Vons Chicken Isla Vista

Vons Chicken Isla Vista is a decent chain for groups on a budget (<10$ per person if you are sharing). There are plenty of seats both indoors and outside and food comes out in about 10-15 minutes. We ordered a full order with half "Honey Butter" and half "Soy Garlic". The "Honey Butter" adds a slight sweetness to the chicken. The fry for both chickens were good, but needed a bit more salt. This location doesn't have self-serve water or public restrooms. Service was really friendly. I would come here if I was eating on a budget and craving decent chicken.

Delicious Korean-style fried chicken. As they opened recently, they seem to have limited things on the menu (no oven chicken) but the crispy chicken and yangnyeom chicken we had were great - the spicy options are pretty spicy! The atmosphere is very casual and plastic gloves are provided in place of utensils. Would love to have the option for a cold beer to complete the classic "chi-mek" (chicken-beer) combo

Very solid Korean fried chicken place in the region. Good flavors, fair prices, well sauced, and crispy chicken. Definitely my choice of fried chicken in IV since all there is in Goleta is a KFC.

I ordered two chicken meals, and an extra pickled radish. They only gave me one tiny container with 5 pieces of raidsh (they got even smaller since they first opened). I called the store and asked for a refund on the radish, since they forgot to give it to me. The guy said he'd leave a note to his manager. They never ended up giving me the refund. Radish is pretty cheap. Out of all the things to skimp out on, why this? Update: I gave this place a few more chances but I won't be coming here again. Quality has gone down since opening. Cooking is inconsistent - chicken is sometimes overcooked and dry. They've been skimping out on seasoning. Last time, I got the honey butter chicken, and there was almost no seasoning on most pieces.

I ordered the chicken sandwich with fries and it was delicious and fresh. The staff were also kind and went above & beyond. Definitely recommend if you want some great chicken!

Used to be good, now terrible. Last year, this place was the best food in IV. Messed up my (very simple) order twice in a row. Chicken was dangerously uncooked, to say nothing of any other part of the terrible quality.

The food was good however the one person working the front is out of his league. I called in my order and he told me it would be 10-15 minutes. I got there 20 minutes after I placed the call and still waited another 25 minutes at the store. After I checked in and paid he told me he would call me when my food was ready. I saw it sitting there for at least 5 minutes before he figured out it was my order, even though I was the last one standing in front waiting. I basically had to ask him to pack it up for me before he remembered I was already there l.

The Korean fried chicken is crispy and flavorful I had the boneless wings and enjoyed them. This place easily compares to the fried chicken found in Korea.

:::CHRIS OH, Please help!...and thanks for the yummy!:)::: We came here because we are SUPER FOODIES and are big fans of Super Chef Chris Oh, who evidently owns this restaurant in IV (according to his Instagram post). We are BIG fans of Chris and had high hopes for the food. We ordered a selection of boneless wings (regular, garlic, cheddar, and Gochujang). We didn't know what portion sizes would come after picking up. Therefore, I was so surprised and delighted that you really get a ton of food for a reasonable price, and we have more than enough for several days! -That was so refreshing, since portion sizes have shrunk so much lately almost everywhere. I would definitely come back here again, but am listing the pros and cons below as help to this business and patrons. The interior decor is just flat out HORRIBLE...old, decrepit, outdated and disheveled. It's not enticing and needs a good makeover. I would hope that since Chris Oh saw so much potential in taking over this place from its prior "life", that maybe he would consider taking some of his money and remodeling? -They say you eat first with your EYES first....and that can mean being turned away by the look of a place too, not just it's food. I would hate for others to judge this place on only its aesthetic without trying the amazing food and I fear that happens more than once. Please help, Chris! It's a small place, so hopefully a little remodel won't cost much?! Pros: CHEF CHRIS OH owns...Super chef. Korean food master....Acclaimed food genius! ....The chicken is so moist and of the highest quality. It's not that typical dried out white chicken. You get generous portions and there is a selection of super enticing Korean inspired sauces to chose from. The sauces are perfectly balanced and not too salty, which has always been my big "beef" at "Wing Stop." The person who answered the phone was so nice and helpful. The employees seem nice and loving their job. The food is delicious! Cons: It's Isla Vista (a Santa Barbara college town, so the area gets crazy busy when class is in session). Parking can be challenging (but that's Isla Vista for you). The restaurant's interior is not at all appealing to the eye. It doesn't seem to be the caliber of restaurant that us befitting it's owner's acclaim.

Best fried chicken in IV, gotten me through many nights where I didn't want to eat DLG anymore. Comparable to other Vons in the bay and get boneless for more value. Comes out to about the same price as Wingstop but is a hundred times better. I always get soy garlic with some yangnuym sauce on the side. Tldr: don't go Wingstop, GO HERE

Updated Review! Wednesdays Special - $5 chicken sandwich. The cashier Jimmy was super insightful on what to order and he was accommodating for all of our needs. He gave us napkins, extra sauce, and got some to-go bags ready for us!! We told him we would be back. It's not a huge place, pretty small but it's cute inside with a lot of wall decor and some seating arrangements. I will say the honey butter fries were too sweet, they literally have powdered sugar which I wasn't a big fan of. I prefer the regular fries next time. Great experience and don't forget they do have a BOGO deal if you sign up with their membership rewards program.

This place is CLOSED and there is a FOR RENT sign on the door. So, no food, no service and no ambience.

The taste is okay. However, it seems like the owner doesn't care at all about this restaurant. First, I ordered coleslaw, but it was spoiled. I told the kitchen staff, and they admitted it was spoiled too. They offered to give me something else, so I asked for pickled radish. They gave me one small container and said there was no more. Second, I tried to order the chicken flavor I wanted, but they said they didn't have the ingredients, so I couldn't order it. Third, the water container at the counter looked very old and was covered in dust, making me doubt if the water was safe to drink. Fourth, the corners of the restaurant floor were filled with old dust. The restroom had mold everywhere, and it was filled with the smell of mold and sewage. Although there are no other competing fried chicken places in the neighborhood, so business might be good, the owner should still pay more attention to maintaining a fresh and clean restaurant out of professional integrity. I live in LA and have visited many fried chicken places. In LA, there is so much competition that they pay attention to various aspects. However, this restaurant seems to take customers for granted because there are no competitors, and they don't seem to be making any improvements.

Vons is a chain of Korean fried chicken restaurants and the food is always really solid and reasonably priced! We ordered some chicken and tteokbokki for delivery (DoorDash) and everything came quickly and was piping hot. The chicken was still incredibly crispy and the sauce was delicious - a little sweet, a little garlicky, and spicy. So good! The tteokbokki was pretty good as well - I think they may have pan fried (or deep fried?) the tteokbokki before tossing it in the sauce because they had a little crispness to them, which gave a nice textural contrast to what is otherwise a soft, chewy ricecake. The sauce was nice and spicy too - really good! The only downside is that they didn't include any utensils and it's a bit hard to eat tteokbokki without chopsticks or at least a fork. Perhaps we missed it as an option when ordering?

Most people order takeout or delivery for this spot, but we decided to dine in. It's very bare bones when it comes to service or having a nice dine in experience, which I understand but it makes me as a local not want to dine with them. To start, they won't even offer tap water in cups for you. You have to buy a bottled drink. When we ordered and we were right in front of the cashier mentioning wings, she heard us but then when ordering, they were sold out of it. Okay... We sat with a table of 3, but a full order will only give you 2 coleslaws and two tiny 2oz containers of radish that aren't even full. Anything more for those is $1-2 extra.. the previous owners were not stingy about that and would provide extras if asked. We get a big container of fries but only 3 tiny ketchup packets. Everything is just paper and plastic. One small napkin for us when eating in too. Fries were pretty tasty but I wouldn't get honey butter as it's too sweet and over coated. Chicken was good and crispy but we asked for medium spicy and it wasn't even mildly spicy. When I ordered medium In the past, it was enough to make me salivate and pant. Flavor is good though. Rice was cooked well. Would I come back.. I don't think so. I'll hold onto my Korean fried chicken craving and visit in LA instead. All the food you see here was about $46 or so for 10 pcs of chicken and 2 sides. They do have a pretty good meal deal for $12 though.

Great place to checkout for so crispy chicken. The food was great and they also sell a good variety of snacks to satisfy that sweet tooth.

Best chicken wings with fries!I like the garlic flavor and honey butter! Located in Isla Vista!!

I was craving fried chicken this past week, so I returned to Von's for the same Yangnyeom Chicken. While the chicken was of acceptable quality, I noticed that there was a sharp increase in price and a decline in the accompaniments. Particularly, the rice had notes of low quality unrefinement as well as being slightly undercooked making it unpleasant to consume. Further, the pickled daikon suffers a pungent sharp taste that is easy to produce from pickling daikon, which was not present in previous orders. Given the overall busyness of the restaurant and the quality decrease, I am a bit disappointed and update my review to lower one star.

I LOVE Vons Chicken in Isla Vista. I go here every week it's so good. I usually get the padak or yangyum flavor but I wanna try more flavors. The staff are usually very friendly and they're pretty quick when ordering to go. One time when I ordered delivery I didn't get a notification that it was delivered until an hour after we got it. Still, this place is amazing and has some of the best food in IV! Highly recommend.

VONS Chicken is a great place for some Korean fried chicken in IV! The garlic soy fried chicken was absolutely delicious - crispy on the outside and very tender inside. The only downside was that it took a while to come out, so be prepared to wait a bit. I also always get the honey butter fries. They were so crispy and tasty, and I loved the sweet and savory combination. The only thing I would say is that I wish there was more honey butter powder, but you can always ask for more!

The chicken so good I considered moving to IV just to experience this everyday. Oh, how could I ever abandon you Von's. I love your chicken so so so so so so so so so much. I dream of you. Please write back soon. Miss you.

Super friendly workers! The chicken was pretty good, but could use a little bit more flavor.

Great chicken! Highly recommended this place! The sauces and prices are amazing. If you are in the Santa Barbara area go here it is worth it.

This is the best Chicken wings in IV hands down. The chicken is so juicy and super crispy. I normally get the plain but it has so much flavor. The yangyum sauce is so tasty too! The service is very fast and friendly. The ambiance is not the best if i am being honest but don't let it fool you because the food here is amazing. I keep coming back.

I have been to this restaurant many times. Recommended the spicy garlic flavor and the Yangyum flavor.

1000% flavorful fried chicken and all of the flavors are fantastic! K-Town, Honey Garlic, and Palak (Onion) are my favorites. This is a fun place to go with a group and try the different flavors, but they also have specials that are good size meals for one. The order of drumsticks is the most meat for your buck, but the boneless are also a good size. I always get the rice as the side to mix the extra sauce into after eating all the chicken, but they offer fries and slaw, as well. If you want to expand your fried chicken experience, come here!

Service was excellent. Chauncey was extremely friendly and provided in-depth knowledge of the menu. He led to my favorite flavor here, the Buffalo and garlic parm mashup. I will gladly come back here for the stellar customer service.

Best chicken around! Korean fried chicken is the best! And it's decently cheap too. A half box for one person is only $17 which is pretty good in IV. Better tasting and cheaper than Kaijus!

Bro. Some of the best food in IV, the people working are always nice. The only thing I'll say it's their spicy options are HOT. Everything I've gotten has been so flavorful and cooked to perfection. I would normally never choose any "plain" option, but their plain medium is certified gas. Also always enough for two meals or a meal and a perfect midnight munch. 10/10 slept on.

Best Korean fried chicken in isla vista! I got the Yangyum medium half order with all wings.

Super delicious Korean fried chicken! The drumsticks are huge and crispy:) definitely will be coming back.

best fried chicken i've had in IV, nay, probably ever. i find the plain boneless is sorta the best; idk what kinda gentle sauce they drizzle on there but it is perfect prices seem scary but half order is enough for 2 ppl (and if its just u, food is just as scrumptious, if not better, the day after) service is phenomenal; dude with the curly hair has been there every time we've gone and takes the experience from a 10 to an 11 i have and will continue to be recommending vons chicken isla vista to everyone i know

Each meal is packed with lots of yummy chicken. All the flavors are soo good. Alvin's the goat. Love going here!

Love the chicken here. I always come here for good chicken in iv after eating dining hall food all day. Excellent service always with good prices to match. Never go wrong w this chicken place.

I guess things changed since they got new ownership. Their original fried chicken used to be just plain but now plain is actually soy garlic. We got a full order of the soy garlic spicy and full order of red burn spicy all drumsticks. The soy garlic had a slight hint in garlic and soy flavor, would have been better if it was stronger in garlic and as for the spice level it was non existent when I asked for it to be spicy...no point in even asking for spicy to be honest. As for the red burn the flavor is good but definitely not spicy like it used to be before the new ownership, if the name is going to be red burn at least live up to the name when it comes to the spice level. For people who cannot absolutely handle any heat they might think it's spicy but for people like me who eats really spicy it was extremely mild. The pickled radish were sooooo tiny and had a slight plasticky taste to it. In my opinion if you get full order of chicken there should be a bigger sized option for pickled radishes. We also got one order of honey butter french fries and a order cheddar french fries. I'm not a big fan of super sweet and savory so the honey butter fries was not for me. The cheddar fries was slightly sweet but not like the honey butter and my favorite part about the fries were how thick they were, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I liked how piping hot they made all the food. I would still come here when ever I'm craving fried chicken than go to KFC.

I got garlic flavor which wasn't my favorite but the chicken was cooked pretty tenderly. I came in a bit before closing and they were very nice

Service was very quick. Food was yummy. I had never had before and the cashier answered all my questions :)

So yummy! Love the pickled radish. Great service and romantic ambiance :) come here to treat myself every week

The cashiers were really helpful and nice. And every time I've been here the food has been really good. They sometimes even add some extra wings with my order. Also the place is pretty nice and clean.

Very nice fried chickens!!! Came few times!!! And ordered many times. Recommend plain and honey butter favors!

Yummy food! We come by regularly the boneless chicken is so much better than wingstop, huge portions and great flavor! Not expensive either

Such a great find in IV! We got a half order of the medium soy garlic fried chicken which was enough for me and fiancé to share. The breading is so crisp and the flavor didn't disappear was we kept eating. Our order came with a small side of slaw and radishes which was a great palate cleanser. They also give you little plastic gloves to eat with so your fingers don't get sticky. Service was excellent and they added extra wings to our order. There's plenty of seating indoors and outdoors. The outdoor area is shared with the sushi restaurant next door but didn't feel overcrowded. It feels so good to find a good Korean chicken place in the area so we will definitely be coming back.

AWESOME, really good service nice people, chicken tasty, delicious, scrumptious, delicate, flaky

The food is really good, the drumsticks are a favorite for me and a ton of my friends who eat here, they have really convenient specials that always taste good. The service is great too, usually the person taking your order is a chill person to talk to. The ambience is pretty fire too, they always have something cool on on TV and the area always looks nice

I just took the first few bites and started this review lol. The chicken is really good! Juicy and crispy on the outside. I think i got the sweet and sour mild sauce on the boneless wings, the guy recommended that for me and it's great. Exactly what i was looking for and not too spicy. (If you want spicy you can request it to be spicier I just wanted something mild.) The cashier was super nice and helpful and the food came out quick!

It was a good price but all they do is put flavored powder on your food. There is no dipping sauce for chicken or fries.

really nice fried chicken more like friend chicken haha . I really like the ambiance. Great service.

The chicken is delicious and workers are kind. My favorite fried chicken at Isla Vista. Recommend for everyone!

the food here is so good and amazing!!! the staff and service here are also rly nice. i like how the ambience is very welcoming too. definitely go here if you're craving chicken!!

Honestly I've been to other Vons chickens and for some reason it's not as good as this location. This location is clean, the staff is friendly, welcoming, and efficient. My favorite is the honey butter and soy garlic medium, 10/10 would recommend!

A little light on the sauce but fire chicken. Workers were chill and helpful too. Yumyang sauce is good

yummy chicken! and a very convenient location. chicken took about 10 minutes, and provided free radish!!

The chicken here is so flavorful with a lot of options to choose from. The staff is extremely friendly and welcoming. Prices are reasonable for what you get and you can definitely tell that it is freshly made. I will def be coming back to try the other flavors!

Shoutout to Alvin. Great service! Great food. The chicken was super fresh and packed with flavor.

the employees are so sweet and provide fast service and the restaurant is so cute! they also have other cool snacks to purchase!

This place is one of my favorites in IV :) I definitely go way more than I should haha. I'd recommend the honey butter chicken but all of their flavors are pretty yummy. The staff are really friendly and food comes out pretty quick. Make sure to ask for gloves if you do take out :D

so yummy!!! 10/10. would recommend, would try again! the honey butter wings are amazing !