Bryce S.
Yelp
A food truck appeared on a street corner near me seemingly out of nowhere. I have no idea how long it has been there, as I've been inside during the pandemic. I barely leave the house to grocery shop. A small field trip to their website shows that this will become a real restaurant soon. It's walking distance from where I live, and it specializes in chicken. Ethically raised chicken.
Fried chicken? Stones throw from me? Trying to build a NEW restaurant mid pandemic? I'm all in.
Red flags. A lot of them. I haven't taken a bite of food yet as I type this. The plan is to tell you the experience thus far, then tell you if it was worth it based on the food.
$10 for 4 tenders ($6 for 2). $16 for a rotisserie chicken (10 for 1/2). $5 for waffle fries. $3 for a Raspberry Pastry. Lots of sandwiches, including a Bologna sandwich at $11(!!). At these prices, this better be the best chicken I've ever had, in the top 10 best fries I've ever had, or at bare minimum an obnoxiously large quantity of each. Well, quantity is out, these tenders might be the smallest I've ever seen. The quantity of fries was fine, but that pastry was tiny. $3 for a 3in by 1.5in circular bun, I'm not happy so far. The pastry was in the same container as the chicken, so one of my tenders is absolutely doused in powdered sugar.
I've worked on a food truck, and in a few other kitchens. The frycook was talking on his cell phone, and texting above the fryer. No gloves, and I couldn't see their hand washing station. If I had been caught doing that by a health inspector, I'd have been flogged. I'll go a step further there, I HAVE been caught doing that, and I was summarily flogged.
Maybe these prices are to help support the standalone restaurant. Maybe you need to charge this much to keep employees alive during limited business. Maybe the sanitation standards are a kink that will work out as this place expands and grows. All forgivable if the food is amazing. Let's take a bite.
The fries are pretty good. Not much else to say on these, they're fine. I'd get them again, hopefully much cheaper.
The pastry went to my girlfriend, she said it was delicious. I had a bite, it was in fact pretty good. Raspberry filling tasted home made, not too sweet. The bun was Beignet like, very soft and satisfying. I'd happily eat a few more of those, and I can see myself craving them in the near future.
Girlfriend: "It was fried really nicely, outside was browned and crisp. The inside was airy, and cooked all the way through. Filling was unstrained curd style, as opposed to jam. Really let the raspberry shine through. Delicious"
The tenders are really really good. Lots of flavor to the chicken itself. I can't tell if it was marinated in some way, but if it isn't I want this kind of chicken for every recipe I make from now on. Breading is pretty close to perfectly crispy. Perfect saltiness. My only complaint is the sauce. I opted for "white bbq", as I had no idea what it was. Turns out, it's somewhere between Ranch and Mayo. Had a pickle juice flavor, fairly mild. I wish i'd gone for hot maple, and if I go again I'll try that. Is it worth $10 for 4 of these? I don't think so, but maybe as a rare treat. Certainly makes me excited to try a whole chicken.
All in all, i'll come back again. There's a whole lot of room for improvement, and I certainly wouldn't if it wasn't so close. Good luck Fare Game, I'm keeping an eye out.
I'm going 3.5 stars here, I think it's closer to a 3 than a 4. Quality of the food was great, but the prices were exorbitant. If they stay expensive after Covid ends, avoid.
Girlfriend: "I want to give them 4 stars. Northeast is getting pretty gentrified, but even with that, not everyone wants to pay $10 for chicken tenders. I want to believe that their current prices reflect operating margins, and as the business grows their fare might become more affordable to more of our community."
