Could be. Didn’t even realize his featured eatery was HR’s until I saw a copy of the “Saturday” section from the LAT on a table outside. Still - probably 2/3 of the customers were Asian - you know how active this segment is relative to the food scene. It’s almost like a competitive sport.
It was already pretty busy way before j gold though. Thanks to word of mouth from months ago.
As great as this chicken might be, I’m just not going to wait 1-2 hours for fried chicken. Am I the only one? Just don’t have the time or patience for this. Hopefully I’ll get to try it soon enough though.
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you’re not the only one. i’ll wait for a table in a restaurant if there’s a bar, but there’s not
a foodstuff on zoroaster’s green earth i’m waiting in a two hour line for.
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Hi @tailbacku,
I think it’s important for people to maintain some perspective here.
At some point anything that becomes so popular that it “jumps the shark” or exceeds a certain waiting point, will feel not worth it.
My friend went to Pizzeria Bianco in Arizona (whom many publications called the greatest pizza in America) and waited 4 (FOUR) HOURS in line (before even ordering food).
What do you think his response was?
“Not worth it.”
How do you think people will respond when you tell them that Bestia has no openings (they are booked) for all 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. dinner reservations for the next 2 months?
“Ridiculous. Overrated. Not worth the hype.”
Nothing on this planet is worth waiting 2 hours for, I agree.
So maintain some perspective and don’t let a great restaurant that earned its popularity through great food, sour your perception and turn this into a negative. I couldn’t be happier for Howlin’ Ray’s and Chef Zone for turning a simple food truck concept into a success, well-deserved with its fantastic Fried Chicken and great Market Sides.
We’ll just have to wait until the crowds die down, or they expand / increase capacity in the kitchen.
Just my 2 cents.
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Agreed. I had their chicken a few times when they were a truck. It’s great chicken no doubt about it. But I’m not setting aside that much time for it. Granted, I’m not a big fan of standing in lines to start with so there is that.
In HR’s current location, I don’t see these lines going away - just getting shorter as time goes on. They’ve gotten a lot of praise from all angles via media. JGold wrote up the place in the LAT - this assures excessive demand for a while.
I am categorically in the “hate to wait” group as well - vote me in as president. But HR’s is special because it’s not only the best fried chicken I’ve tried, it also happens to be expertly stylized after that crazy Nashville-style hot chicken, and the sides are reputed to be excellent as well. I only had the watermelon salad and pickles, but was thoroughly impressed.
If waiting ain’t happening yet you still want to have it, go early with a friend - before they open if you can, and you’ll be finished in a reasonable amount time.
as a sidenote, I walked in on a Sunday at 2pm and there were tons of tables. I think the situation has changed now that they’ve opened up a few locations.
And yes, it was fucking delicious.
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If only Franklin BBQ would open a few locations - especially here in LA.
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Why don’t all of you just use Task Rabbit to have people wait in the HR line for you?
Nobody wants to pay $30 for a chicken sandwich.
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Except… 
There’s something to be said about anticipation. And when reality exceeds expectations, the wait is easily forgiven.
It seems like everyone here is trying to go with a group though, and they seem to order a lot more than just a sandwich. So divide like $30 by 4 people and it’s only an extra $7.50 per person. Seems pretty reasonable when the wait time is otherwise resulting in not even trying to place.
If anyone wants to buy me a sandwich in exchange for getting to be first in line sometime this week they can shoot me a PM though. I’m probably going to aim to go be first in line one of these days as I don’t mind waiting in lines, especially right by good coffee 
No savsies! This is one of my pet peeves. If you’re going to be inline for 30-45 mins, then no, you should not stake out a picnic table for that whole time and not let people who already have their food sit down.
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It’s one of those, “since everyone else is doing it, we need to as well,” or we’d have no where to sit ourselves. Of the 20 or so people in line in front of us, I’d say there were actually five or six groups in all. Every single one of those groups did this, sending one to two members to camp out at the picnic tables. The people behind us - probably sixty or so - did the same. As I noticed this, I sent our two kids to do the same. Folks placed jackets on the benches and water bottles, books, newspapers - whatever - on the tables too, to mark out territory. Had we not, we’d be standing out on the sidewalk or sitting on the street curb to eat - not ideal anywhere, especially Chinatown.
We also wiped down the tables and seats with our own extra wipes and napkins that we brought before we promptly vacated our savsies. I didn’t see anyone else do this. I consider myself to be very conscientious and get your pet peeve. But I am also a realist and have to think of my family first. This ain’t life/death, but if I’m coming from the Westside with my family and make the extra effort to get here 30 minutes before opening, and those behind me didn’t, yet are savsies-ing, I think the relativity of the circumstances were justified in my eyes.
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Singapore style. Like.
Good grief people.
This is just fried chicken.
Waiting hours on end in line and then debating on how and when to mark your territory? For freaking fried freaking chicken.
What have we become.
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