"Crispy. Hot. Dangerous. I'm in love." Chicken University in Waikiki might need to start charging tuition, because I just got educated. This is some of the best fried chicken I've had in a long time -- crispy, hot, and fried so perfectly I had to sit there for a second and reevaluate my life choices. The shoestring fries? Light, crunchy, and honestly a little addictive. I ordered the Cajun seasoning and yeah... it's salty. But Cajun seasoning is salty. That's literally the whole personality of Cajun seasoning. If you're in Waikiki and want fried chicken that actually tastes like someone cared, this is the spot. I'll defintely be back with the crew. read more

Chicken University - Nothing left but scraps!!! - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Service is HORRIBLE. Why do you have people like this in the front. Straight rude. Where's her gloves for everything, even to put her hair up and then keep using them... read more

Chicken University - Yeah, that individual to the right. RUDE - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Supposedly there is a grand opening celebration this week October 24, 2025. We stopped by to check out this place and according to the Yelp reviews, it's been around and open for a long time lol. Parking is validated with the use of its parking app and a QR code. We tried Chicken University. Here we come wings! Ordered 10 piece with Soy Garlic and Sweet & Spicy. Total bill: $20.93 A bit pricey but we will see how it tastes. Okay, as far as the taste goes, the sweet & spicy sauce is thick like honey. Not very spicy hot initially. Then the heat grows as you continue to eat the wing. 3.5/5 stars The Soy Garlic is flavorful and on the salty side. You will want a drink and maybe rice or fries with your order. Garlic taste is not strong. 3.5/5 stars. Service was great here. The employee helped us with the validation parking QR code. 5/5 stars. Ambiance: It's like a food court, hence the name Kitchen Cove. Chicken University, K-Ramyun and BBQ Bowl are all located in the same cove. Lots of seating available. Open air. Noisy as it is located near the busy streets. Overall 3.5. Rounded up to 4 stars due to the great service here. read more

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The ambiance is cafeteria/ fast food. The Korean bbq pork belly, fried rice & radish kimchi are tasty. The staff is having fun & are attentive. 4 beers on tap - 2 are local. My lunch with a beer was under $20. read more

The portions and prices are great! The food was good too. I got the 2 meat stir fry with noodles. I had the spicy bogogli and pork belly with my meal. The service was great too. I enjoyed the kimchi with cucumber. read more

The kids wanted ramen but the place we went to was busy so we ended up at Chicken University. The kids loved it because they got to make their own ramen bowls with their own toppings. We also ordered a couple of bbq plates and sides. They are very generous with their portions. It is not fast food because we had to wait awhile for our food but we did order a lot. Deep fried gyoza, cheese tonkatsu, beef bulgogi, spicy pork bulgogi, honey chicken, deep fried calamari, lemon pepper and soy garlic chicken tenders. The place is very spacious and they keep it clean. Good customer service as everyone was so personable. This place is semi hidden as it's underneath another restaurant. read more

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Ambiance is clean. We did come in the late morning before the lunch crowd. This place is great the chicken is really crispy and not greasy. There is another fried chicken place that I've tried and it made me sick because of the grease. It wasn't like that with ChickenU. They also have ramen stations and you can add different toppings to add to your ramen. There are so many choices and we only had room for fried chicken. We opted for just fried and added sauces in the side to try different flavors. They dessert they have is Hotek so if you like you can try it here. I still need to come back and try it. Parking is validated and when you purchase they give a 10% coupon for the gelato place around the corner in the same building. That was good too!! read more

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My partner wanted to try this place and I'm so glad we did! They had hella different options, but we decided to go with the college sampler (fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks), the 5-piece combo, and something from the DIY ramen bar. My boyfriend loved making his own ramen and adding a bunch of toppings. He also loved the chicken! I wasn't too hungry so I only ate the fries, but they were so yummy, thin, and crispy. The employees were also very nice! Highly recommend y'all try it out! read more

Chicken University - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

It was the last day for the $5 special for just the noodles. Two dollars more for the topping bar - limited amount to put on not amount of choices. I asked many questions on how to make the ramen. I asked for a take out and took it after separating noodles and broth. Used coupon for 10% off at Gelato Chill to the left of Chicken University. I did not try the chicken. Staff was friendly. read more

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My wife wanted to try this place out and thought it was a great concept. It's barely passable to me. We walked in and we literally had no help. There were 3 different menus spread out and one person working the front largely ignoring us until 5 other groups walked in. After several minutes of figuring out the very confusing menu I was ready to order. The single person working the front didn't answer my question of why there were two prices for a 4 piece chicken. She also assumed I wanted chicken tenders when I wanted wings. I ordered a 10 piece wing box for lemon pepper and cajun. The chicken was good but the seasoning just all tasted the same to me with maybe an overseasoned bit that told me whether cajun or lemon pepper. It was just dry fried chicken you could pretty much get from popeyes. We had a side of sweet potato fries. Fries are my gauge to see how they treat a very simple ingredient which was poorly. It was half overcooked and partially burned in some pieces. This was easily just worth trying and needs work to get better before us even coming back. read more

Ordered to go and close to closing time so a lot of the menu was out of stock. Just got the chicken and fries so pretty much what you expect, but a bit oily for our liking. The "salad" also just seemed to be veggies thrown together but no dressing. read more

Chicken University - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

The food is your standard Korean chicken place, but with some added extras like an instant ramyun station and some protein dishes like cheese katsu. I got the Tenders Combo Basket, which was decent--the chicken was nicely fried and juicy, and there was a generous portion of fries, a salad, pickles, and a drink. My friend got the Wing Therapy Combo, which has 5 giant chicken wings, a salad, pickles, and a drink. Both came with Thousand Island and Ranch dressing. It was a lot of food and we probably could've shared. I'd say the food was average, but the staff were really, really nice, and they were super friendly and patient with us when we didn't know what to order. I don't know the names of the young man in the kitchen and young lady in the front who were working today, but they were great! read more

Chicken University - Chicken Tenders Combo and Wing Therapy Combo. Huge portions. - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

The food was excellent here. I think as of now, I like this place most for Korean fried chicken. Good sizes, taste, and clean oil (so important for onion rings). The meat was juicy and tender! The drink is small, but if you eat in, you can refill it. The only problem was that they were too busy to refill it for me as much as I wanted. I got 1 refill, but not a 2nd due to the staff being busy. It was clean and not noisy. Very nice little area. Also, if you eat here, you can get a discount at the ice cream place in the same building. read more

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I just heard about this place 3 days ago. On a whim. My group decided to try them out. We ordered quite a bit that our cashier even commented, "Wow." I have to say that their quality, service, and atmosphere are great. We stuck to the chicken side of the business as covered below: College Spread: 7/10. The Sweet Potato fries and Onion rings were pretty good. The Mozzarella stick was ok, but this is still a great deal for what you get. You can choose between Regular fries, Sweet Potato fries, Mozzarella sticks (3), or Onion Rings (4). Chicken Tenders Meal: 8/10. We opted for original flavor on these while we did several flavors for the wings just to note the difference. Tenders are not what I would call these massive pieces. They are large, freshly fried, and entirely boneless. Comes with fries and a drink. While the original is pretty good, the flavors are hard to pass. Garlic Parmesan: 9/10. Among my group, this was my favorite flavor of the set. The garlic and parmesan flavors were just at the right combination where neither were overpowering the other. I ended up finishing 8/10 wings instead of taking leftovers home. Garlic & Soy: 8/10. Another good choice in our group. The Garlic in this one felt a bit more like the raw flavor (in a good way) and the shoyu wasn't too strong. It was the favorite of one of my companions who ended up taking home 4 wings. Sweet & Spicy: 8/10. Another great flavor, it was slightly sweet but I wouldn't necessarily call it spicy. I think we ended up enjoying them more since they were not spicy. My 3rd companion declared this as his favorite and ended up taking home 3 wings. Overall, this was a great experience. The receipt also gave a 10% discount for the dessert spot, "Gelato & Chill" nearby on the same level as Chicken Uni. We are planning to make another return soon to try more flavors and possibly the plate lunch and Ramyun side. Even though they are in Waikiki, please give them a try. They are also on Doordash. read more

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The food was delicious. Loved the different flavors chicken they had the garlic parmesan on my strips.

I'm not going to lie, I've been waiting a year and a half for this place to open! I walked by one day, saw the construction, and got super excited, hoping the doors would open within a month or two. But month after month went by, and every time I was in the area, I'd check to see if it was finally open. Then, out of nowhere, I walked by and saw the lights on, workers inside, and the screens ready for orders. I couldn't believe it, it was finally here! Let me tell you, it does *not* disappoint. This is exactly what I've been waiting for, and it's everything Waikiki needed. The anticipation was worth it! read more

Chicken University - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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The cashier seemed lost, we ordered two bowls, one beer and one soda and we didn't even get the drinks while waiting for our food for a very long time. The place is ran down, the outdoor furniture is in very bad shape. We regret coming to this place because we got lured by the beer price. There are 4 people on the front of the house and nothing has been served yet; we've waited for over 20 minutes. DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE, prices are high for the quality of the food! read more

The restaurant has dead bugs on the window sills. One of those bugs was in my husband's water. The water had a top on it so apparently the kitchen is full of bugs too. The chicken had so much garlic that it caused my husband to have severe stomach issues for 24 hours. My husband was the only one who ate his food, the rest of us were too grossed out by all the flies and nats. read more

Chicken University - Dead bugs in just one of the window sills. They were everywhere! - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Representing in truth what they offer Reasonable prices budget friendly Fun food excellent service For single patron to a table, next to me, with three grown-ups and three or four happy well behaved little kids Outdoor seating option with our well behaved little dog Ordered Wings, 10 pc (2 flavor sauce choices) Spicy Thai Basil and Cajun Really addictive delicious fries (skinny with coating like crispy bits on them) The side of Truffle sauce smelled delicious truffles Young adults with me each got separate Ramyun bowls where is the fries are gone do you want one? I'm gonna finish them. The young adults with me enjoyed Create Your Own Noodle Bowl, toppings of many choices, soft boiled or poached egg (in the shell) and many topping choices, green onion, Bonito flakes, dried seaweed, kimchi, shredded cheese, grilled fish cake... Fun for everyone! Customer service was excellent very attentive, though it was busy, they managed the line well, friendly and cashier was fluent in ASL with a customer in front of me. We each enjoyed our dinner as many customers seemed to enjoy the experience. I noticed someone else's order of garlic, pork belly, and spicy chicken. looked delicious. Next time I may try the Bulgogi and garlic chicken bowl with two choices ... maybe bean sprouts and kimchi. I wanted something light so I munched fries this time. Very accommodating, one of the friendly cashier said they could make a veggie dinner option with the sides and rice or fries. They were very flexible. Good happy ambience Warm atmosphere with smiling customers Indoor/outdoor seating Validated parking in Waikiki wow! Lemon pepper fries that's what they were delicious! *Tip: STIR your Noodles while they are cooking keep from scorching the bottom. read more

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A friend and I decided to try this place out and got take out: fried chicken, the street toast and a side of japchae cause she was craving it. The fried chicken had good flavor but the soy garlic one was too saturated in sauce. The street toast did not look the same as in the photos and did not taste all that special. We did takeout so didn't have to wait too long for our order. There is an instant ramen station in the restaurant that looked super innovative and looking to try it out sometime as they have a huge variety of ramen. read more

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Chicken doesn't taste good ‍. We could hardly eat it today. Too greasy and hard to eat.

We had a great experience here we stopped in to order dinner while walking our dog. It's the new restaurant on the block and we were pleasantly delighted. The service we received was very good the counter gal was patient and explained in detail how we could order and how we could do half half . We ordered a 10 piece wings and it was the thai basil spicy sauce and the other was Parmesan garlic. The side order of fries were lemon pepper.. all so good we also ordered 2 plain pieces of chicken . They were so crunchy if you like skin like I do this is your place. The sauces were all delicious and chicken was hot and perfect. The fries were also really tasty. I will definitely be returning and will pick up our chicken from here. Only issue might be is the parking . But if you can get in there I would definitely do it. read more

Chicken University - Nice and clean - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Loved this chicken! Fried up while you waited, and flavored at your request! We liked it so much we bought a shirt! read more

Chicken University - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Solid chicken spot. Food was good but my lemonade tasted like chemicals.. The girl working the front of house is on point, kind, beautiful and helpful. read more

Even the food is okay but . . . We went to eat at night time 1. No free parking 2. The cashier lady with glasses is rude to the customer in front of us 3. The restaurant AC extremely cold ( I was chilled ) 4. The restaurant does not have any bathroom inside, if you want to go wash hand or bathroom, you have to go outside, walk up the stairs to the road , then walk a little distance, then walk up the stairs again to go inside other restaurant ( Kan Sushi ) to borrow restroom Think about if you bring some kids to eat and you have to in and out couple times to bathroom ... end up you can't able to enjoy and only have cold chicken left read more

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Really good Korean fried chicken! Cooked fresh to order so wait time is a little longer but it's worth it. Chef came out to check on us and make sure the food was to our liking. Looking forward to visiting again when soju and beer is on the menu! read more

Chicken University - Cajun chicken tenders, garlic Parmesan chicken thigh/leg and mandu - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

First time here with a group of friends....has indoor and outdoor seating. Service from Samantha was 5 star....we would return just because she showed us so much Aloha. As for the food, Chicken University has the biggest chicken wings I have ever seen. My friends said the batter used for the chicken was really good. My friends really enjoyed the this location and would definitely recommend. read more

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First time in Hawaii and was a great vibe in the restaurant and the chicken was amazing from wings to popcorn chicken, all made very fresh. 10/10 highly recommend. read more

Sam the Hostess or manager is the best! I have been to the restaurant on two separate occasions and I've had multiple different flavors of wings. All the flavors are good, only minor drawback is they are in the larger side. The price's are comparable and honestly the best chicken spot in Honolulu. read more

The vibes inside are pretty chill, playing pop music as we walk in. Many choices and all of it looks good. We stayed with the chicken menu for the kids and lemme tell you it absolutely hit the spot. I had the Spicy Thai Basil and it was the perfect amount of sweet and spicy. The fries an addictive amount of crispy. Talking to the server we learned they marinate their strips and it just makes sense how flavorful they were. If u know what canes is, it's 10 times better. Also awesome ranch. Definitely coming back during our week stay. read more

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10/10 highly recommend! We ordered the ramen noodles, chicken wing, garlic chicken over rice and cucumber Kim chew. They did not disappoint. The staff were very helpful and friendly. We'll definitely be back the next time we return to Honolulu, read more

Food is delicious ordered the Ramyun comes with two toppings, k tacos you pick any two types of meat from the menu and the street toast fire- egg and meat with other yummy stuff and the potato tornado which has three types of flavor choices . Good service. Food was made rather quickly. Not disappointed. Parked across the street right next to the tattoo shop. Place had cool music, chill vibes. My husband loved the Ramen corner. read more

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I had never heard of this place before but tried it because I was in the area and enjoyed it. The menu was a lot more extensive than a usual korean chicken place- they have tacos, korean plates, musubis, and a build your own ramen station. We shared a taco plate with spicy pork and beef bulgogi, and 4 tenders with soy garlic and lemon pepper. The tacos were tasty but both meats had a lot of hard parts which made it difficult to eat. The tenders were good and really crunchy, the soy garlic was definitely the best and had a lot of flavor. The lemon pepper was good too but not as flavorful. Our tenders also came with 2 dipping sauces that we didn't realize came with the order but helped add flavor to the lemon pepper tender. The restaurant was very big and clean with tons of seating indoors and outdoors but was completely empty when we went at 6:30 on a friday night. I think I would return for the korean fried chicken but wouldn't get the tacos or korean meats next time. read more

Chicken University - Tacos with bulgogi and spicy pork, and soy garlic and lemon pepper tenders - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Tried this for the first time since it was in walking distance to our hotel in Waikiki!! The flavor was great, chicken was crispy, and the flavor was great. The only downside is that the wings were a little too big, they're more like regular fried chicken pieces as opposed to wings but still delicious! read more

Huge boneless chicken tenders with good flavors. We will come back! Crispy, I liked the Thai basil. Come hungry and leave stuffed! Down the street from the Waikiki Brewing Co. read more

Chicken University - From outside - Chicken Wings Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

The portion size was awesome. Big chunky pieces of chicken. It was juicy and not dry at all, piping hot and fresh. The place was pretty dead when I got there for lunch. This had potential to be really good but the sauces were too salty. I kind of felt a little hungover after from how dehydrated it made me. Also I'm pretty sure some of the pictures showed daikon (small cubes of pickled radish) as an option for a side, but they didn't have it when I arrived. The girl at the register was nice. read more

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I've been eyeing this place out since I've seen the sign up for over a year now. I'm so glad that it's finally open. I came in at about 6:15pm on a Monday, and it was pretty slow. It took about 15 minutes for our food to come out. My husbands tenders came out first and mine came out 5 mins after. I do wish they they both came out the same time but I understand that they just opened so they are still trying to figure things out. The drinks that came with the combo were honestly really small, I wish they had different size drink options. My husband ordered the 8 piece chicken tenders. He order the thai basil tenders and the sweet and spicy. I ordered the 5 wing combo. My husbands chicken tenders were huge! They were flavorful but the battered part was kind of sliding off of the chicken. I can't wait to come back again to eat the thai basil wings and tenders! read more

We have come back three times before our trip ended. The chicken was fresh, hot, and the portion size was perfect. the staff was helpful and patient. I would recommend this place as it was priced perfectly and the food was amazing. read more

Was stoked to visit this place since it finally opened! I'm proud to say this chicken is unlike any other wing I've had on the island. Its crust is super thick and the sauces are tasty. It's a heavier meal for sure but great for sharing. Our group's favorite was soy garlic and lemon pepper. Service was fairly fast and it was fun looking at the DIY ramen bar (reminds me of Korean convenient stores where you can make ramen then eat it). It's casual so no need to dress up! Will be coming again, and coming hungry! read more

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The ramen was just $5 for opening week! You can totally customize your own, and the steps are super simple. The service was fantastic; Piilani and Ari took care of us, and they were really kind and respectful. read more