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Guests can choose their heat level for chicken sandwiches, tenders or “Code Bites.” Heat level options range from country, mild and medium, to hot and code breaker (eat at your own risk).

Items can be purchased as a combo with a choice of a side and drink, or individually.

Sides include french fries, cheese fries, mac and cheese or vinegar slaw. For dessert, there’s banana pudding, chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies.

The most popular item is The Sando, according to Brandi.

A boneless chicken breast is breaded with a special blend that’s made in-house daily, and then it’s fried in 100 percent refined peanut oil.

Afterwards, the chicken is dipped in a spiced oil bath, covered in a dry rub of spices, and placed on a toasted brioche bun, similar to a traditional Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich.

A vinegar-based slaw and pickles are nestled on top to provide a crunchy, acidic balance to the chicken.

“Comeback Sauce” is the finishing touch for The Sando. Brandi described it as a sweet, savory dipping sauce that’s a southern staple.

There is also a classic chicken sandwich and a hot honey chicken sandwich, both of which come on a potato bun.

There are three-piece tenders with the choice to add more, and eight-piece Code Bites.

The “Naughty Neighbor” is essentially The Sando ingredients without the bread, but with french fries inluded, in a bowl.

Those looking for some greens can find it in the “Green Bird,” which features kale, shaved carrots and red cabbage topped with Code Bites and served with apple cider vinaigrette on the side.

“Birdcode is absolutely, 100 percent about customer service and food quality. Those are the two things we mainly focus on, which is why we take pride in making about 90 percent of our menu items from scratch,” Brandi said, adding that the bread comes from a local bakery.

“We have a very specific menu because what we want to do is we want to do chicken sandwiches and hot chicken, specifically, the best that we can possibly do it.”

Some family recipes, like the vinegar slaw, were incorporated into the Birdcode menu, Brandi said.

The interior space has about 50 seats, and a huge splash of color and artistic detail thanks to Connecticut muralist Corey Pane.

Brandi and Phil have years of experience in the food industry as Ben & Jerry’s franchisees. They owned several locations in Connecticut and New York for almost a decade, and also operated a large catering business.

In 2018, the Killorans divested the Ben & Jerry’s locations and took some time off in search of their next venture.

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“My husband’s passion since he was 15 years old working at McDonald’s has always been to own his own restaurant,” Brandi said.

After traveling around the country, the Killorans fell in love with hot chicken.

“I’m originally from the south, so a lot of that really resonates with me. It’s really the food I ate growing up as a child,” Brandi said. “We really kind of looked all over for something new and interesting that wasn’t currently in the West Hartford community. When we got home, we said, ‘Let’s just do it ourselves.'”

Now Birdcode is spreading its wings, with more locations planned in 2024 in Canton, New Britain and Vernon.

Vernon will be the company’s first franchise location.

For more on Birdcode and to order online, check out their website. You can also follow them on Instagram.

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