It’s no secret that I’m a fiend for fried chicken, especially spicy fried chicken. When I was visiting the Seattle area recently, I had put Ezell’s Famous Chicken on my list of places to try because I had read Oprah Winfrey had declared that this was her favourite fried chicken. I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Upon researching online, I found out that due to a feud amongst the founding owners, Ezell Stephens, of which the brand is named after, is no longer with Ezell’s Famous Chicken and the three shops in the Seattle area that he owns has been renamed to Heaven Sent Fried Chicken. Though there are still a few shops of Ezell’s Famous Chicken left in the Seattle area, I decided to visit one of the Heaven Sent Fried Chicken locations instead because I wanted to try the chicken from a shop that is owned and operated by Ezell Stephens himself. Apparently, he is still using the same secret recipe for the fried chicken at his shops as Ezell’s Famous Chicken.
My friend C and I decided to share a 3 Piece Mix “Snack Pack” ($6.50), consisting of a leg, thigh, wing and roll. We had a choice between spicy or mild. We chose to try two pieces of the spicy version and one of the mild. Because we went during the off hours (at around 3pm), the fried chicken wasn’t as fresh as it could be. Both the bun and the chicken were lukewarm. Fortunately, though the chicken was sitting under a heat lamp, it was still very juicy and moist. The coating was still quite crispy. The crispy coating on this chicken is quite different from the one at Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits. I would say this one is more similar to Church’s Chicken where the coating is thinner and lighter compared to the one from Popeyes which is more of a Southern style and crunchier. I can only imagine how much better this chicken would have tasted if it were fresh out of the fryer. To my surprise, the spicy version didn’t taste that spicy at all. The accompanying bun was soft and slightly sweet. Again, it would have tasted much better if it was fresh out of the oven. Overall, I thought this fried chicken was just ok. I would go back to Heaven Sent Fried Chicken if I happened to be in neighbourhood and was craving fried chicken but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it. To me, Popeyes is still my favourite for fried chicken.
Heaven Sent Fried Chicken
615 112th St. SE Suite E
Everett, WA 98208
(425) 267-9672
http://www.heavensentfriedchicken.com
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