It’s pretty amazing that I’ve lived in Los Angeles for over a year and a half and I haven’t yet stepped foot inside one of the city’s most-famous eateries. I’m not talking about In-N-Out Burger, or Muso & Frank’s, or even The Ivy. I’m talking about Roscoe’s House Of Chicken ‘N Waffles. The soul food restaurant chain started by a Harlem native in 1976 is probably the single most common eatery referenced by friends and family when they ask about my life in Los Angeles. I don’t know why, but apparently it’s really well known. My inability to visit one of the five LA-area locations in twenty months is kind of pathetic. I put my foot down and decided that after work today I was going to treat Nicci to a dinner of chicken and waffles.
We decided to visit the Pasadena location, because it is close enough to Echo Park and because one of my co-workers admitted that it was here favorite location. The same co-worker recommended ordering the Carol C. Special (#13), because it consists of one waffle and one chicken breast, which leaves plenty of room for some of the tasty side dishes. I was told to order smothered potatoes with gravy, mac & cheese and collared greens. I decided that was too much food, so I just ordered a side of mac & cheese.
There were not many customers eating dinner when we entered the restaurant on Lake Ave. shortly after 8:00pm. There were maybe three tables full in the front room, and three tables full in the back room. We were seated in the back room. Nicci immediately noticed that every wall surface was covered with fresh photographs of President Obama. You can clearly see two of them in this photograph, which are book-ending a table packed with hungry Roscoe’s diners.
The service was good and swift. Our waiter Mario forgot my soda order and needed a quick reminder, but other than that he was courteous, and the food arrived piping hot in good time. Nicci ordered a dinner salad to start, but was disappointed to discover that it consisted of lettuce, tomato, celery, and green peppers. She doesn’t like celery or green peppers in a salad, so she had to spend a few minutes picking things out of the bowl. Our waffles came topped with a large scoop of butter. The fried chicken breast appeared golden delicious. The mac & cheese looked baked and not out of a box! I tasted the side dish first and was quite pleased. Then I smeared the butter all over my waffle, and topped the waffle and chicken with a serving of syrup.
It was all really tasty. The chicken was meaty, super-hot and delicious. The syrup — which is a condiment I would never consider mixing with chicken — added a perfect flavor to the meat. Very sweet and yummy. The waffle was obviously really good. I was expecting more of a belgian-waffle-style waffle, very large and fluffy, but it was not very dense. I sort of wished for a boneless chicken breast so that I could wrap it up in a waffle like a makeshift burrito or something, and eat everything together, but I was happy just to be eating such good comfort food. I guess the biggest dilemma one faces when eating at Roscoe’s is whether to mix together everything that’s on your plate into one heaping pile of goodness, or eat each item separately.
Overall, I was very satisfied with my first Roscoe’s House Of Chicken ‘N Waffles experience. I was pleased by the cleanliness (which is very important to a germaphobe like me), the service, and definitely the food. I don’t know what took me so long to drive to Roscoe’s, but I’m sure it won’t be another 20 months until I return. If you love unhealthy food and you hate worrying about what you look like whenever you see yourself naked in a mirror…you too can enjoy a dinner of fried chicken and waffles.
Akimbo – Bruder Vansant
LITE – Contra
Donald Byrd – Cute
Jacaszek – Lament
Jens – Passing Song
