James A.
Yelp
Great service and atmosphere, surprisingly mediocre chicken at high prices, this time.
Been to this location of Roscoe's before, which is the original location, founded in 1975. It is famous for their combo southern style fried chicken and waffles. We were pulled to this area near Alamitos by an event on a Sunday morning, and wanted to eat something before we walked back. My wife hadn't eaten here before, so I wanted her to experience it.
We were greeted warmly by the hostess and immediately seated in a nice booth. Natalia, our server, came by soon after and took our order. She was wonderful the entire time, and a nice young man (who seemed to be the manager) stopped by multiple times to ask about our visit. Even paying was well organized, where the check is delivered to the table at the exact right moment, and you pay at the front as you leave.
We decided to split a #4 (Herb's special gravy and onions), which is half of a chicken and two waffles for $29.99. My wife also ordered a freshly squeezed lemonade for $5.95, and I got water. The drink came first and it was fine, definitely freshly made...but with no refills, not sure if the price is right. The meal came next, and we were brought two plates with a waffle a piece, each with a scoop of whipped butter and syrup on the side. Both of us really liked the waffles....it was not the fluffy, thick sort, but instead was thinner so easier to cut with a fork and just the right amount. There were 5 pieces of chicken (so the kitchen gave us an extra drumstick). It was hot and crispy, but the breading was bland and didn't have any of the crinkles and crispies that I love. It was a very neatly made, uniform pieces of chicken. The pieces were large, but for me, wasn't any better than the fried chicken you can get next door at Von's when it is fresh. I've come to like dipping my chicken in brown gravy on my fried chicken (first tried it at Jollybee), and this really helped on the white meat pieces (it was very dry, which isn't unusual). I would question if it had been brined long enough. And there were no onions (never had this before so not sure if it comes in the gravy or on the side).
One thing I noticed about improperly prepared fried chicken is that it is often very greasy/oily and sitting under a heat lamp too long...KFC does it so often that when you get a really good batch from them, it can be shocking. This wasn't the case here, so not sure what is going on. I've also had 'broasted' chicken (deep fried in a pressure cooker) from the Midwest, and that technique would have helped immensely here. But it's also true that every culture's fried chicken has a presence in LA, which has really upped the game...this version from Roscoe can't compare and seems to be from a different time when they were one of the only game in town.