I am in awe, and greatly appreciative, of your reporting @Chowseeker1999.
I hope you won’t be offended if I suggest that you may be overly sensitive (as many Americans – needlessly – are) about “rare” chicken. Many of the pictures you have called raw/under-cooked do not appear to be so to me. A little pink is not raw or under-cooked at all. In fact, going further will often dry it out. You are not going to get salmonella from the chickens you have chickened out of eating.
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I don’t really eat fried chicken, but it’s so interesting that the only chicken in your photos that doesn’t look horribly greasy and/or doughy is Howlin’ Ray’s. I guess those accolades are fairly earned. 
Is the naked chicken at Neal Fraser’s place not dipped in flour or corn starch before frying? That’s a Cooking 101 lesson.
Hi @CiaoBob,
Thanks. Oh not at all, thanks for the thoughts on this. I would agree with you, but I guess I’m scared by the sourcing. I know places like Honeybird uses an Organic Chicken. Raku uses a Free-Range, Asajime Chicken (dispatched same day locally). And Howlin’ Ray’s also with their Free-Range Chickens.
For Fritzi Coop, I had no idea where they source from or how fresh the Chicken was, so I tend to play it safer I guess.
I’ve tried rarer Yakitori once from a place in the South Bay and we were fine, but they also told us they used fresh, Free-Range, Jidori Chickens.
But I’ll try and not think about that as much if I see it next time. Thanks.
Hi @Bookwich,
I’m not sure, but from the looks of the skin closeup, I don’t see anything. Pretty sure it’s just the chicken as is.
You’re doing gods work.
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If you want to try an excellent version of naked fried chicken, visit OB Bear in Koreatown. I think they do the best version of Korean Tong Dak. Prince is the other famous Tong Dak spot, but I think OB is better.
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Thanks @tailbacku.
I have it bookmarked for a while, but whenever we end up in K-Town, we end up trying a bunch of other places first, and it always gets bumped. 
But I’ll definitely have to try it soon.
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I really like their housemade grapefruit soda. Did I mention how good their grapefruit soda is?
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Don’t forget their bottled water! That’s clean-tasting, and water-forward. 
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Chan Chan in Irvine has some good fried chicken. Really crispy and the sauces are hot but tasty.
Wow i had a three course chicken and waffle brunch at ad hoc that was cheaper and came with more chicken. Thanks for taking another one for the team @Chowseeker1999.
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This looks and sounds EXACTLY like my horrible (and last) experience with the Sunday fried chicken at Superba a while back. The rack lines are a red flag signaling fried chicken sadness.
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Hi @Chowseeker1999 -
Good work 
! The things you notice!
I’m bummed about Stevie’s Fried Chicken being too salty. I hope you said something. It is one of the things I like about it. That is really careless of them. But question (not facetious): In what way can it be crunchy & not crispy? Oh and I do not like those tired red beans either… Sorry Stevie.
That’s crazy about the price of the Chicken & Waffle at Bouchon. Yes, the dinner is a much better price with sides & cornbread. I also agree that it does lack a certain crispness. Love a good French Omelette though.
The Fritzi Coop disaster makes me doubly irritated and perplexed that it replaced their delicious Fritzi Dog at the Farmers Market. Those Gravy Fries look pretty good though.
Too bad about Jar’s Fried Chicken. Have you had their Pot Roast?
So, I’m going to try for Fresh Howlin’ Ray’s once again! My cousin and I have a Flower Mart mission in the next few days. Wish me luck. The Country Level looks like my style 
.
Happy Fried Chicken Eating!
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At this point it seems like Chef Zone should start teaching master classes to other chef in LA.
It’s crazy that there is no other good fried chicken in the city.
But, then again, the only place I really ever eat fried chicken is Howlin’ Rays anyway…
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Hi @TheCookie,
Thanks. 
For Stevie’s Creole, we didn’t mention anything to the staff. They’re far too nice and we didn’t want to make a big fuss. But if it wasn’t for that salt mixup, I think they have very solid Fried Chicken (like our first visit), so I still wanna go back and try them again.
For your question about crunchy but not crispy, the extreme case is like a thick Buttermilk Batter. The Fried Chicken we had at Red Herring was the worst offender in this category: Super thick, dense Buttermilk Batter, so when you bit into the Fried Chicken all you got was a super “Crunch!” “Crunch!” texture, but it wasn’t light and crispy at all. I was worried it might chip my tooth! 
For Stevie’s on this second visit, while they don’t use Buttermilk, for some reason this time it was mainly just a crunchy texture (which was nice (nothing extreme like Red Herring)), but it didn’t have any of the light crispiness like you have at Howlin’ Ray’s or even the first visit to Stevie’s. Maybe it was whoever was working the kitchen that day applying too much better or the mixture was off? But either way, it’s a delightful little neighborhood spot and I want to give them another try because our 1st visit was pretty great. Thanks again!
For Bouchon Bistro, yah, that Brunch price is extreme. Oh and to make matters worse, maybe it was just our waiter, but when we asked for “filtered tap water” to start, he brings out their filtered water (from the tap) and they charged us $7 for it with no mention or warning. 
We might as well have ordered San Pelligrino or something.
The taste of the Fried Chicken there was solid though, so thanks for the recommendation. Just the price might be too extreme for regular visits for some.
Jar: Yah, we’ve tried their Pot Roast before, thanks! It was maybe 3 years ago? I remember it being good.
Howlin’ Ray’s - Eating it fresh at the restaurant: Nice! I’m so excited for you to try it in person at the restaurant, LOL. 
Some tips:
Try and go early before they open. We’ve found that if we show up by 10 - 10:15 a.m. before they open, it’s much more manageable than the rest of the day. It’s worth it.
If you have enough people with you, you can tag team with your group, so some of you wander around the plaza, while the rest of the people hold your place in line, and you can switch off. Makes you pass the time quickly.
Be sure to let us know how the visit goes.
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Hi @Aesthete,
I agree, it is crazy and other restaurants that want to be serious about fried chicken should look at what Chef Zone does.
Hi @Chowseeker1999 -
Oh okay, I get the crunchy vs. crispy now. The buttermilk can definitely be too crunch, crunch. The light crispiness is what I like about Stevie’s. I wouldn’t compare their chicken to Howlin’ Ray’s though. It’s not fair, haha.
We were curious and had some Stevie’s fried chicken last night. Here it goes: It still had the light crispness I like. While not overwhelming like your unfortunate batch, it was definitely saltier. It also had a smokey seasoning that wasn’t there before. Sorry to say, it was over-cooked. The breast meat and the wings were a little dry. It’s still a good fried chicken though.
Like previously written, I am not comparing it to other specialty or gourmet fried chicken. Stevie’s fried chicken is not outstanding. That’s kinda’ what I liked though. It has the simplicity of good, southern fried chicken; not Nashville Hot, Cajun, Korean, Buttermilk, etc. I love those for what they are (obviously, I started a whole thread). But Stevie’s reminded me of a simple, southern fried chicken, cooked on an old stove in a cast iron skillet. If they get careless with this formula it ruins what makes it so good.
I totally understand you didn’t want to make waves; especially since it is a small place and complaining would attract the attention of other patrons 
. Plus they are really nice. But since I live in the neighborhood and want it to succeed, I am going to shoot them a private Yelp message.
I am so not suprised about the water thing at Bouchon. I’ve been skewered on FTC for saying this. But I find the service not bad, but definitely hit or miss.
You’re scaring me all over again about Howlin’ Ray’s wait time. It will only be the two of us. But we’ll give it a try. We’ll go early like you suggest. Wish us luck.
Happy Fried Chicken Eating!
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Hi @TheCookie,
Thanks for the report back on yesterday’s visit with Stevie’s. Good to know. I think we might just mention it to them next time we go back (about the salt levels).
And I totally agree with you! We like Stevie’s also because it’s got that classic taste (our first visit reminded me of Pann’s delectable, solid Fried Chicken). If the salt level wasn’t off on this 2nd visit, it would’ve been spot-on. I’m still pulling for the place.
For Howlin’ Ray’s, no no! Just offering you some ways to save time and not get frustrated / shocked if you see a line that early. 
Oh and try their Collard Greens as well, delicious!
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You’ve been skewered for complaining about Bouchon’s service or about the filtered tap? Perhaps someone will provide a compelling reason to explain othewise, but I think I’d be really peeved if I got charged $7 for a bottle of filtered tap water.
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