Hy's Fried in Egremont: Hallucinatory Chicken Shack, Dance Club, and Future National Chain
The chicken at Hy's Fried is driving people crazy. More than a restaurant, it way be about to take over the country.
All Photos courtasy of Hy's Fried
Along a wooded stretch of Route 23 in South Egremont, Hy’s Fried appears like a vivid white and red mirage. Inside, more red everywhere, the interior is a stylized throwback to the long-abandoned building’s 20th century roadhouse roots, but now it’s supercharged with style, gluten-free fried chicken, and raucous dance parties. Now, owner Jack Luber is planning to turn Hy’s into a national franchise.
“I wanted to create this wormhole,” Luber says. “Kind of like an Alice in Wonderland thing. Deer Hunter meets Wes Anderson.” The vision is realized with moody lighting and eclectic design choices. “It’s definitely got an eerie, very bizarre aesthetic, and I manipulated that when I renovated the building.”
Method Behind the Madness
Luber has long had his hands in hospitality. Before Hy’s Fried, he ran Frankie Jackson’s Soul Kitchen, an edgy restaurant and nightclub in New York City, and he hails from a family experienced in food and beverage. But stepping back into the industry after a long hiatus, he wanted a concept that was simple, scalable, and high quality.
The result is a tight, thoughtful menu where signature fried chicken is the star. “The bird is hormone-free, free-range,” Luber explains. “We buy them whole, break them down, brine them for six hours. Then we toss it in a hot honey sambal—it’s really more sweet than hot. Kind of addictive.” The crisp exterior and juicy interior create a balance that’s reminiscent of both Southern and Korean fried chicken, a happy medium that has quickly earned the restaurant accolades, including from you! Hy’s won the Rural Intelligence Reader’s Choice Best Fried Chicken Award last year, shortly after opening.
And for those who avoid gluten, Hy’s Fried is becoming a destination. “Everything in our restaurant except the waffles and biscuits [and a desert] is gluten-free,” Luber says. “The fried chicken? Gluten-free. The sides—potato salad, coleslaw, greens, cauliflower, dumpling soup—all gluten-free.” The use of tapioca and rice flour gives the chicken its crispness without sacrificing texture or flavor.
A Community Hub and Club
But it’s not just about the food. Hy’s Fried has cultivated a scene. On weekends, the space transforms into a lively hub with DJ nights, dance parties, and themed events. “I put a really nice sound system in the building for vinyl DJing,” says Luber, who also owns a successful Long Island construction company and moved from Hawaii to the Berkshires three years ago with supermodel wife Leilani Bishop and their son. “Since August, every Friday and Saturday night, we’ve programmed dancing. We do bingo once a week. And once a month, we have a really nice community party for the gay community called Hy T.”
The location—seemingly remote but actually central to a number of neighboring communities—has proven to be a strategic advantage. “We’re getting people from Woodstock, Kingston, Hudson, Albany, Troy,” Luber notes. “And then a lot of Brooklyn. It’s the craziest demographic of people coming up to eat our food and party.”
But what’s with the name? “Hy was my grandfather’s prizefighting cock from Brooklyn,” Luber shares. “He [the rooster] died the year I was born, in ’64. There’s a beautiful homage to him over the fireplace—a portrait in a gold-leaf frame.”
The playful, layered meaning of the name extends to the overall ethos of the restaurant. “Everyone comes in and asks, ‘Are you high?’” Luber laughs, since he may very well be. “And I just point to the portrait and say, ‘That’s Hy right up there.’”
Taking the Show on the Road
With just six months under its belt, Hy’s Fried has already garnered high praise—including a “Best New Restaurant” win from Tasting Table and mentions in the New York Times. For Luber, the success isn’t just in awards but in the organic energy the space has generated.
Looking ahead, there are plans to expand—both at home, with an outdoor seating addition this spring, and beyond, with new locations being actively planned in cities like Portland, Maine, and Burlington, Vermont, and Austin, Texas. “We’re moving really quickly,” he says. “The idea is to franchise. The markets we’re looking at need something better than fast food.”
But no matter how big Hy’s Fried grows, its first home in South Egremont will remain the original, the experimental ground zero for a concept built on food, music, and an unmistakable sense of place. “It’s a Field of Dreams thing,” Luber says. “Build it, and they’ll come.”
