I moved to Seattle, Washington almost 10 years ago and one of the first recommendations I overheard was that Ezell’s Chicken was the best. You may have heard of Ezell’s by way of Oprah, as it is said to be her very favorite chicken which she would even have flown out to her in Chicago! You can also find photo’s of Ezell with Guy Fieri from the Packers vs. Seahawks episode of the Food Network’s “Tailgate Warriors with Guy Fieri” special episode TQ0201H on the Ezell’s Facebook page. In other football news, Ezell’s was invited to cater to the fans in Detroit, MI (my home state) for the Super Bowl XL game between my lovely Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006 {the year I moved from MI to WA}. And finally, Esquire Magazine named Ezell’s “The Most Life Changing Fried Chicken in America” in 2012! Some impressive stats!
Even so, it still took me another 6 years to try it! I first tried Ezell’s back in 2012 on a lark. And I wasn’t impressed. We got chicken on the bone, rolls, and some side dish that I don’t even remember. I remember liking the rolls but felt that the rest of the food did not live up to my expectations. So I never had it again. Fast forward 4 years to my office in Seattle, on an otherwise dull Thursday afternoon, when I overheard a coworker mention Ezell’s. Of course, you know me, I have to voice my opinion on the subject, as I always do! I told my coworker the little story I just told you above and was challenged to give them a second chance. However, this time, I was advised to try the chicken strips. I tucked that recommendation away for future reference and promised to report back.
Now you may have heard me raving about my boss before, but she is the best! And she loves food just as much as I do! {I only wish I had the same flair for cooking!} Anyhoo…about an hour later she creeps into my office & whispers that she’s going to pick up chicken for lunch and wanted to know what I would like. She even had the full menu printed out…that’s so her! So I scoured the menu and selected the items that sounded the most appetizing to me, including the chickens strips. And then I waited.
Of course, it was lunch time and I was famished so the suspense was killing me as I waited for her to return with my grub! She finally made it back and, as she always does, carefully laid out my fare. And upon first glance I was ready!
My Meal
This time, I ordered the Small Chicken Tender Combo which comes with 3 Tenders, a Fresh-Baked Roll and one of their Dippin’ Sauces. I also ordered a side of the Heritage Mac & Cheese, Reg’lar (6 oz.) size, and a Sweet Tea.
The chicken tenders looked great right off the bat. They appeared fresh, adequate in size and fried to perfection! I was impressed upon first bite! They were nice and crispy on the outside yet retained their tender & juicy white meat chicken goodness! And they had the perfect balance of batter…not too much {or too stingey}!
The mac & cheese, on the other hand, gave me pause. The oil was visibly pooling in the cup, which was a little ooky. The texture was a little mushy and, what I would call, grainy. However {dun-dut-a-dun}, the flavor was quite unique, but in a yummy way…not in an odd way! I will order it again.
Now you need to know something about me: I am a bread person. I’ve rarely met a bread I didn’t like. And that has not changed with this experience. Their rolls are BOMB…oh so scrumptious! I could eat like 20 of them…but then I’d be too full for the rest of my meal, meh. The roll I ate today was soft, warm and just slightly sweet. Just heavenly, like it had honey butter baked right into it! Perhaps that’s the secret!
Side Notes
As I mentioned earlier, I also order a sweet tea and my meal came with a “Dippin’ Sauce”. I was fairly surprised and somewhat perturbed that the “Dippin’ Sauce” was just a big cup (2 oz) of Hidden Valley Golden Honey Mustard Dressing and my sweet tea was an 18.5 oz bottle of Pure Leaf Sweet Tea. I was really expecting both of these items to be house recipe originals. Both were good, but not what I had been looking forward to. And I sooooo totally regret not ordering sweet potato pie for dessert!
Overall I would say that this lunch really hit the spot! I would give it an 8 out of 10 overall as I’m beginning to get a feel for what all the hype is about! I will most definitely order from here again and may even go out of my way for this! If you are visiting the Seattle area this would be a super great choice for lunch on a busy day of sightseeing! Have you tried Ezell’s? What are your thoughts? Share your favorite chicken spots in the comments below…I’ll try to check them out!
For more information check out these resources:
https://www.ezellschicken.com/page/about-us
http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/food/recipes/a14839/ezells-fried-chicken-winner-071112/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezell%27s_Chicken
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