Legendary Fried Chicken & Nashville Hot Chicken Hits L.A. - Howlin' Ray's New Restaurant!

You should definitely try Howlin’ Ray’s. When i travel with fried food i put it on the passenger seat and open the container so the steam doesn’t collect. An added bonus is it’s easily accessible to the driver (me). I make no guarantees that the food won’t be eaten before arriving at your destination using this technique.

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Hi @TheCookie,

No matter what food you decide to get, definitely stop by Howlin’ Ray’s early and get some Fried Chicken for yourself at least! LOL :slight_smile: It is SO good.

@PorkyBelly’s method seems like it could work, but again, I encourage you to eat a piece of their Fried Chicken fresh out of the fryer. :slight_smile:

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Can’t say anything about these restaurants but great fried chicken does not have to be fresh and hot to be great.

@Chowseeker1999 @PorkyBelly - I do want to try it. I had a girlfriend coming in town, and previously enquired about the sides.@theoffalo said get the chicken and sides at Little Jewel. Well, she didn’t end up coming so…

@aaqjr - True. If it’s fried correctly it should still be good.

Hi @TheCookie,

What aaqjr says is true for those of us that enjoy cold / leftover Fried Chicken the following day / night. :wink: But I would argue like eating Cold / Leftover Pizza, that delight is different from the delight of eating freshly fried crispy, crunchy Fried Chicken. :slight_smile:

It’s just a different type of delight and tastiness.

So I’m sure the Fried Chicken will taste OK bringing it back from a To Go order, but I encourage you to sneak a piece for yourself at the restaurant while it’s fresh to enjoy its maximum tastiness. :slight_smile:

Cold fried chicken and fried chicken are totally different species of food stuffs.

Both might be good, but they’re really not substitutes for the other.

Sort of like cold pie versus fresh out-of-the-oven pie.

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Is this place still real crowded?

Yes

A friend of mine waited an hour and a half, but he went at around 1:30 on a Saturday. Not sure how accurate that is or just a bit of exaggeration.

My friend showed up around 10:45 a.m. (they open at 11) and was early in line. Only waited like 10 - 15 min to get in.

I think the best bet is to show up early and get in an early lunch. :wink: So worth it!

Wow.

2 posts were split to a new topic: Fried Chicken rundown

I’m going to go this Friday about 20 mins before they open.

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So, if I go on a Wednesday around noon, how bad will the line likely be? Do I still need to get there when they open?

Hi @Bigmouth,

I’m not sure. I haven’t attempted a weekday lunch in the last 2 weeks.

I’d say give them a call before they open and ask their advice.

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Update 4:

Since @Bigmouth was asking about how the wait was, I figured I’d stop by and see what it was like… and try some more great Fried Chicken. :wink:

We showed up around 1:30 p.m. on a weekday, and the line wasn’t too bad, only 15 people (took about 15 - 20 min).

I’m so glad we decided to go.

Market Side #1: Poblano Potato Salad:

So far, Chef Zone’s Market Sides (rotating selection of Side Dishes made fresh daily) have been excellent, and his Poblano Potato Salad is no different.

It’s creamy, but light, soft (but not too soft) Potatoes, and the Poblano Peppers add more of its excellent aroma than too much heat. It’s one of the better Potato Salads I’ve had recently. :slight_smile: Paging @bulavinaka.

Fried Chicken Dark (Leg & Thigh), “Country” Style (Level 1 - No Heat):

Tender, juicy, fresh, with crispy, crunchy exterior… just awesome Fried Chicken yet again! :slight_smile: I’m so glad Howlin’ Ray’s is still making great food. So worth it! :slight_smile:

Market Side #2: Nacho Mac & Cheese:

The name sounds hilarious and initially I was wondering if Chef Zone might be making something wacky for wacky’s sake. The first bite yields best Mac & Cheese I’ve had this year! :slight_smile: :heart:

It’s creamy, cheesy, so interesting. It evokes the feeling of “Nachos” as we find out from Chef Zone it’s a homemade blend of Cheddar, Mozzarella and a fresh Bechamel Sauce, along with those Pickled Jalapenos that you normally associate with “movie theater nachos” or 7-11 nachos, LOL. It’s a brilliant idea, just elevated.

The Jalapenos add more of that unmistakable fragrance to each bite than any major spicy heat (just a subtle heat). But seriously, we couldn’t stop eating this! :blush:

Usually too many of these Mac & Cheese sides at even my favorite places (like Flossie’s back in the day) were just so-so. Not bad, not great. Or many Mac & Cheese blends are too dry, or too much Cheese, not creamy enough. Or all liquid / creamy with no Cheese. Not Howlin’ Ray’s version. It’s really delicious.

But I’ll let @Dommy and all the other FTC Mac & Cheese fanatics decide. If you see it for the Daily Market Side, it’s worth an order.

Initial Hours (extended Hours will be added once they settle in):

Wed - Sun
11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Howlin’ Ray’s Nashville Hot Chicken
727 N. Broadway Ave #128
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tel: (213) 935-8399

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I’ll be visiting this weekend! Been a fan since the truck days in Silver Lake.

Before I’ll be hitting up Saigon Deli for sugarcane drink and Kim Chuy for some leek cakes/bing. Than Mae Tings for coconut cakes better than Bhan Kanom for dessert. Than maybe some to-go for dinner at LAX-C or my personal fav., Jade Wok or the wonton beef tendon noodle soup at New Dragon.

The mix of new school places like Chego, Little Jewel, Burgerlords,Scoops, and now Howlin Rays with Cantonese/Vietnamese/SE Asia Chaozhou/LAX-C with old school Philippes, Nicks, and Eastside Market makes Los Angeles Chinatown, imho the Best Food Neighborhood.
I feel that with the Sichuan invasion we forgot good ol homestyle Canto food. This is still a Chinese hood…hangout at Alpine Rec, plenty of Chinese kids at Castelar, and Chinese folks up in the hills past Hill, and in Lincoln Heights and El Sereno I hear Canto and sometimes Mando. They eat out, too. Just the other day I had perfect shrimp with scrambled eggs and garlicky choy sum, and one of every Chinese kids favorite from their Po Po, beef and tomatoes over rice.

While I am glad more people are coming into the neighborhood to eat, there is still a lot of local hidden gems that deserves the attention.

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Stopped by Howlin Rays thinking it would be “slow” for Father’s Day coupled with the excessive heat. Wrong. I noticed the line moves better now but I still waited a good 45 minutes just to order.

I got the hot level and it was perfect for me. Bacon mac n cheese was okay, not sure I would order it again as the bacon was not crunchy and I just didn’t care for the flavor of the cheese. The poblano was the best flavor but not enough to save it IMO.

But that chicken sandwich is just so fuckin tasty.



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Hi @A5KOBE,

Nice! You deserve an award for surviving Level 4 “Hot” (with Ghost Pepper :open_mouth:) while in the middle of a heat wave (over 100 degrees) in L.A. :smile:

Bummer on the mac & cheese. It sounds like a new version (different from the one I had). The one I had was the Nacho version with no bacon or poblano (it had awesome pickled jalapenos), and the cheese was a different blend from the pics. I guess he’s experimenting with alternate sides until he settles on something.

Thanks for the report back. :slight_smile:

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