1822 N Glassell St
Orange
714-283-4901
I love broasted chicken and I'm always excited to find out about new broasted chicken restaurants. When I found out that Roadside Cafe serves up broasted chicken, I planned on going back to Hida'Way, to see which place in Orange serves up the best broasted chicken. I called up Hida'Way and the number was changed, so I called the new number and it was Roadside Cafe!!!
Guess the story is, Hida'Way's owner decided to get out of the restaurant business and turn his building into a laundromat!!! Roadside Cafe bought Hida'Way's broasted machines. So the city of Orange still has a restaurant that serves broasted chicken.
Roadside Cafe is an oasis among the many industrial buildings on the stretch of Glassell. The decor is great, with old signs and an old gas pump near the front door. This does remind you of a roadside cafe along Route 66.
I went to Roadside Cafe's website and found a coupon; eight pieces of broasted chicken,$9.49 on the coupon, $10.32 after sales tax. The eight pieces broke down into 2 wings, 2 legs, 2 thighs, and 2 breast pieces. I went on a Monday, and on their "Specials" board, the eight piece broasted chicken was $9.99. The regular price for the eight piece chicken is $10.95.
The chicken is cooked to order. For your stupid Yelpers, that means the chicken isn't sitting under heat lamps. It is only cooked after you ordered it. That means it may take 15-20 minutes to get your broasted chicken. What would you rather have; chicken that has been sitting under heat lamps for hours on end, or chicken cooked to order? I can't believe that people would complain about the wait time for cooked to order chicken. Stupid Yelpers.
I only had the breast piece. The skin was darker than other broasted chicken places I have been to. That usually means the oil they use to broast the chicken needs to be changed. But, the skin was light and crispy, like broasted chicken should be. The breast meat was pretty moist and flavorfull. Not the best broasted chicken but pretty good and certainly better than Hida'Way.
Service was great. The young lady who took my order was very nice and friendly. She told me about Hida'Way closing and how Roadside brought the broasting machines. Many other restaurants could take lesson in customer service from the people at Roadside Cafe.
I would go back to Roadside Cafe and give the broasted chicken another chance; like I said it wasn't the best broasted chicken I've had, but it was pretty good.
