Chicken and Waffles Tour of America (Suggestions!)

By Ailish

Apparently, July 30th is National Chicken and Waffles Day. I’m not always a fan of these seemingly made up “national holidays” that Instagram and the morning news delights in, but sometimes there’s one that hits me right in my heart so hard that I can’t avoid celebrating it.

 

Soul Groove in San Francisco

 

This might not be official, there are other places out there that say other dates are “Chicken and Waffles Day” but do they have a sign in their chicken and waffles establishment proclaiming it so?!

I can’t pin point the exact day I had my first chicken and waffles meal. It was probably in Oakland at Home of Chicken and Waffles, around 2012. I probably had something super normal and uninventive for a menu like their’s with so many options. My love of this meal coincided with my move back to California after living in Washington for two years. Since that first meal, I’ve developed a slight obsession with it.

Documented rather thoroughly on my Instagram

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love breakfast. I’ll order it whenever I can make any excuse to have breakfast for dinner. Chicken and Waffles is just such a solid meal. It’s not quite breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s really the perfect brunch meal because it’s hardy enough to fill you up for a while. Plus it pairs best with sweet and savory sides. I hesitate to call it my ~favorite~ meal because I love having it every so often as a special treat, but then again because it has so many variations, it’s always special.

 

In the past five years, I’ve had this meal from at least two dozen different places. I have my favorite reliable places, as well as some stand out places.

 

Most Reliable:

Pann’s (Inglewood, CA)

If you don’t mind waiting 20 mins to get seated, this place has the most affordable bottomless mimosa brunch I’ve ever come across. They don’t fucking play around when they say bottomless. You take one sip of your mimosa and they rush over to fill it with champagne. The food is always great. It’s chicken wings, not entirely fried chicken so it’s still great. The waffle is the perfect Belgien size with deep divots to pour your syrup into. Imagine a diner and you’re likely picturing Pann’s. The service is delightful and the food is delicious. Actually, I can only speak for the Chicken and Waffles meal, which I think is the only thing worth getting.

Runner up: Home of Chicken and Waffles (Oakland, CA)

You never forget your first. They also have a great weekend bottomless mimosa brunch special. Their fried chicken is so great! And they have so many different meal combos. My go-to’s are Paige’s Pallette: 2 fried chicken wings, an egg (fried) and a waffle. OR Keiths Tackle: 2 chicken wings, a waffles and mac and cheese.

 

Best quality

Pancakes and Waffles (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Maybe it’s because it’s made with Aloha, maybe it’s because I was on vacation mode when I had these, but my god this is exactly what I think of when I picture Fried Chicken and Waffles. Everything about it was perfect and exact, I couldn’t believe it. I got the right portion of everything, there wasn’t anything super fancy about it. It was simple, delicious and hands down the best meal I’ve ever had.

Runner Up: Neptune’s (Alameda, CA)

I went to this place on a whim and was delightfully surprised. The atmosphere was so darling. They really don’t play with their Neptune theme. We sat outside and enjoyed a really unique take on fried chicken and incredibly sweet waffles (there was a savory option as well). I went during their soft opening while they were still in the midsts of getting a liquor license. The one thing I would have enjoyed with this amazing meal was a mimosa.

Close Third: Brown Sugar Kitchen (Oakland, CA)

This place is quickly becoming an Oakland staple. It’s got a phenomenal soul food style menu and of course a very delicious Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Cornmeal Waffles meal. To top it off (literally) they serve it with brown sugar butter and apple cider syrup which makes you say “of fucking course, these tastes go together!” The only downside (for me not for them) is how popular they are and how early I have to come to get this amazing unique meal.

Not worth the hype

Roscoes Chicken and Waffles

I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t love Roscoes. I’ve been there a handful of times and have tried many different items on their menu. But at best everything is very blah. The way I describe their food to people is fast food chicken and waffles. It’s not awful, but it’s also nothing special. The food comes quickly, like it’s hot and ready, which can be nice because their places can get really full. I know I know, Barack Obama loves Roscoes, and maybe I would too if I had a meal named after me. It’s not the worst, but when there are so many better options around, it’s not my first choice.

Universal Studios Cletus’s Chicken Shack

This is an obvious one. Of course, people don’t come to Universal Studios to get a Chicken and Waffles sandwich from Cletus’ Chicken Shack. They come for the butterbeer. But in case you were in the neighborhood, saw it on the menu and wondered if it was good or not, let me tell you it’s not. It’s literal fast food. The waffle is soggy from the slaw, the chicken is more baked than fried and it’s honestly too hard to eat. I’ve unfortunately had it twice and it didn’t get better the second time.

 

 

Go forth, my friends! Celebrate this glorious day right! Let me know what you’re eating!

Hawaii: Go for the Vacation, Stay for the Chicken and Waffles.

I’ve been to Hawaii on vacation before, but this was the first time I went as an adult which was a very different experience. I never realized how much of a vacation destination Waikiki and Oahu as a whole were until I saw it through the eyes of a grown up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly fun, but it’s also very much a vacation and while on vacation you want to do it right. Here’s my super bias advice, take it or leave it.

Activities

There are so many things in Hawaii that are catered to the tourism industry, which gives you as a tourist a LOT of choices. Almost too many choices. There’s surfing, swimming with dolphins, swimming with sharks, snorkeling, scuba diving, submarine dives, paddle boarding, cliff diving. Literally, name a water activity and there’s a minimum of 10 companies who want to take your money for the activity and then sell you a photo of you doing it. A lot of them are super fun and worth the money, but a lot of them are a little silly.

What you should do

• Surfing

If you don’t already live in a place where surfing is available to you, definitely take advantage of it here. The water is so warm and clear (at least in Waikiki) and the waves are so constant. They’re great for beginners and for experts. I’ve gone surfing in both the North Shore and in Waikiki and they both have their benefits. Waikiki is warm and clear, but it can get really crowded and depending on who you go to can be expensive. The North Shore is empty and through the Hawaiian Fire Surf School, you get a longer fuller lesson, but in colder water where you usually have to wear a rash guard. (Although researching for this post I realize they might have changed since I last surfed with them)

• Snorkeling

Hanauma Bay is a fantastic place to snorkel if you want to actually see a variety of fish and the best place to get hit with multiple selfie sticks. It’s a State Park so you’ll see a bunch of people treating it like shit which is frustrating. If you go, go as early as possible. Get there to see the fish before everyone scares them away with their shit snorkeling skills.

• Attend a luau

The hotel where we stay hosts their own luau a couple times a week. There are activities for the kids like lei making and activities for the adults like free Mai Tai’s (just kidding they’re not free, they’re part of your ticket). The Luau itself is just as wonderful and cheesy as I remember it being when I was 12. The food for whatever reason was spectacularly better than when I was a kid, which I guess is one benefit of vacationing as an adult with a mature apatite.  If your hotel doesn’t host one, I know the Polynesian Cultural Center hosts one plus about a million other places throughout the island.

What you don’t really need to do

• Submarining

The Hilton has a submarine activity which is exactly what it sounds like. You take a boat pretty far out into the ocean and board a submarine then you go down below the water and come back up. I’m biased about this because I got immediately sea sick and spent the majority of the submarine ride trying not to throw up. No one warns you about motion sickness! I also don’t remember seeing anything particularly cool looking under water, but that might have been because I was distracted. Try it if you want, but at least you’ve been warned about potential seasickness.

• Parasailing

This is seriously so much fun, but I also didn’t pay for it the first time I tried it. I considered doing it this trip, but then looked at the prices and realized I don’t have that kind of cash to blow. It’s a really rad experience if you’ve never done it before, but it’s not the most important thing to do.

 

What to eat

We had some pretty decent meals when we ate out, I’m sure there’s so much more to be explored in this realm. My favorite by far was the chicken and waffles meal from Pancakes and Waffles. I’ll write more about this later, but holy shit, this was the best chicken and waffles meal I’ve ever had in my life. (And I’ve eaten my fair share of Chicken & Waffles meals. Also: when I Instagrammed this photo and said that it was the best meal, they called me a Chicken & Waffles expert so clearly I know a thing or two) .They have a ton of other great sounding menu items, but I really only saw people ordering this option.

 

I think the most important thing you can do in Hawaii is see a god damn sunset. Or a sunrise. Honestly, do both if you can. I don’t know what it is but they’re fucking majestic. If you can watch it while you’re swimming in the ocean, maybe after drinking a Mai Tai, do that too. Because that’s what a grown up tropical island vacation is all about right?