONDERS. So beforehand is okay, just not after.
The best for after is definitely something very sweet with lots of sugar. This does not include sugar water. Sugar water doesn’t really work, but sugar works. Salt also works because it absorbs the oil, but salt is sort of like throwing up after a drinking binge. It doesn’t prevent the oils that have done the damage, it just absorbs the excess to decrease the amount of capsaicin that is attacking your mouth. Sugar helps the attacked regions (okay, maybe not, but it sure feels that way). Applesauce works better, as do bananas. None of this stuff gets rid of the spiciness for the first hour or so afterwards, but the great advantage is that you only suffer for an hour. After that, it goes away and your mouth is numb free, tingle free, and pain free. Applesauce is miracle food…
There’s also tons of advice for, you know… afterwards. I found that there’s only one solution that really really works and it’s not vaseline, iced towels, or popsicles (gross, I know… and yet I saw those suggested in a myriad of websites and blogs). If you’re about to embark on the 911 challenge, PM me and I’ll give you the secret if you haven’t figured it out already.
Long story short… I would go here again and eat the regular wings if there’s ever a group outing, but I would never choose to go here, ever.
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⁹⁄₁₁ review
Location is good.
They specialize in wings…
Stay away from the 911 challenge.
Really.
More detailed review should come some time.
For now, I need pepto and rest…
Tomorrow is NOT going to be fun.

Ackh! What happened to this place?!
It used to be Cluck U (University Chicken) but they turned it into… «Smoke Eaters?» Seems like business went downhill since the name change as well, when I went I got some quite dry chicken with a burger that was completely burnt.
And don’t get me wrong I used to love this place, but after some apparent changes it has lost favor with me, I’m sad to say.

A day after the lackluster dinner at Hooter’s (… the wings were lackluster… but the scenery was secksy kewlness!), the wings at Cluck U were delectable!
Thanks to Cindi N, I took leave of work a little early to enjoy some dinner-​time Unilocaly company, 50-​cent (?) wings, and a great game…
At 6:30, the place was jam packed with people (kids, kids… these young whipper-​snappers CANNOT be of drinking age… I don’t think I EVER looked that young!) lined up to place orders, walking around with gallon pitchers of beer… «WHOA!”-ing in choral unison whenever some highlight worthy play was made in the back-​n-​forth Lakers.v.Celtics third game…
Tuesday was a noticeably warm day, but even then, the stifling heat inside Cluck U. was unexpected. Perhaps it was just all the people gathered in close. But that stuffiness dissuaded me from ordering what I’d usually order.
Anything less than «Thermo Nuclear» seems tame… I like it hot! (… insert lewd flirty innuendo here…)
Hotter than anything on the menu, though? All the lovelies strutting out their summer fits…
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
. oh, I’m gonna *heart* going back to school.

Oh Clucks, with your new name and new prices I give you minus 1 star. Although these wings can deceive you with their frightening color and names, they really hit the spot. I’m not a big fan of buffalo wings because they’re all sour and what the heck I dont want my wings sour. Either hot sweet or salty. I always get nuclear and curly fries. Unless someone wants onion rings.*ahem* But anyway, yay Tuesday nights :)
Oh and since it is downtown, parking can be pretty lame sometimes. AND the parking garage has started to charge after 6PM. Whats up with that? Could it be recession?

Fun place to chill, I honestly don’t get the really spicy wings because I want to taste the chicken and not have a burning sensation in my mouth. The wings are good though.
And 1 gallon pitchers of beer? Bring some friends and it’ll be a good time.

Some of the best chicken wings I’ve ever had. Different levels of spicy. VERY meaty and actually a bit crisped. The curly fries were also fried to a crisp. I wish they had opened this place a few years ago while I was still attending SJSU. It would have been my neighbor! Not very healthy but sure is damn delicious!
JONASAPPROVED!

Love their sophomore nachos with no jalapenos!!! Clean spot, tons of screens to watch the games– fast service… I am a sucker for their honey mustard sauce… big portions– beware!
UPDATE: Michael and the rest of the University Chicken Crew– thank you for the goodies… you best believe I will make good use of both… it is down to earth and good folks like you that keep me coming back to that place.

Small joint, kind of hard to find, but it’s pretty much full every night with local SJSU students. They have a big screen showing sports.
I come here for my motorcycle meets «every» Tuesday nights, why? because its chicken night!!! It’s 0.35 $ wing night, meaning you can get 12 wing’s/legs for $ 4! if thats not a deal, I don’t know what is.
I’ve taste just about all there levels, I skipped on Traditional (because its for weeeeniers). All their chicken comes with chopped celery and ranch? sauce (helps cool down the tongue).
I think Mon/​Wed/​Thr/​Fri there is some type of beer special.
Giving it only 3 because normal prices are a tad high, runs out of
seats fast.
— — — — — — — —
Update 2÷13÷07
Did anyone get a message from Michael B?
Is that spam/​etc?
Updated 2÷13÷07
Went here tonight to meet with my motorcycle friends, the usual Tuesday night meets. Turned out good, the chicken was a bit spicier than before or I’m just not getting used to the hotness. Had 12 wings of Traditional Death, started pretty hot in the beginning, but after so many wings the hotness is numbbed down. I like the celery/​ranch they include because it helps bring the coolness to your tongue.
I’m guessing they are having more specials like $ 1 devil bites on Thursday or something (I forgot), which are pretty good and worth it!
I come here so often I don’t know how many times I’ve been here.
I always liked that they had a big screen, especially for Shark games and UFC fights.
**you can order beer in a gallon too** =)
I’m giving it 4 stars now.