Cwispy Chkn in Stamford: Why We Love These Chicken Sliders +

Fried chicken sliders are a focal point of the menu at Cwispy Chkn and you can keep it plain (with just pickles) or you can get yours sauced with homemade glazes like miso ginger, jalapeño mayo, smoky BBQ, honey mustard, and more.

Fried chicken sandwiches are hot right now. And with no signs of dwindling down anytime soon, places that serve crispy, juicy fried chicken on a bun are popping up all over.

For Cwispy Chkn—which opened in November 2023 in the former Magee’s Curbside in Stamford’s Shippan neighborhood—maybe they’re guilty of riding the fried chicken sandwich wave, but the difference is, they’re doing things their way.

Christopher Tulino (left) and Karsten Kragh (who said he was inspired to cook while enrolled in Stamford High School’s Culinary Pathway program) aim to bring the area a new, fresher, healthier take on fried chicken.

Behind Cwispy Chkn is a pair of friends, Karsten Kragh and Christopher Tulino, who met while attending culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Providence.

Kragh, a Stamford native and Stamford High School graduate, and Tulino, who’s from Rhode Island, stayed in touch post college while they each worked on lines at restaurants in the general area.

In addition to serving these custom milk buns from Norwalk’s Wave Hill Breads, Cwispy Chkn is all about supporting U.S. based businesses and small businesses when it comes to ingredients. They also use Highland Sugarworks Maple Syrup as an accompaniment to their waffles.

It wasn’t until Kragh, who ended up back in Stamford, had an idea, and when paired with the vacant Magee’s location, he only needed his friend to make it come to fruition.

“I was working and living in Williamsburg at the time,” Tulino says. “Karsten called me and asked me if I was happy.”

With Tulino on board, the two had a fast casual idea that wouldn’t be massive, oil saturated fried chicken sandwiches with a pound of coleslaw as a topping. Their sandwiches would be sliders, fried in a healthier avocado oil, and the chicken would be of high quality, specifically Bell & Evans Organic breasts.

KFC has nothing on these hand-cut wedges! Also fried in avocado oil and seasoned with a sprinkle of Hawaiian pink salt. You may occasionally see the wedges dressed up as a poutine special, by the way.

Wedges? Mac & cheese? Or both? Cwispy’s mac has a bit of miso in there for an added savory, toasty, salty-sweetness.

A few desserts include a waffle and these “Cwispy Bites,” a salted caramel pastry that’s much like eating fried mini chunks of bread pudding.

For Kragh, who’s open about his own struggles with high cholesterol, all of this was especially important to find an alternative to chicken that was fried in vegetable, peanut, or other oils that don’t have the health benefits of avocado oil—which include reducing cholesterol, improving heart health, and being rich in antioxidants among many others.

Now with a firm plan in place, they spent a solid couple of years getting the space up to snuff for their chicken concept, getting all the proper licensing, and doing plenty of R&D for about six months to nail down a final fried chicken recipe.

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After many Instagram reels teasing that they were close to an opening date, Cwispy Chkn started slinging sliders, tenders + waffles, hand cut avocado oil fried potato wedges, and more on November 17, 2023.

What you can expect from Cwispy Chkn, though, aren’t just plain pieces of chicken. Being that both Tulino and Kragh are chefs, they’re making every glaze, sauce, and dressing from scratch, with plenty of Asian flavors like their miso-ginger dressing, plus a miso cheese sauce that coats their homemade mac and cheese. And speaking of ingredients, Cwispy stays away from anything artificial to be a little more health conscious as it pertains to fast casual, and they stick to buying products from businesses based in the United States.

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And what they’re not making themselves—like the mini slider buns and waffle mix—they’ve worked on closely with Wave Hill Breads in Norwalk to come up with something they’re thrilled about. The waffles they’re serving either as a solo item or as a pair with two jumbo, juicy tenders, are unique in a way that they’re not only thin and crispy (or CWISPY, if we’re sticking with their theme), they have buttery, flaky layers like a croissant. I asked about it a few times, but much like their chicken breading/batter, they’re keeping mum.

While Cwispy Chkn does lend well to expansion, something Tulino and Kragh are absolutely interested in sometime in the future, right now they’re focused on their flagship. They did tease a possible partnership on a different concept down the road, but much like their secret chicken recipe and waffle mix, this one’s staying locked in the coop for the time being.

72 Magee Avenue, Stamford
cwispychkn.com