Dude with a (real, not spice) goatee? If so, I have to agree. And he’s obviously done a great job of training his staff, too.
What spice level is this?
Chef Zone is the guy dropping the proverbial and literal fried chicken mic.
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His voice is like a booming message from the divine!
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i already had my colon cleansed the day before with luv2eat’s crab curry so i went with the medium chicken sandwich.
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Hi @Bigmouth,
Awesome! 
Great report back. I’m so glad you liked Howlin’ Ray’s.
Yes, Chef Zone is friendly, genuinely interested in the customer’s enjoyment of the food.
Reading your report back, I’m now craving some Howlin’ Fried Chicken right now! Darn you, LOL. 
Lastly, the jump in spice level to level 4 is pretty substantial so be careful. 
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Exactly. Went for the first time this weekend, and sweet child of mine I can’t stop thinking about it. It was insane. We got the Country White Breast/Wing and Mild Sandwich. That damned sandwich is America.
And you’re spot on with the service. It’s such a happy place. They gave us a whole box of fries and a bunch of extra pickles just because. Wonderful operation they have going on there. No wonder @Chowseeker1999 goes every day.
Thanks to all the FTC pioneers who went before and returned with gifts of hype. Your claims are not unfounded.
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Hi @President_Mochi,
Awesome!
So glad you also had great Fried Chicken at Howlin’ Ray’s.
And the great customer service and warm hospitality just adds to it.
What market sides did they offer yesterday?
I believe they only had one that day, and it was Creamy Potato Salad (pictured below bottom right). Sorry I don’t have a picture of it out of the container, but I thought it was a good potato salad. There were nice big chunks of potato. I thought the fries were OK too, but I can’t complain, because what kind of monster would complain about free fries?
I also saw that they had a pork sandwich special… I don’t know why anyone would opt against the chicken sandwich, but I am curious about how good any other offerings would be.
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I’m glad you mentioned the pickles because they provide the perfect hit of acidity while you’re eating all that deep fried goodness. I’m very picky about my pickles and these were on point. Does anyone know their source?
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Showed up at Howlin’ Ray’s at 1030 (Saturday) on this 4th of July weekend. The line was already 20-deep. First-in-liners must have been here at 1000. By 1100, it was about 80-deep 
. So glad I went “early.” Being 21st in line equated to a 20-25 minute wait to order, another 10-15 minutes to fulfill it.
We ordered a leg/thigh - Country (no heat), another leg /thigh -Mild, wings - Medium, and Skinny Jimmy boneless breast - Hot. Chef Zone threw in an extra wing, two watermelon salads, comeback sauce and extra pickle chips gratis with our order - whatta guy! The two sides of the day were pork belly and peppers, and Waterloo salad. Didn’t try the pork belly nut the watermelon salad was a nice counter to the fried chicken. Besides juicy sweet watermelon, I could taste vanilla, cilantro and maybe some other herbs. Simple but delicious.
Chef Zone is the gatekeeper with the orders, and keeps “the ship righted.” He is obviously professionally trained - the organization of the kitchen and staff shows it, yet he is very personable and friendly in a real, non-gratuitous manner with the customers. Sitting at the counter offers a lot of interaction with Chef Zone but we opted to sit outside at the picnic tables.
All four menu items were deemed excellent by my family from a fried chicken perspective - flavor and texture of the chicken and coating, moistness and appearance. “Crunchy, flavorful and moist” were the common descriptors. “Not salty” consistently came to mind as well. Pulling off a piece of the chicken meat and tasting it on its own - WOW - so flavorful and “chickeny.” Even the boneless breast was moist and flavorful.
Addressing the levels of heat, six are currently on the menu - we tried the first four. The gradations are well spaced IMHO .
“Country” (ours on dark meat) is no spice - your traditional fried chicken executed in perfect fashion (as were all the pieces).
“Mild” (ours on dark meat) is aptly described as “a brush of heat.” I think the vast majority of eaters can tolerate this heat level without a problem. I’d say it was spicier than Gus’s, but still within range of most eaters.
“Medium” on the wings was unknowingly a good call. It is noticeably spicier, but also has a sweet edge to it - really nice if you like wings. If you are a “mild to medium” heat on your average non-Thai Town Thai restaurant scale, this might push your heat tolerance.
“Hot” on the boneless chicken breast was another knotch up on the heat scale - maybe 1 1/2 clicks up, and a different flavor and type of heat. I don’t know the blend of ingredients in it, but it’s a darker deeper heat that I could feel in my sinuses and on the back of my throat as I breathed in to get a better sense of the flavors. This level of heat is probably a no-go for most unless you truly enjoy or can tolerate more intense levels of heat, like that found in more traditional Thai cuisine. Think biting into a habanero chile in terms of heat with your food, but deeper and darker in flavor (as mentioned above).
I ate about two-thirds of this breast before tapping out. As good as it was, I didn’t want to pay too much for my “adolescent” behavior later. In the future, I’d seriously consider either asking for this Skinny Jimmy to be cut into bite–sized pieces, or bringing a small chopping board and cutting it myself and eating it with the comeback sauce and a side of pickles (and brown-bagging beers). Think a crunchy LA version of toothpick lamb, but with juicy Howlin’ Ray’s chicken instead.
I assumed the fifth and sixth heat levels were too hot to enjoy, so we skipped those.
I don’t visit Chinatown often but here’s what I walked away with this morning, and offer these tips for an easier time at Howlin’ Ray’s:
As others have mentioned, the line is the major obstacle. Ideally, get their before opening. Realistically, get there as early as possible. Howlin’ Ray’s is at the Hill St - side of this building, so if you’re in a group, drop off everyone on this side of the building, then find parking. Get in line folks.
The parking lot for Cathay Bank is $5 all day on weekends and very close to Howlin’ Ray’s. If you’re planning a bang-bang at that building, park here. Street parking can be tough around Chinatown, but we did see some open spots at 1020-1030. Metered parking for two hours is the rule.
Delegate.
At least one person should stand in line. And expect to tag-team this chore as it could be a long wait.
At least one person should save spots at the picnic benches. I don’t know if this is allowed at the counter, but as the counter spots opened, people ordering did take these spots while waiting for their orders.
Howlin’ Ray’s has lots of napkins and individually wrapped towelettes. We brought wipes anyway, knowing that this was hand food. The wings are especially messy to eat. Having our own wipes was much easier than constantly trying to tear open those wrappers. With greasy fingers, this was almost comical to watch. Using these wipes made it easy to clean up the tables after ourselves as well.
Many other food options are in and around this building. Send extra bodies to these other places for the bang-bang feast. Because of the potential wait, you can stage out food and drink from other places during the wait, with your chicken and after.
Amboy is a couple shops away. They offer nice pork, chicken and fish dishes, as well as unique dessert options. Their coconut malas go great with superb coffee from Endorffeine (directly across from HR’s) while waiting in line or at the tables. Their Isa Puffs and Mango Sago pudding (don’t let its looks deceive you - incredible flavors) was a nice way to finish off here. Amboy is pretty amazing in their quality and execution, and deserves a shout out on their own.
Pok Pok and Kim Chuy (anyone try the kuay teow?) are two places we wanted to try but we were already way full from all the food we chowed on. Chego and Scoops are also right there - all of these places to eat within the same courtyard area is pretty insane. If you’re willing to get here, it’s all for the taking.
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Hi @bulavinaka,
Awesome! Great report and so glad you dug Howlin’ Ray’s! It’s so good, right?
Congrats on surviving Level 4 Heat: The extra burn you felt was a tiny pinch of Ghost Pepper from what Chef Zone told us, LOL. Level 5 is even worse with the Trinidad Scorpion, Carolina Reaper, Red Habanero and Ghost Pepper. 
I can’t even imagine…
I keep thinking about Howlin’ Ray’s Fried Chicken, thanks for the reminder to go again, sigh.
The Watermelon Salad sounds great, and I can’t believe they had a Pork Belly side dish and you didn’t order it! Then again, you’re not @PorkyBelly, who probably needs to try this immediately. I need to try this as well.
Oh it should be noted the actual building has underground parking. Howlin’ Ray’s validates for up to 2 hours I think.
Thanks.
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Thanks @Chowseeker1999. The pork belly was tempting but all the chicken seemed to be enough on the protein front - I wanted and was hoping for potato salad!
Level 5 and 6 just seem out of reach for all except folks who can eat the spiciest of Thai and Indian dishes.
First thing I did after getting home was down a beer. Seems to always kill the heat and I’m feeling pretty good right now. We’ll see later 
.
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Holy shit
Hot sounds amazing. I must eat this.
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We attempted to go today (Sat July 2) but the 30-40 person line at 2:30 led us to Little Jewel instead. Oh, how horrible and such a sacrifice
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We got there and found the end of the line thinking, “WOW - nuts.”
We started talking about what to order. I just looked up out of habit to see what was going on - maybe five minutes later - and the line more than doubled. After that, the line kept growing. By 1100, it had stretched from the front door, about 10 people towards Hill, back between the benches and the kiosk, in front of Endorffeine and back to the center of the courtyard where the sun shines through.
Less than a year ago i was able to walk up to their truck at anytime with no wait.
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And the rest is history…
J Gold effect?