Hell's Fried Chicken

Chicken and waffles is a southern classic and I was disappointed. The service is quick with the option to order with a cashier or from a kiosk stand. The food also comes out rather quickly, as the menu is not very large, focusing primarily on chicken, waffles, and a few sides. Usually, when a restaurant keeps its menu limited, you can expect that the food will be top notch, as fewer moving parts in a kitchen allows for better focus. Yet, I found that the experience fell flat, with very salty chicken and soggy waffles. Ordering is easy, with the options of a few different combos, varying in the amount of chicken, fries, or waffles you get. For the price point, you get a decent amount of food which is always nice. There's also a decent amount of sauce options as well. The interior is cute with a honeycomb theme along with outdoor patio seating which seems to be shared by the other local restaurants. I did come from out of town, so I will likely not be back in general. However, I would not add this to my list of places to try again.

Now these bastards cut their chicken tenders in half and raise the prices. This place is Dunzo.

What in the Hell's Fried Disappointment was that?I was in the mood for something breaded, so I decided to try out the chicken place near my office. First, their online ordering was either turned off or not working, so I walked over to place my order. The place was empty at noon on a Friday. So orange flag #1. Where were the students?The guy at the counter passed over the menu, which was different than the online version - probably why they aren't taking online orders. I placed my order, and had issues with the card reader and adding a tip (so I apologize for that, guy at the counter!). I went to fill my drink cup, which I didn't really want, but there wasn't really an option without one. Couldn't find a non-caffeinated drink other than Minute Made Fruit Punch (soooo sweet!), and so very RED. By the time I was finished, my lunch was boxed up on the counter. Darker orange flag #2, since that was WAY too fast for fresh food. I had tenders with the garlic parm sauce. Back at the office I open the box to find the chicken tenders, some cold, limp fries, and a cold, floppy waffle. The tenders were pretty good, and the breading was what I had in mind, but not the rest. The sauce was basically garlic paste, and tasted like garlic paste. Not conducive to working with others after lunch. I ended up eating the chicken and throwing out the rest.

The food was great! The batter was very crunchy and tasty. Get the drumsticks or wings, people...skip the tenders and sandwich. It really is the best way to judge a chicken place. If there was a thigh combo only, that's the one I'd get. The value of a combo meal was good! $10 got you 4 drumsticks, 1 waffle, some fries, drink and dipping sauce! KFC can't even do that nowadays with inflation.What I don't like is easily fixable--there is no updated menu anywhere on the internet. You have to go in person to see the combos and prices. Service was super fast and the honeycomb ceiling fixture was pretty cute. There were 2 bathrooms but the women's one was out of order and you have to get a staff member's thumb print for access to the men's room...hmmm...never encountered that before. WEIRD!

So I thought this was Korean fried chicken, but it's definitely just fried chicken. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed because it wasn't Korean fried chicken as advertised, but putting that aside-- this is pretty good. It's a hit or miss though. The first time I got the breast & wing combo, and that was cold and not that great. The next time, I decided to get the chicken tenders combo instead because I thought it would be a safer order-- and it was! The tenders were moist and crunchy. I do like how the fries are curly fries. The combos come with a drink, a side (the sides are abnormally small though, as you can see the cole slaw is in the same container as the sauce), a sauce, and bread. The bread is not good, it reeks of butter, and not in a good way. The spicy devil sauce is very good, and definitely complements the chicken/fries really well. Overall, for the value it's definitely worth a try. I would definitely come back because of the affordability, portion size, and fried chicken cravings.

Best fried chicken I've had in Cleveland! They first advertised themselves as a Korean fried chicken restaurant, but they just sell regular fried chicken. Nevertheless the regular fried chicken was delicious and the food is inexpensive. I've had the chicken thighs with the side of fried macaroni and cheese. The fried macaroni is definitely a novelty that actually tastes good, but they only gave two pieces. I wish they gave more. The chicken drumsticks were crunchy in just the right amount, and the drumsticks were large enough to feed myself and my companion. There's plenty of tables outside to social distance. The interior also has a ton of space, but it's hard to social distance if there are already more than three parties sitting already. Parking is tough to find. You're better off parking at the parking garage on Ford Drive, which is only a minute walk away.

After Guthrie's chicken tenders started to get greasy, we moved to Cane's. We still like their tenders best. Popeye's are a little dry and Hell's Fried Chicken fits somewhere in between. What makes them more interesting than the others is the different spice profile used in the breading. Can put a name to the taste, but different. Again, not as tender as Cane's, but much plumper pieces. Fries are pretty pedestrian waffle version and toast, is toast. The standout was the coleslaw. Nice flavor and creamy. My wife really enjoyed the chicken sandwich. Not as magnificent as Popeye's, but really, what chicken sandwich is?Because of COVID, we did this to go and even though we live close, the meal got a little cold. This is the perfect food to eat-in. When the pandemic ends, we're trying this again. I suspect it will be better!

Maybe it's my taste but I like chicken that's firm and juicy not soggy.A bad night?I think I will drive to GE next time for pre-made. I was that disappointed.

DO NOT ORDER ONLINE! You won't have the option to control what they do to the food. I ordered tenders, and they arrived promptly enough, but they were thoroughly slathered in a red sauce that was both one-note spicy hot and excessively sweet. It turned the fried coating on the chicken into a paste--no more crispy tenders. Both the chicken and the coating have zero seasoning. I did take one bite, and despite the eye-pinchingly terrible flavor, I was surprised by how tender the meat was. I decided to waste about four feet of paper towels to try to dab the goop off, then I added more paper towels to line a plate; I added the chicken onto this and put the plate into the refrigerator to (hopefully) dry out the "food.". Maybe I can salvage the tenders in my air fryer the next day. If not, perhaps I can scrape the orange porridge off of the meat and use the chicken in a stir fry with vegetables, some sauce, and rice. It would be a shame to drop the only worthwhile part of this meal into the garbage disposal. NEVER AGAIN.

They advertise themselves as a Korean Fried Chicken spot, but honestly its just a ritzy KFC. They have changed their menu since my first visit which actually made it worse, you have to pay extra for things that used to be included, and they changed their combos.They used to have curly fries which were so good and now they are regular wedges. you used to be able to get mac and cheese bites INCLUDED with your combo, now its $2 extra. They also dont give you the option to get ranch or blue cheese. Unless management decides to change it up again i wont be back.They messed up my order on my first visit and so i gave them another chance and the second time i found what appeared to be an undercooked tender so i think im done with this. Their sauces were really good but all in all save your money and go to popeyes down the street :)