Fried fish & chicken is a State College restaurateur’s latest venture. Here’s the menu
One of Centre County’s most prolific business owners has yet another restaurant in State College.
Fried chicken and fish restaurant Cluck & Catch opened Monday at 536 Westerly Parkway, co-owner Hitham Hiyajneh said. The site was previously home to My My Chicken, which closed in early 2020.
Hiyajneh said Cluck & Catch offers a menu that’s hard to come by in the Centre County area. The restaurant sold out of a few items in its first day of operation — a sign of good things to come, he said.
“I love fried chicken, but one of the only options I have is [Kentucky Fried Chicken]. We don’t have a fried fish place in this town,” Hiyajneh said. He estimated fish accounted for about 90% of the restaurant’s first day of sales, while chicken made up about 10%.
“A lot of people figure, ‘Oh, you can get chicken somewhere else,’” Hiyajneh said.
As diners might expect, Cluck & Catch’s menu features a wide range of chicken and fish options, including chicken wings, legs, breasts and thighs as well as flounder, haddock, cod, tilapia and snapper. Guests can order larger meals — full plates of fried fish or half or whole fried or roasted chicken — that come with two sides, ranging from white rice and black beans to macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, French fries and a house salad.
A few sandwiches are on the menu, including shrimp po’boys, fish fillet sandwiches and Tennessee-style hot chicken sandwiches. Chicken is available as country-seasoned, medium, hot and extra-hot with sauces including barbecue, garlic Parmesan, mango habanero and honey garlic.
Fish plates range in price from $15 to $35 depending on the type of fish and the number of pieces included, while half or whole fried or roasted chickens fetch $17.50 and $24.50, respectively, alongside two side dishes. Those feeding a crowd can opt for a family pack of fish, which includes 10 fillets, five orders of French fries and five side dishes. A flounder family pack starts at $115, while cod is up to $131.
“Some people came through yesterday and said our prices were a bit high, and I said, ‘Yeah, but we’re doing everything fresh,’” Hiyajneh said. “We don’t buy frozen fish, and we try to make everything from scratch. Someone from Weis came through yesterday and said this was the best fish and chips she’d eaten in her life.”
Cluck & Catch will staff between eight and 10 employees, Hiyajneh estimated. He credited his team for making his latest venture possible.
“After yesterday, I felt like I needed to take a vacation,” the co-owner said. “I have really great people behind me, and all the credit doesn’t belong to me.”
Cluck & Catch is scheduled to be open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hiyajneh said those hours could stretch later into the night or even the early morning if the restaurant sees demand remain high.
“I like opening things I can’t find here. I sometimes think we have too many restaurants here in State College. After these ventures, I’m not sure I’m going to do anything for a while and instead try to focus on growing our existing businesses.”
Hiyajneh is working to open another restaurant, Silk Road, next to Cluck & Catch in the Westerly Parkway shopping mall. It will break from his typical fast-casual restaurants like Yallah Taco, Pita Cabana and the recently opened Yallah Chicken & Tacos and instead offer an international buffet.
Hiyajney expects Silk Road to open sometime in early 2025 after the holiday season wraps up and workers can finish some cosmetic work on the space.
“I like opening things I can’t find here,” he said. “I sometimes think we have too many restaurants here in State College. After these ventures, I’m not sure I’m going to do anything for a while and instead try to focus on growing our existing businesses.”
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