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Next Level Clucker

4.8 (4 reviews)

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1 year ago

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5 years ago

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John F.

Thanks Megan for the four stars!! Looking forward to having you back.

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5 years ago

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Ask the Community - Next Level Clucker

Basilisk

Basilisk

4.4
(650 reviews)
7.9 mi
$$

Basilisk is a STAPLE of this NE Sandy neighborhood, located inside what is locally known as "the…read moreZipper" building, home to several food vendors and the bar Paydirt. I have visited this spot many times over the years and the Basilisk food quality and service remains consistently good over nearly a decade of patronage. The patio at the zipper is perfect for a spring lunch date with your bestie. I order my chicken sando first and then grab a drink at Paydirt while I wait! Service is always great at Basilisk and the fried chicken is the kind you think about days later.

Basilisk is another of those Portland restaurants I regularly visited on work trips to the city in…read morethe 2010s. It's been around 7 or 8 years since my last visit but I remember the fried chicken sandwiches coming with two thick, juicy, fried boneless thighs. I found it difficult to eat more than half a sandwich given the size and excess meat. Usually I would end up pulling one thigh out and saving it for later! I decided to visit again on a recent weekend trip to Portland, arriving for an early dinner at around 4:30 PM. It was surprisingly busy, with at least a quarter of the seats taken in the shared seating pool even though it was so early in the day. Luckily there wasn't a line to order and the food came out within 15 minutes. Fried Chicken Sandwich ($13) - Just as how I remembered, this sandwich is still huge with two breaded and fried thighs on a bed of lightly dressed, crunchy cole slaw. It's really tall and doesn't compress well due to the abundant crunchy elements throughout. There's the bun that's heavily toasted until extremely, almost aggressively, crisp and almost dark golden brown, absolutely doused in butter a la Texas toast. There are house pickles on the bottom bun, very quickly pickled such that it develops no acidity, but changes to that crunchy yet soggy pickle texture. The two chicken thighs are expertly breaded until full of crags and valleys, seasoned well, and fried until crisp. The crispy quality is of a lighter variety rather than a hard crunch, very delicate as compared to a typical flour based fried chicken dredge. The chicken is different from what I remembered. Instead of being juicy full thighs, almost an inch thick at the meatiest, these patties are thin, sad, like a single thigh butterflied and cut into fourths width-wise. The breading is far thicker than the chicken itself - in fact the chicken almost is an afterthought here, completely getting lost in all the breading and everything else in the sandwich. Seriously, look at some of the photos from other Yelpers taken in 2016 and 2017 and compare to my cross section photo. It's a huge difference. I bet it's a cost cutting measure and it certainly isn't an appreciated change. Maybe it's just a sign of the times - while the 2010s air waves thumped with 'All About That Bass," the thick thighs have now unfortunately been 2020s Ozempic zapped. The major downside of the sandwich is surprisingly the bun. It's by far the most dominant component of the sandwich. It's the crunchiest element and the butter flavor completely overwhelms the taste buds. This is why fried chicken sandwiches are usually served on soft and pillowy buns, or at least buns that are only lightly toasted, so the bread can focus on and cradle the crunch element rather than supersede it. This is the first time that I can recall a sandwich where the bun is the dominant entity. (3/5) Dandan Fries ($10) - These fries are deceptively filling. They're really snackable and give a distinct moreish quality. It's like a snack where I absentmindedly keep reaching in the bag for more and suddenly it's completely empty. The fries combine a somewhat lightly fried potato, a delicate crisp on the outside and an extremely fluffy almost fall-apart tender inside, with a nutty, spicy, and mouth tingly mala sauce. The sauce is thick, rich, filled with fatty goodness. It's actually a really good glue, adhering the crushed peanuts on the fries so well, nothing falls off while lifting the fries out of the bowl. I especially love the mini cornichons mixed into the fries. They add just a bit of sweetness and acidity that balances so well with the fatty dandan inspired sauce. Without them, I think the dish would feel far too rich. With them, the fries go down the gullet at a quick rate. (5/5) I can't help but feel a little disappointed at Basilisk. It's another one of those places that seems to have decided to sacrifice quality in order to keep prices relatively low. While I enjoyed the Dandan Fries, I'm not sure that's enough of a draw to get me to revisit. Bathrooms - Four unisex rooms shared with the other establishments in the building. Requires code to enter.

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Next Level Clucker - vegan - Updated July 2026

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