South-Closed

South
3001 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica
310-828-9988

Personally, I hate the westside of Los Angeles-which includes areas/cities like West LA, Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Westchester, Marina Del Ray, because the people there are such pretentious assholes. They are all douchebags with Ed Hardy clothes. Ok, the women may look nice, but they are filled with silicon and botox. Who the hell wants to be around that?

Anyways, I heard about South- really it's a sports bar, that served up some good soul food. I was a bit hesitant to try soul food in Santa Monica, but figured why not? If worse came to worse, I can laugh at all the douchebag, pretentious, asshole people of the westside!!

I went to South, on a Sunday. So, it was packed with football fans. They had every game on and fans of every team were all over the bar. Honestly, there weren't that many douchebags at South. Maybe, they only show up at night.

While I was looking around for a seat, and I saw a gameday menu. I had looked at their online menu and knew what I wanted; fried chicken. But, I didn't see fried chicken on the gameday menu. So I asked the bouncer, if they served their full menu, he said yes.

A few minutes later, I found a seat, and when the server took my order, I wanted to make sure they served the full menu. She said "It depends on what you want." Huh? I said fried chicken, she said they could do that. Whatever, as long as I got the fried chicken, mac and cheese, and hush puppies, $16, it was fine.

A few minutes later, I got four small pieces of fried chicken, a huge helping of hush puppies and mac and cheese. I tried the white meat first. This was a small portion of the breast meat and it had a strong paprika taste, a pretty good crunchy, and it was pretty moist. Not the greatest fried chicken ever, but solid. The interesting part was none of the other pieces had the strong paprika taste. All other pieces; wing, leg, and thigh, were your regular fried chicken seasoning; salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. The wing and leg were ok, nothing special. But, the thigh was so moist and juicy. The $16 price tag is a bit high for four small pieces and I don't care that I got two sides, that were good sized portions.

The hush puppies were among the best I've ever had. Seasoned perfectly, cooked perfectly-a light golden brown, and just wonderful.

The mac and cheese was fairly bland and they could have used more cheese, but the macaroni was well cooked.

Service. Ok, I know it was crowded on Sundays during football season, but there was only one server for the entire back section!! Not good staffing by the manager. The server was nice, but the first time around taking orders, she missed me completely. It took her awhile to come back, since she had the entire back section. Then she finally took my order, but she never gave me my drink order. I had to ask the busboy for my ice tea. The tables didn't have any silverware and the busboy/runner, who brought me my food, didn't bring any silverware. Bad training by management. My food did arrive quickly, in fact a very quickly considering the number of people at South.

I'm cutting the server some slack, because she was working hard but she is just overwhelmed!! They need to add, at least, 2 more servers in that back area.

I may come back for the food, because I saw a waffle fried chicken sliders that looked very good.

Otis Jackson's Soul Dog-Closed

Otis Jackson's Soul Dog
5166 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood
(818) 980-6847

As I mentioned in my review of Papaya King, which opened near Skooby's in Hollywood, Otis Jackson's Soul Dog opened near Vicious Dogs, in North Hollywood. What a great idea, combining soul food and hot dogs!!




I got the two piece fried chicken basket, $9.99 with double mac and cheese. You get your choice of pieces, so I got a breast and wing. Soul Dog mentions their hot dogs are all beef, natural casing with no nitrates and their chicken is free range chicken. One taste and you can tell the quality of the chicken and hot dogs!

The chicken was a bit salty but otherwise this exactly what fried chicken should be. Crunchy and flavorful on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. The skin was coated with a nice batter that gave it great flavor, though a bit salty. The inside of the breast piece was so moist and tender. WOW, I was very impressed.

The mac and cheese was a bit greasy, but had a lot of flavor. The macaroni was perfectly cooked and the cheese was baked right in.

The menu said hot water cornbread, and I was really looking forward to having hot water cornbread again, but I was told they no longer serve hot water cornbread. I like cornbread, but I LOVE hot water cornbread.



I also got the all beef hot dog with mustard and onions, $3.99. My game plan for any hot dog place, is to try a hot with minimal amount of toppings. If the hot dog isn't good, no amount of toppings can make up for it. But, the hot dog at Soul Dog is awesome; an all beef hot dog with a ton of snap and bursting with flavor. The spice mixture is right on, and you can taste the quality of the hot dog. The hot was lightly toasted and held up well. Next time I'll try a mac and cheese dog, a hot dog topped with mac and cheese. The hot dog is a bit pricey, but worth it. I would rather pay $3.99 for this quality hot dog, than that crap from Papaya King.

Service is great!! You are greeted when you walk into the restaurant by the owner, at least I believe he is the owner. He is very nice and welcoming. Then you are greeted by the cashier, who was a very nice young lady. In addition to greeting people, the owner brings your food to your table. The food came out quickly and was served hot.

I will be coming back to Otis Jackson's Soul Dog, very soon. I will try one of their signature hot dogs, but I may have to get another helping of their great fried chicken. What a great addition to the North Hollywood restaurant scene!!

Southern Wok-Closed

Southern Wok
1110 S Long Beach Blvd.
Compton
310-604-3868

I was driving along Long Beach Blvd, in Compton and noticed a sign that said Chinese and Cajun food. So I decided to give their Cajun food a try. This is your normal steam tray Chinese food restaurant. Their Cajun menu consists of fried chicken, fried fish and shrimp and boiled shrimp.




I decided I want fried chicken, so I got a breast piece, $1.49. This piece of chicken was cooked to order and the skin was very crispy. The seasoning was almost to the point of being too salty but, I liked the seasoning. The chicken was moist but not all that tender and a bit rubbery. The chicken was average.

Service was very good. The guy taking my order was nice and helpful.

The Chinese food looked pretty good, so next time I'm in the area, I will give the Chinese food a try or I may get the fried shrimp and fish. I doubt I would order the fried chicken again.

BBQ Chicken

BBQ Chicken
2750 Alton Parkway
Irvine
949-752-2001

Located about three doors down from Original Buffalo Wings, BBQ Chicken is a Korean fried chicken chain.



I got a half order of the olive crispy chicken, $9.25, which came with six pieces of chicken. The chicken had a light crispy skin, which I really liked. But I didn't like the seasoning, a bit of ginger, which is fine, but and too much olive oil taste. I wasn't my thing and to top it off, the pieces of chicken are small. The breast pieces looked big, but that is deceiving, there is a small amount of meat, which was very juicy and tender, but not enough of it.

Service is good. Nice, helpful and friendly.

I would not go back to BBQ Chicken. I think the prices are high for the amount of chicken you get.

Slavko's Harbor Poultry

Slavko's Harbor Poultry
1224 S Pacific Ave
San Pedro
310-832-8171

I watched; Once Brothers, a documentary on ESPN this week and was very moved by the show. Once Brothers is former, LA Lakers, Vlade Divac's journey to find closure to his friendship with Drazen Petrovic. I'll give readers of The New Diner, a condensed version. Divac and Petrovic grew up playing for Yugoslavia. At that time Yugoslavia, was made up for six republics, including Croatia and Serbia. But in the 90's, Yugoslavia split up, with Croatia and Solvenia being the first two republics to declare independence, but only after civil war destroyed all the republics. Divac is Serbian. Petrovic was Croatian. After the 1990 World Championships, a fan came running onto the court with a Croatian flag. Divac took a Croatian flag, saying this team represents all of Yugoslavia, not just one republic. But in Croatia, that act was seen as an act against Croatia.

Divac and Petrovic, both came to the NBA in 1989. Divac with the Lakers and Petrovic with Portland. They were each other's support group, talking many times on the phone. But after the flag incident and after the war in Yugoslavia, Petrovic, along with other Croatians; Toni Kukoc and Dino Rajda, stopped talking to Divac. Divac wanted to rebuild those friendships. While his friendships with Kukoc and Rajda were later rebuilt, Petrovic died in a car accident in 1993, his friendship with Divac, never to be rebuilt.

In Once Brothers, Divac talks to Petrovic's mother and brother, his former teammates; Toni Kukoc and Dino Rajda; talk about why they stopped talking to Divac and, at the end, Divac visits Petrovic's grave site.

This is a must see documentary. I'm sure it's already on You Tube.

So what does this have to do with food? Well, after seeing the documentary, I wanted to try some Croatian and Serbian food. I also wanted to find out what a Croatian man said in the documentary. When Divac went to Croatia to visit Petrovic's family, a man on the street said; Vlade Divac? Cetnik! I know about the Cetnik movement. But I'm wondering in what context cetnik was used. I'm sure, it wasn't used as a compliment.

I was a bit surprised to learn, that San Pedro has a big Croatian population, but it made it easy to find a Croatian restaurant.

Slavko's Harbor Poultry, was started and currently owned by Croatians. I read they have great fried chicken, so I figured I give them a try.




Fried chicken breast; $3.25 and wing; 99 cents. Since I heard Slavko's had great fried chicken, I decided to try it. I liked the fact that both pieces were cooked to order, though they normally keep a few pieces of chicken, in the warmer.

Both the breast and wing, had a nice, crispy skin, that was well seasoned. But, both were pretty dry and lacked real flavor. The breast was very dry. The wing wasn't as dry but still not as juicy as other fried chicken, I've had.



Slavko's is also known for their chicken nuggets. So I got a seven piece chicken nuggets; $4. The nuggets are breast pieces and coated with the same batter as the fried chicken. This was ok, slightly dry and they were in the warmer, not cooked to order. I would not order this again, either.




I haven't had ribs in a long time, so I decided to get the rib dinner which comes with potato nuggets and beans; $7.50. The ribs are steamed or cooked in an oven. They gave a few pieces of rib tips and not the actual rib. There was no bark or seasoning on the outside. The ribs were dry and lacked flavor. They must have been sitting in a warmer for awhile. Not a good example of ribs.

The potato nuggets were well seasoned, had the skin on, and was pretty good.

The baked beans were too sweet for my tastes. The beans were well cooked but it was just too sweet for me.

Service is pretty good.

I would not go back to Slavko's again. Everything I had was dry and really didn't taste that good.

Mr Sippee-Closed

Mr Sippee
1045 Blaine St
Los Angeles
213-748-2121

As readers of The New Diner know, I love broasted chicken. When I heard about a gas station that serves up broasted chicken, I figured I would check them out. If they are good, I have another option for food before a game at Staples Center.

Mr. Sippee, is the name of the store, inside the 76 gas station. They have everything from BBQ ribs, fried chicken, and sandwiches. They also had a B rating from the health department, the day I went.




I ordered two breast pieces, $4.81. Any broasted chicken restaurant, that is worth a damn, doesn't use heat lamps. They freshly cook their chicken and served hot. Well, I knew something was wrong when I saw the heat lamps. I was under the impression Mr. Sippee was broasted chicken, it is NOT broasted but fried. The way they fry their chicken is close the way Pollo Campero-LA, fries their chicken.

They only had one breast piece under the heat lamps, so they had fry one up, so I waited about 15 minutes. When the chicken was done, I got two pieces of chicken, one freshly fried, the other sitting under a heat lamp for who knows how long.

I tried the freshly fried chicken first, it was very hot, but the skin wasn't anywhere close to what broasted chicken is suppose to be. It was clearly fried. The inside was fairly moist and tender.

The chicken that had been sitting under heat lamps was Ok. Decent flavor, a decent crispy skin and moist inside. But I couldn't get over this was just a less tasty version of Pollo Campero.

Service was terrible. The guy working was nice but I noticed they served BBQ ribs, which are ribs steamed or cooked in an oven and then drowned in BBQ sauce. But I figured, why not, so I ordered just one rib. The ribs are priced at $2.99 on the menu. The receipt that prints up for the food, had the price at $2.99. But when the guy rang up the it was $3.29 plus tax. I questioned him on that. I told him the menu price was $2.99, the receipt price was $2.99 but it rang up at $3.61, which is $3.29 plus tax. I told him, honor the price or I won't take it.

I will never go back to Mr. Sippee again. If I wanted fried chicken that tasted like Pollo Campero, I would go there. I don't need the bad service, where they don't honor their prices.

Golden Bird

Golden Bird
13501 Avalon Blvd
Los Angeles
310-324-2486

I never realized that a few blocks north of Jay Bees BBQ on Avalon Blvd., is Golden Bird Fried Chicken. I have reviewed two other Golden Bird locations, Golden Bird on Venice, and the Golden Bird in Inglewood, both are now closed.

Golden Bird in it's hey day, was one of the best fried chicken restaurants in the LA Area. But slowly Golden Birds closed down, leaving only a few locations left.

This Golden Bird location, is interesting because they have a ton of bottled soda for sale. They sell Bubble Up, Sioux City, and other smaller brands, at prices that rival, Galco Soda Shop.




I ordered two breast pieces, $5.90. Some people may wonder, why I only get chicken pieces, well I could care less about sides. I don't need to waste money on sides, I don't normally eat. Plus when I go to a fried chicken place, I'm most concerned about fried chicken. I mean, if a restaurants serves great fried chicken but average sides, are you will you stop going to that restaurant? Of course not, you would stop ordering the damn sides.

Anyways, the two breasts were huge, when I got the bag it was heavy. Always a good sign. The skin is much more crunchy, light, and airy than the other Golden Bird locations. The inside was moist but you could tell that this chicken was fried awhile ago, and had been sitting under heat lamps. And because of that, it was greasy, since all the oil had time to settle. While I was eating the chicken, I was thinking this would be great if fresh out of the fryer.

Service was good at the restaurant. Nice, helpful and friendly people. But when I called, the lady who answered the phone was rude and not helpful at all. I called because, I went on Easter Sunday. Well many businesses are closed on Easter, so I wanted to make sure Golden Bird was open, because I'm not wasting my time and money to drive down there for nothing.

I would go back to this Golden Bird location, because it has potential. If the chicken I had was right out of the fryer, I would say this was a great fried chicken. So hopefully the next time I go, I'll get chicken that has just came out of the fryer.

Pann's Restaurant

Pann's Restaurant
6710 La Tijera Blvd
Los Angeles
310-670-1441

A few miles from Dinah's Family Restaurant is Pann's Restaurant. A diner style restaurant that opened the same year that the drunk, bastard mick, stole the Brooklyn Dodgers from their rightful home, 1958.

I have heard that Pann's has some of the best fried chicken in LA and I decided to give it a try.




Pann's had a $6 special, two pieces of chicken; your choice of white or dark meat, choice of sides, I got the mashed potatoes, and a biscuit. A great deal, that is offered Monday to Friday only.

The skin had a light batter and was crispy. But I thought the skin lacked seasoning, pretty bland. They need to seasoning to their fried chicken. Inside of the chicken was moist and tender. I did like this better than Dinah's but I don't consider Pann's the best fried chicken in LA.

The mashed potatoes were great!! Creamy with bits of potatoes, so that you knew this was made from scratch, not some damn box. I didn't care for the brown gravy which was made from a mix and pretty bland. I also did't like the fact they gave me a whole portion of mashed potatoes but a small portion of gravy.

Pann's regular fried chicken is half a chicken for $11.95. I don't think the thigh and leg piece is worth the extra $6.

Service was good. The host was very nice. I walked in and he was busy at the register and there were 2-3 other people waiting. Once he was done at the register, he came over and asked "Who was here first?" Great customer service. Some places just go to the first person they see.

I sat at the counter and it did take awhile for a server to come by. But a busboy got me some water and he kept refilling the water, the entire time I was there. Awesome.

My server was nice, friendly and hard working. She had a lot of tables and was attentive as she could be, and anybody reasonable person could expect.

I wouldn't mind going back to Pann's but I wouldn't rush over there. I do think Pann's serves a better fried chicken than Dinah's, but Pann's is a bit expensive, if you order off the regular menu.

Bill's Chicken-Closed

Bill's Chicken
2234 N Lincoln Ave.
Altadena CA, 91001
626-797-4119

I read about Bill's Chicken and decided to go there. But the address I was given had Bill's on Lake in Pasadena. But they moved to Altadena about a year ago, near Christmas Tree Lane. Bill's is more than a chicken restaurant, they serve soul food and some BBQ items.

I got the pork rib dinner, $10.95, with double mac and cheese. When I first saw the ribs, I was like man, oven cooked ribs. But as I was driving the wonderful smell of real BBQ filled my car. The ribs were smoked with red oak. But they were a bit dry and felt as though they had been in the warmer too long. The meat was pretty tender with very little fat. I would like to try this ribs when they are right out of the smoker.

Since Bill's is a chicken place, I tried the fried chicken breast, $2.75. The chicken was sitting under heat lamps. But this was very moist and flavorful!! The skin wasn't crunchy but who cares when the chicken is that moist and flavorful!!

Service was very good. When I called to get directions to their new location, they were very nice and helpful. I was greeted when I walked into the restaurant and everybody working there was nice and friendly.

I would go back to Bill's Chicken, if I'm in the area. I just hope next time, the ribs and chicken right out of the smoker and fryer.

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles-Hollywood

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles
1514 N. Gower St.
Hollywood
323-466-7453

I have already been to the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in Pasadena and didn't have a good experience. But I had the chance to go to the original Roscoe's in Hollywood. So I decided why not?

I got the breast and waffle, $8.50. The first thing I noticed was that the breast was just out of fryer, always a plus. The chicken was very good. The skin had nice seasonings, mostly pepper, and crunch. The inside was moist and tender. A good example of what fried chicken should be.

The waffles were also just out of the waffle maker. Light, fluffy, and crispy at the end. I really liked it.

Service was good. The server was attentive and nice.

I'm glad I went to the original Roscoe's because it was a much better experience than the Pasadena location. I wouldn't rush back but if I was in the area, I would have no problem going back.

Dinah's Family Restaurant

Dinah's Family Restaurant
6521 S Sepulveda Blvd
Los Angeles
310-645-0456

An old school diner that has been in LA for 50 years, why wouldn't I go to Dinah's Family Restaurant? Since they server fried chicken I thought this was the original location of the Dinah's Fried Chicken near Glendale, that I reviewed a few years ago. But I get conflicting answers, some people have told me they are owned by the same people and others have told me they just share a name.

I went to Dinah's Family Restaurant because every Monday and Thursday, they offer an all you can eat fried chicken dinner for $10.95. The dinner includes two sides, I got corn and fries and gravy. They allow you to choose white or dark meat, I got white meat and two wings and one breast piece came out quickly. The skin wasn't crispy or crunchy but had nice pepper seasoning. The breast piece was a bit dry, like they were sitting in the warmer too long. The meat was a bit dry and while it was a good sized piece, I would have prefered it to be more moist. I got two more orders and I could tell those pieces had been fried recently and not sitting in a warmer. But they were dry too.

The wings were a bit better. The drummette piece had a huge piece of breast meat, which was good. The wing part was nice and meaty and moist. If the breast piece was as moist as the wings, this would have been a good meal.

The fries were standard fries but the corn was nice and firm in a buttery sauce. The gravy though was out of this world. A chicken gravy that had pieces of chicken mixed in, great flavor and helped add some moisture to the dry chicken.

Service was very good. The server was attentive and always asked if I wanted more chicken.

I wasn't happy with my last visit to the Dinah's near Glendale as the chicken here wasn't as salty and the service here was much better.

I love old school diner-like places. I would go back to Dinah's Family Restaurant, but I wouldn't go for the fried chicken. They have other all you can eat specials, I would like to try their stroganoff and spaghetti nights.

China Bowl Express & Louisiana Fried Chicken

China Bowl Express and Louisiana Fried Chicken
2090 S. Garey Ave.
Pomona
909-591-3421

Update the Louisiana Fried Chicken is now closed.

China Bowl Express and Louisiana Fried Chicken is the third location of it's kind in the city of Pomona that The New Diner has reviewed. There was another place called China Bowl Express on Holt Blvd, and they were combined with a Louisiana Fried Chicken. As far as I can tell, that location is now just China Bowl Express, they are not serving fried chicken anymore.

Then I reviewed Golden Wok and Louisiana Fried Chicken. The business model for Louisiana Fried Chicken is to sell their unique recipe to people, who then can combine the fried chicken with their other restaurant.

This China Bowl Express is next door a Food 4 Less. I ordered two breasts, $1.59 each and the two item combo with Chinese BBQ pork and teriyaki chicken, $5.01.

The chicken was fairly big and juicy but it wasn't as crunchy as other Louisiana Fried Chicken places that I have been to before. I thought I got lucky because as I walked in, the chicken was coming out of the fryer. I think what happened was the fryer was overloaded with chicken and/or the oil wasn't hot enough. That is how you get soggy fried chicken. So I wasn't impressed with the chicken.

The Chinese food was pretty good for what it is, fast food style Chinese food. If you're expecting anything else, you're an idiot. The teriyaki chicken was flavorful and tender. The portions are huge, so that is always good.

But the Chinese BBQ pork was a mixture of pork that had been on the steam table for too long and freshly cooked pork. The freshly cooked pork was tender, had that sweet flavor that you get from Chinese BBQ pork but there was a bit too much fat for my tastes. The pork that had been on the table for too had was dry and very chewy, not good.

The fried rice had a few peas and carrots and was just regular fried rice. The chow mein was a bit greasy, but had a good flavor with lots of cabbage.

Service is good. Very nice and friendly people. This China Bowl Express is owned by a different person than the China Bowl Express on Holt.

I wouldn't rush back here for the Chinese food but I wouldn't be against coming back. I would think twice about the fried chicken.

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken-Culver City

Honey's Kettle
9537 Culver Boulevard
Culver City
310-202-5453

After dinner at Santa Maria BBQ Co. I noticed that Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken was across the street!!! So I decided to go over and see how this compares to Honey's Kettle in Compton.

I got the breast piece, $3.41. The chicken was very light and crunchy on the outside. But a bit dry on the inside. The chicken was tender and tasty but I could have been more moist.

Service is good. The cashier was nice and friendly and helpful when I asked about parking. This location is very busy, much more busy than the Compton location.

If I'm in the area, I would go back here but I think the Compton location is better.

Golden Bird-Closed

Golden Bird
4725 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles
323-525-0488

This Golden Bird is one of the last Golden Bird locations left. I have only been to the Golden Bird that was part of Porky's BBQ in Inglewood, which is now closed. So I wanted to try a stand alone Golden Bird. But I was very mad because my stupid GPS took me all over trying to find this place. I mean how tough can it be to say exit La Brea off the 10 freeway, go north, make a right on Venice and it will be about a 2-3 blocks ahead. But no, instead they make be go to Pico and then all these stupid turns.

Anyways, I got there, ordered the chicken breast, $2.71. The skin was a dark brown color, which means they oil needs to be changed. But the skin was very crunchy and cripsy. I though it maybe a bit oily but no, it wasn't greasy at all. The chicken was a bit dry and I felt it had been sitting under heat lamps for too long.

Service is good. The lady is very nice and helpful.

I think the chicken here can be good if they cleaned the oil more often and of course you go there, just after they cooked up a new batch of chicken. If I was in the area I would go back but I'm not making an extra trip.