Sweet Crispy Love I love some good country cooking and thoroughly enjoy eating fried chicken. Knowing and sharing my love for deep fried finger licking good chicken my awesome husband found this place for us to try. I honestly didn't expect much upon walking in so we took our meal to go. The entire car ride home was a test to my self control having to resist the urge of grabbing a wonderful smelling drum stick and devoring it in front of my equally hungry family. Items I highly recommend are the fried chicken, cole slaw and sweet potato fries. Each portion was extremely generous. The chicken breading was full of flavor, not overly greasy and each bite was super crispy. The chicken meat was very moist. The sweet potato fries were the perfect size and so tasty. The cole slaw had a nice crispness and flavor. read more

Crispy Fried Chicken - Crispy fried chicken - Chicken Wings Near Me - San Diego, California

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Place looks a little run down but damn they make the best fried food. Their popcorn chicken is literally the best I've ever had.

Due to surf culture, most San Diegans generally eat like teenage boys, which means great cheeseburgers can be found all over the city, we have no shortage of goofy grease-bomb burritos, and we are currently experiencing a proliferation of dangerous fly-by-night "poke" operations scooping raw fish salad onto hot rice (...and what a genius trend this is -- see you in the E.R., bro!). But what about fried chicken? To me, fried chicken is perhaps the ultimate "teenage boy" food. Its popularity across the country is undoubtedly now peaking, with regional favorites like Gus's expanding all over the national map, and celebrity chefs like David Chang featuring fried chicken in their hoity-toity restaurants. Despite these advances, we oddly haven't seen very much, if any, recent change in fried chicken options offered in San Diego. And that's mostly OK, because we have Crispy Fried Chicken, and they're really, really good. I was introduced to Crispy Fried Chicken by Omar S., who dragged me here last year while insisting to me it was the best the city had to offer. Of course, he was right, as he usually is. I've eaten a lot of fried chicken this summer, and the only restaurant with better fried chicken than Crispy Fried Chicken in the entire San Diego County is "Marinade on Main," way out in Ramona. The made-to-order fried chicken at Crispy Fried Chicken will take 10-15 minutes to prepare. You want to eat it piping hot, so jump on it as soon as the friendly person at the counter hands it to you. It features a crunchy, light, addictive batter that complements the chicken meat without in any way overwhelming it. The luscious, juicy meat is the primary feature of the product, and Crispy Fried Chicken uses some form of secret culinary alchemy to ensure moisture retention and deliciousness. The chicken is lightly seasoned unlike typical "fast food" chicken, and I'm not implying I'd change it: it's just about perfect the way it is. Crispy Fried Chicken's fried chicken is priced to sell, with prices competitive to (or better than) KFC, Church's, and Popeyes. The sides are a mixed bag. The mashed potatoes and gravy are pretty much the same instant mashed potatoes you'd get at KFC. Also, I recommend BYOB (Bring Your Own Biscuits), as biscuits are the only thing I've had at Crispy Fried Chicken that have flat-out been bad -- they're appropriately spongy, but lacking strong salt and butter flavors, which are essential to the kind of biscuit they're trying to prepare. Lastly, I will say this: I agree with review content of most of my Yelp friends who have rated this restaurant a "4." There are some really strong reviews of this place. My only disagreement with them is on rating: I strongly feel that this place deserves five stars on Yelp and not four. If Crispy Fried Chicken were based in Nashville or New Orleans, this would be a different conversation. But to do this one thing exceedingly better than any place else in this city of over 1.3 million people earns Crispy Fried Chicken as high of a recommendation as I can give it. Food-Décor-Service: 4.4/2.5/NA SDFC RANKING Fried Chicken: 2nd of 63 See my other San Diego Fried Chicken reviews at this list: https://www.yelp.com/list/san-diego-summer-of-fried-chicken-san-diego read more

Stopped by this place after not being there for a few years since the precious owner moved to another location. Inside was simple but clean. WOman at the counter was attentive and cheerful. Ordered 10 pieces of chicken and a sid eof hush puppues (my wife is from the south). Noticed tht the price was cheaper than the big chain chicken places and the bag of chicken was HEAVY! Got home and was surprised with how large the pieces of chicken were and perfectly cooked. Simply seasoned so i just added siracha and japanese bulldog tonkatsu sauce. Wife was happy with the hush puppies and i was very happy with the chicken. I usually eat at least 3 pieces of fried chicken at a single sitting. Could only finish 2. The chicken look like they were from a large whole chicken that they cut up themselves (which is smart because its cheaper and fresher). Its now on the regular rotation of take out for us now. We might sample some of the fried seafood next time. read more

Food is pretty good, served hot. However, the wait time is long, so order ahead. Price is affordable

Their chicken used to be so good and you could smell it from outside. Dropped by today for the first time in years and I was very disappointed. The place is still very worn out looking. They had all the chairs up on tables so there is no dining in. But most importantly, the chicken has changed. It is very bland. Even hot sauce didn't make it taste good. It's not fried as hard as it used to be either. Now, it's like a soft fry. Not bad but not good either. read more

I was looking for good fried chicken and decided to try this place. Bad decision: while the flavor was good, it was chalk full of grease and more importantly there were parts of the chicken that I could not identify. It was the GMO of chicken! Not to mention, the Mac N Cheese slimy & mushy...disgust! If you're looking for chicken, I'd stick with the Crack Shacks & Street Car Merchants of San Diego! read more

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The Fried Catfish is Hella Good!! The portions are a great size as well for sure! The place is always busy and that's saying alot!!

It's delicious and flavorful. The friend chicken here is absolutely amazing. My favorite item from CFC is the 13 piece chicken gizzard. The only thing I would fix is the amount of oil that goes in the food and if the service was faster. I haven't dined in here before so I couldn't tell you how the ambiance might be. read more

To start off, this place is amazing!! We ordered the chicken fried rice to share and it was the perfect amount!! It is a big serving which I always love!! The rice was perfectly cooked and seasoned with a light soy sauce. There were eggs, peas, and chopped carrots in it The chicken was moist and chopped into bite size pieces. All in all, this place was amazing for lunch read more

Crispy Fried Chicken - Chicken Wings Near Me - San Diego, California

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I come here on occasion when I'm craving fried chicken or seafood. Prices are around fair. The sides are fairly average, nothing that screams recommend. The proteins are good. The tenders and fish fillets are highly recommended. read more

Met a friend here for early dinner. This place was pretty busy. The employees were all very nice. Looked like they were trying to handle online orders as well as dine-in. It took a super duper long time for us to get our food. I was not expecting to wait almost 30 min for two pieces of chicken. The restaurant itself is pretty old and run down, there were a lot of flies buzzing around inside. The chairs and tables are old too. Most people were there for take out. Ok, so as for the food itself. I can see why this place is popular. It's reasonably priced and everything tastes like butter/margarine...like even the chicken. My chicken was really flavorful and juicy. The biscuit was a complete disaster. It was cold, dense and really hard like it was a week old. Maybe I ordered the wrong side and there are better ones to choose from? They have lots of sauces to choose from, but they charge extra. Hmmm I can't say I'd willingly come back here. It just wasn't worth it for me. read more

Been going here for the past 11 years Food has always been amazing The people are very nice also I see them get abused by customer sometimes and still have a smile on their face read more

I have been coming here since I was 15 years old I am now 26 and it's still just as delicious and the first time we had it. It's a staple, absolutely delicious home style cooking. The best catfish and fried chicken. Hush puppies to die for. It's the best food like this in San Diego, half my family is from KC Missouri. 100% comfort food amazing. read more

I thought this place was getting better with their service and their food, but from the past couple of months I've been going there, I've been receiving more bad experiences than good ones. I tried called several times to order, since I was going to be in the area and was craving fried chicken, but no one picked up. I literally called at least 5 times since I thought they were just busy. I was COMPLETELY wrong. When I was driving by the area, it wasn't crowded at all, they were open with there being 1 or 2 customers inside. I don't understand why they didn't pick up the phone, especially when I called multiple times. (When I called, it was around 7pm, and it even says in their COVID-19 updates that they do not close until 9pm) Unfortunate and honestly upsetting because their food, when made right, is SO good! And they have so much potential!! They lost business that night, because I ended up ordering take-out at another restaurant that night. I hope they fix this problem soon, especially when times are already hard with having and making business. read more

One of the best fried chicken in San Diego, beats KFC or Popeyes chicken any day. Tip- go for the to go and call to order, have a hard look at the menu in what you want, you won't go wrong. read more

I only get the spicy chicken and forget the sides. It can take a while to get your bird since it's fresh most of the time. I haven't called in an order as this is usually an impulse buy and I feel guilty eating a 10pc. after it's all said and done. Anyway, always double check they're giving you spicy as they have forgotten or just threw what was available inside my order multiple times. Despite those lil setbacks, I keep coming back for that gawt damn spicy chicken! read more

5/5!!! the food was beyond my expectation! I got the 10 piece DARK meat $10.99 Dude. CRUNCHY FLAKY HEARTY MOIST TENDER. Am I making your mouth water??? The parking lot and restaurant is a bit small and outdated, but what needs an award is the chicken! I also ordered the mash potatoes (but it came out as mac n cheese) and sweet potato fries. They were both good! Large sizes @ 3.49/ each is very reasonable! Had 4 pcs of thigh left over and tasted just as good MICROWAVED the next day! read more

I really wanted to give this place a great review. We DoorDashed from here for lunch today. And then my grandmother found a piece of what may be the foil scrubber in her fried liver. So sad. To the restaurant, please be more careful when prepping your food. read more

Crispy Fried Chicken - Chicken Wings Near Me - San Diego, California

I think everybody in San Diego knows about crispy fried chicken even though they sell a lot of seafood items as well as fillet fish their food is amazing it's an Asian ran establishment of course in a black neighborhood but somehow they have garnered the respect of everyone by having the best fish seafood and chicken in San Diego why because they listen to their customers they know what the customers want and they know that their clientele knows what good fried chicken and good fried fish and seafood is . they are a very nice family and they really work their butts off behind the counter to fulfill peoples orders .whatever they are putting in the seasoning it's literally like addictive because you have everybody and people you would not see in this area at their establishment ordering food they are definitely number one read more

This is my first time at this location. I have been to the newer location in National City. Its run by the same family. The food is consistent and the chicken is good. I ordered the special 3 chicken strips, 3 shrimp, 2 sides, and a soda. Food takes a little long due to it being fresh when ordered. The chicken strips were perfect. Light batter and the chicken strip was very moist. Shrimp was also very good. The onion rings were just ok. Also the cole slaw was just ok. A bit too sweet for me. Still for the price, this was a good meal. Parking is tight here. Small dining area inside. Could use a cleaning due to it being an old building. The service was courteous. Nice place for some deep fried good food. read more

Crispy Fried Chicken - Special #1...3 piece chicken strip 3 shrimp and 2 sides. - Chicken Wings Near Me - San Diego, California

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Very good fried shrimp and chicken here and get the tenders for white meat because there better and pretty big. I liked all the sides except the Mac n Cheese had a fake weird taste. I'm not rating on the shoddy building or terrible neighborhood with working women of the night and their managers coming in to pick up to go orders. If you know this town then you know this is what to expect at this address. read more

This is the crispy fried chicken you were looking for. Oh my God, I haven't had chicken this good in years. Reminds me of growing up in the south. Not Southern California but the dirty south. The side dishes were killer as well. read more

Been hearing about this place for awhile and was craving fried chicken so decided to stop in. The place, at night, is sketchy AF. A couple walked in after me and the girl looked like she hasn't slept in days and I'm pretty sure the guy she was with, was her Pimp! Anyways I ordered the 3 piece Mixed Chicken Combo but I think she only charged me for a 2 piece (I thought $5.79 was too cheap)! And I couldn't help it but I also got the fried gizzards. $4.99 gets you an order of 12 but my container had double that amount. Maybe it was close to closing time but hey, I ain't complaining. But I will complain about the sides: the onion rings had a weird texture and batter on it. Definitely no fresh cut onions. I don't think I even tasted any onions. And my sweet potatoes were cold and some pieces were kinda frozen. I don't think the cook put them in the fryer long enough. Like I said, it was near closing so they prolly just wanted to crank out those orders and close for the night. But the chicken and gizzards were bomb. I won't write off this place completely and will come back to try their other items...just during the day. read more

Crispy Fried Chicken - Fried gizzards - Chicken Wings Near Me - San Diego, California

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Food was not seasoned at all the fish was no where near crispy. False advertisement. The shrimp definitely were frozen prior to frying. Even with hot sauce the shrimp was gross. The fish was okay but won't be going back. read more

Simply put, the best fried chicken around. It had been a few years since I was there as I moved further east, but I was nearby a few nights ago and took advantage of the opportunity. The chicken is cooked perfectly, with exactly the right crust. I got a meal with two sides, and the sides weren't very good (Mac n cheese and cornbread, both out of the box). Next time I'll stick to the chicken, as their name implies that's what they do best. read more

First timer here, been craving fried chicken for months and didn't want to spend $20 at StreetCar Merchants or hit up KFC or Popeyes so I opted for this place because of the yelpers. I got the 3 piece dark fried chicken with mac n cheese and a biscuit. The chicken was straight out of the fryer; hot, fresh, crispy and moist, not greasy at all but flavorless which was disappointing - no seasoning at all, no pepper or salt which I chucked it up to most customers getting the hot sauce to douse it in which is a Louisiana staple but still fried chicken alone should have some seasoning. Something was "off" about the mac n cheese ;( After a few bites I couldn't quite put my finger on it other than they may have put mustard in it or something else that I couldn't identify like mayonnaise which neither aren't even an ingredient in mac and cheese, it should just have milk, cheese and macaroni with a little salt and pepper and maybe cinnamon or cayenne but mustard? I thought maybe it was spoiled so I just threw it away The biscuit was fluffy thick light and buttery, super yummy. I'll go back for sure but ask for salt and pepper. Word of caution DON'T get the mac n cheese and order over the phone so you don't have to wait 20 mins which is standard cooking time for fried chicken read more

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Had it delivered. Apparently it's even better better fresh. Most things are, yeah, but even delivered their chicken and fried okra are in a class of their own. Don't sell that recipe, folks. read more

Mac n cheese - nasty Mashed potatoes - hella nasty Fried chicken - good, better than churches There's usually a wait because it's made to order, lots of people call in. Bottom line stay away from the sides I threw away the mashed potatoes and Mac and cheese, it was that bad. The place has potential with new management read more

This place is a small diamond in the rough, but more on the rough side :D For the price you pay, you can't good quality southern style food. Cheaper then KFC and Popeyes any day. To me, the food that I always get is usually pretty consistent. However, I suggest calling in you order or, Grub hub it like I do. Pay on the app and get a notification when to expect your food to be ready for pickup. There has been occasions where I order on Grub hub, the estimated time was 60-70 mins and no notifications, luckily I'd showed up right before they closed and my food was already ready. This place is always poppin. Parking is quite a pain sometimes, it's small but they also have a limited amount of street parking if you're lucky. Overall this place is pretty awesome...I will always return read more

Great fried chicken and sides, good customer service with nice staff. Good atmosphere and good restaurant overall.

Do I have yarn to spin about this place or WHAT!?! But first things first...the chicken is good eats. It's not as good as Popeye's, however, you gotta give 'em credit being a mom-n-pop operation, run by what appears to be an Asian family. No sh!t. And now for my story. So I finally muster up the will power to get some fried chicken OTHER than Popeye's. I went here one night and just as I was finishing up my meal, some White kid rolls in looking rather disturbed, asking me to use my cell phone. Before I could answer, a rather conspicuous Black fellow walks in and immediately stares down the White kid. They look each other up and down before the kid takes off. Black guy takes off shortly after. Five minutes later, White kid shows up and I ask him if he's OK. I learned a couple things from asking that question: 1) His name was Wally and he works for a marijuana delivery service in San Diego. 2) He was supposed to deliver some marijuana to a man that lived behind the restaurant. 3) During the aforementioned transaction, the Black dude mentioned above, was an accomplice to Wally getting robbed at gun point for his wallet, car keys, and of course, marijuana. So being the good Samaritan that I am, I offered to not only let Wally call his boss from my phone, I drove him to a nearby Starbucks where he would be safer. His boss eventually came to pick him up. The moral of the story?? It depends who you're asking. Wally would say to only sell to existing customers, or least have a better screening process with new clients. The restaurant would say they need to hire security. Me? I would say when the sun goes down, take your ass to Popeye's. read more

Crispy Fried Chicken - gotta have hot sauce AND jalapeno!! - Chicken Wings Near Me - San Diego, California

Amazing fried chicken! Not greasy and full of flavor. I get mine to go. Constantly good.

Mmmmm! I like their chicken. Obviously they are no KFC, Church Chicken or Popeyes. They're not a chain restaurant. And yes, their chicken is really oily but hey, that's just the outside skin. For those that love eating the skin, it's crispy and crunchy. Other than that, it's pretty darn good! They don't only have fried chicken, they sell fried seafood such as shrimp, catfish and oysters. But beware of the oyster, if you take a quick bite while it's hot, juices will squirt out. The sides are pretty yummy too. :) Also know that this area is pretty sketched. Not fancy. But sometimes that's just where you'll find some good food right? read more

I'd consider myself a fried food expert. I fry myself and have also tasted fried foods everywhere from down south to mexico. So here's my opinion... Starting with the actual establishment, it appears to be owned by an Asian family which is ok because I believe Asian people fry chicken closest to African Americans. There is no decor, it is in a sketchy part of town, and reminds me of a fried chicken place in LA. Like in Compton of something. So I created my own combo since they did not have it, I got a 2 piece dark meat with a 2 piece fried catfish fillet. My side choices were the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes with no gravy, I love gravy but their gravy looked suspect so I chose to pass on it. The catfish fillet batter that the fillet was fried in was extremely salty. The fish itself was fried to perfection. But I just couldn't take all the saltiness. The mashed potatoes had no flavor what's so ever and I regretted not getting the gravy. The mac and cheese was by far the grossest Mac and cheese I've ever had. Watery, over cooked noodles and tasted heavily of black pepper. The only thing that I believe was worth the 12$ I paid was the fried chicken. It was flavorful not greasy and fried perfectly. read more

Crispy Fried Chicken - 2 dark pieces with 2 fried catfish fillets mashed potatoes with no gravy and Mac and cheese - Chicken Wings Near Me - San Diego, California

Okay, I read the reviews and thought to myself "is this a really bad neighborhood" Thanks to The Food Network who inspired me to eat crispy chicken I then ventured out to El Cajon to try this crispy fried chicken place. So we drove up into the driveway (which was easy to find) and I thought to myself this isn't as bad as one of the reviews saying that they'd eat here only during the day. (I went at night). It's located in the Asian (Vietnamese) town off the 15 and funny as it may seem it's ran by Asians with a soul twist. It's not the cleanest environment but gosh hole in the wall places always has the best food. It took 20 minutes for us to get our chicken (which is fine because they were absolutely busy). When I got my order the chicken had the right spices/tastes as I was looking for. The skin... YUMMY!!! need I say more? I didn't try the other foods there but in the near future I will venture out again to try the fried okra etc. I actually give the food 4 stars but location and cleanliness is a 3. I will say that a lot of people came in while I waited for my food. There was a long line. I will return! read more

This place is so old-school LA, from the strange little fish tank, the dinky ATM machine, the mismatched furniture, the arcade games and bubble gum machines. Even the television set was competing for sound -- tuned to a dramatic show, of course -- with the top 40 music playing on the radio. Restaurant shares a parking lot with what looks like a defunct Mexican restaurant. It's dirty. It's dingy. It's the type of place that looks like it has been frequented on the regular for decades. Seems like the go-to food item is fried chicken. They have everything from 2 to 20 pieces in dark, white, mixed and boneless. They have a standard sides: fries, onion rings, fried okra, potato wedges, hush puppies, coleslaw, mac & cheese and biscuits. They also run daily specials. Calamari. Fried oysters. Chicken liver. Then you can make anything spicy if you like. I came in for the catfish. They also have red snapper and shrimps of varying sizes. Expect a long wait -- or call in. Even with only one other customer, I waited at least 15 minutes to get the order. I found that the catfish was nicely seasoned, but it didn't have much flavor. It was the strangest thing. I was just kind of... flat. I also ordered the popcorn shrimp, which was decent, but quite heavy. In all, the food is heavy and the quality is off. It just doesn't taste the way it should taste. But this isn't the type of place you go for quality. It's the type of place you visit because you're ravenous, missing soul food and needing a quick fix. read more

I just finished my meal from here. Chicken was a 7/10, it was kinda greasy and on the thinner side but it was juicy and cooked well and the cornbread was a 11/10!! However... the sweet potato fries were undercooked+ the corn had no seasoning and tasted old :(( last and definitely a the least, the mac and cheese, twas absolutely disgusting!! I literally spit it out... it for real tasted like greasy soap water or something :| I wouldn't have wrote this review had it not been for the Mac and cheese. read more

Good, moist crispy fried chicken. Just like Church's. Literally. But if I wanted Church's Chicken, I would've gone there instead. Service was pleasant and we got our food fairly quickly. Hubs & I had a 2-piece combo each with hushpuppies and corn. We got 4 itty-bitty hushpuppies and corn that had seen better days. Overall, food was decent but I guess I was expecting a bit more. read more

I expected Crispy Fried chicken, I guess I should have gone with Fried Chicken as opposed to Chicken strips. The Shrimp were super crispy, the Hush puppies were also good, the onion rings not so much...the popcorn chicken was also not very crispy. The restaurant was not super clean but the Cashier was very friendly and helpful! read more