****NOTE: This review was done prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Of course, things are much different at the moment, but we hope things will get back to normal soon and hope you will continue to support these local businesses****
Bok a Bok Fried Chicken
Recommended by: While eating our Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwiches at Lil Woody’s., my co-worker mentioned Bok A Bok Fried Chicken. And said they don’t have burgers, but have the best chicken sandwiches. We had to check it out.
Description on the Bok a Bok Fried Chicken website: It’s air-dried, hand-dipped and double-fried to order. This process isn’t fast but it makes for super juicy chicken with an unforgettable crunch. It’s fresh, never frozen, antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken. It’s hand-made biscuits and sides made from scratch, using fresh, responsibly sourced ingredients that we prepare with care and integrity.
Neighborhood/Type: University District
Address:5201 University Way Unit D, Seattle, WA 98105
What we ate/drank: Bowl O’Shame-Kimchi mac n’ cheese, spicy tater tots, chopped fried chicken thigh, 4 chili hot sauce, green onions, crispy garlic, crispy shallots and a poached egg, Umami BBQ Chicken Sandwich-Soft bun, gochujang bbq sauce, ginger cabbage slaw, mint and cilantro. Served with boneless chicken thigh. Bulgogi Chicken Tacos(3) on flour tortilla with ginger slaw, kim chi, cilantro and spicy lime cream. Yuzu Green Chili Chicken Sandwich – Charred pasilla peppers, dill pickles, pea sprouts, yuzu aioli. Boneless Chicken Thigh. 10 pc chicken wings.
Comments: The northern part of The Ave(University Ave) has become quite a hot spot lately. Bok a Bok Fried Chicken is another addition to the area in between Morsel & Koa and Xian Noodles & Snowy Village.
Bok a Bok Fried Chicken’s first branch was opened in 2016 in the White Center neighborhood and soon gained huge following and lines out the door and wings being sold out prior to closing. It was created by a former Skillet Diner chef, Brian O’Connor. He had been cooking fried chicken for many restaurants during his career and decided to make a go of it on his own and Bok a Bok Fried Chicken was born.
This particular branch in the University District is a walk up window only. There are no seats or benches outside either, so take out is your best bet, unless you want to eat it right there on the sidewalk. Their other locations in White Center, Capitol Hill and Burien all have indoor eating areas.
Just a warning, be prepared to tack on some calories. Heavy sauces, fried foods, mac & cheese. Ohh..but your mouth will thank you.
The first thing we noticed was that the fried chicken was not greasy and yet the inside was really juicy. We later found out that a special batter is used the covers the chicken for a crispy outside, but locks in the juices from the chicken keeping it tender. We understand the chicken is brined which also seasons and preserves the chicken and increases the flavor.
We got the wings and a boneless chicken thigh, which is the chicken in it’s simplest form at Bok a Bok Fried Chicken. There are four sauces for $.50 each. They are four-chili hot sauce, sesame soy garlic, bok a bok ranch, and Korean BBQ. Trutfully you don’t need them. The chicken stands on it’s own and is flavorful without using any of the sauces.
The bulgogi tacos weren’t our favorite, but the sandwiches are on a whole nother level. Both the Umami BBQ and Yuzu Green Chile Chicken Sandwiches will be repeat orders for our family on future visits to Bok a Bok. I have no idea where they get these chickens from but they are so big that they dwarf the buns they come on. We especially enjoyed the Yuzu Green Chile Sandwich. It’s spicy, sweet and the slight tart from yuzu all blends very well with the chicken.
The one dish that was truly life changing was the Bowl O Shame. The name of the dish is so apropos, because we did feel shame devouring the whole thing, but we just couldn’t help ourselves. It was so good! We broken open the poached egg and the yolk mixed with the chili sauce along with the kimchi mac n cheese, tater tots, fried chicken bits was sinfully good.
Who cares about the 2000 calories we just put in our body. This is the perfect meal for a hangover or a meal where you just want to cheer yourself up and don’t care about the consequences like when you just got dumped or got fired from your job. Here’s a video from Food Network extolling it’s virtues:
The fried chicken at Bok a Bok is in a different category than Ezells or Heaven Sent. The way their chicken is integrated into their bowls and sandwiches is distinctive.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: N/A It’s a take out stand
Service: 4.25
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.50
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: After publishing our Bok A Bok review, we noticed another Korean fried chicken restaurant, bb.q Chicken opening up in the old Radio Shack spot down The Ave.
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Ezell’s vs Heaven Sent – Battle of Seattle’s Best Fried Chicken
vs 
The Ezelll’s vs Heaven Sent story is very much like the Paseo vs Un Bien story. Except we’re not talking Caribbean sandwiches. This is the Best Seattle Fried Chicken competition which is the next in our Seattle Food War Series. And it has a doozy of a soap opera story behind it. And after doing our taste test, much like the Top Pot vs Might O doughnut competition, you can’t go wrong with either.
The History Behind Ezell’s and Heaven Sent
As soon as I moved to Seattle in the late 90’s, I heard the story of a fried chicken place all the way up here in the PNW that was so good that Oprah Winfrey declared it the best she’d ever tasted and would fly in the chicken from Seattle to Chicago so she could enjoy it. This place was Ezell’s, which had opened in 1984.
Apparently, after many years of having a successful business, there was a falling out with the co-founders and Ezell Stephens of the Ezell’s namesake was forced out of the fried chicken chain that was named after him. So what did Ezell Stephens do? He opened up his own Ezell’s fried chicken chain. So for a time, there were two sets of Ezell’s owned by each co-founder. Of course, lawyers got involved. You can actually read the offical court documents here.
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Once the dust settled, Ezell Stephens opened his chain of Heaven Sent Fried Chicken. And ever since then there’s been a debate in Seattle over who has the better fried chicken. It’s eerily similar to the Paseo vs Un Bien story, isn’t it? We’re here to settle the score once and for all. There’s even trash talk involved, “Their chicken is called Ezell’s,” said Mr. Stephens. “It’s not Ezell’s. Hell, it was only Ezell’s when Ezell was there.” and Mr. Stephens points out he’s the person who cooked for Oprah on her birthday in 1990.” On Facebook, the company declares “you will only find Ezell Stephens, the person who cooked for Oprah at Heaven Sent Fried Chicken.”- WSJ. These quotes are from an article from the Wall Street Journal that actually did a article about the feud. I love it!
If Oprah’s endorsement wasn’t enough, Esquire Magazine named Ezell’s the Best Fried Chicken in the US and it won by a massive margin. You’d think that the best fried chicken would come from the South, but Ezell’s whooped the other nominees from places like Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana.
Here’s the tale of the tape:
- Distance from our house: Ezell’s: 2 miles vs Heaven Sent: 4.5 miles
- Locations:
Ezell’s: 13 locations: Bellevue, Kent, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Renton(3x), Wallingford, Rainier Valley, Central District, Spokane, Tacoma, Woodinville
Heaven Sent: 3 locations: Lake City, Renton, Everett
The Order– For this Ezell’s vs Heaven Sent taste test, we tried to compare apples to apples so we got the 3 piece meal with a side of slaw and rolls. We tried to get mac & cheese also, but Heaven Sent didn’t have any prepared at the time of ordering. We ordered the spicy chicken version at each location. We had tried the original version before at each location prior and liked the spicy version better. Both locations were very close to our taste testing location, so we were able to compare fresh servings side by side.
The Rating System: For this Ezell’s vs Heaven Sent tasting, we decided to rate the meal based on the below. We gave an increased weighting to Value(2x) and Taste(3x) since we feel these are more important.
1. Appetizing/Appearance – Comparing on appearance only, Ezell’s golden dark brown pieces were more appealing. We think maybe Ezell’s chicken having a bit more batter also adds to the appeal. Winner: Ezell’s(1)
2. Crispiness- If it’s fried, it better be crispy, right? Again, having the extra batter on the chicken made all the difference. What a satisfying sound it is to hear that first bite into crispy fried chicken. Winner: Ezell’s(1)
3. Juiciness– After taking two big bites of each, Heaven Sent’s chicken was clearly juicier. So moist. I wouldn’t say Ezell’s was dry or anything, but it was less juicy. Winner: Heaven Sent(1)
4. Sides-
- Roll– The rolls tasted exactly the same to us, but Heaven Sent’s were much bigger, much fluffier and not as dense. Both were sweet with a nice brown hue on the outside. Our personal preference is fluffy instead of dense. Winner: Heaven Sent(1)
- Cole Slaw– Again, very similar tasting, but Heaven Sent’s slaw was a bit juicier and had slightly more spice, more peppery. This was super close, but… Winner: Heaven Sent(1)
5. Taste- We ordered a 3 piece meal at each place.
- Ezell’s: 3 piece meal. Comes with 2 sides and a roll. They didn’t ask what type of pieces I wanted, but they do give a choice of original, spicy or combination of both. They gave us a drumstick, wing and a breast.
- Heaven Sent: 3 piece meal comes with one side, a roll and a drink. They give you the option of 2 thighs and a drumstick or 2 breasts and a wing.
We found Heaven Sent’s batter more flavorful and the spices made it a bit more tasty than Ezell’s. The Heaven Sent chicken’s spiciness is perfect, not too hot, but enough to put a tingle on the tongue. I also like the fact that we were given a choice of the 3 pieces. We like chicken breasts, so we’re happy to get two at Heaven Sent. Winner: Heaven Sent (3)
6. Value for 3 piece meal including tax
- Ezell’s: $12.10. They not only give you an extra side dish, but it’s $2.50+ cheaper than Heaven Sent. Perhaps it’s cheaper because it’s take out only and they don’t have the extra expense of maintaining a sit down eating area?
- Heaven Sent : $14.64. They only give one side dish for this particular 3 piece meal, but they do give a drink from the soda fountain which Ezell’s doesn’t.
Extra side dish and $2.50+ cheaper? Winner: Ezell’s(2)
The Final Tally
| Category | Ezell’s | Heaven Sent |
| Appetizing/Appearance | 1 | 0 |
| Crispiness | 1 | 0 |
| Juiciness | 0 | 1 |
| Sides -Rolls | 0 | 1 |
| Sides- Cole Slaw | 0 | 1 |
| Taste | 0 | 3 |
| Value | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 6 |
Summary: There’s a constant comparison of Ezell’s and Heaven Sent for a reason-the Oprah story, the longevity of Ezell’s, the tumultuous history between the two, but there’s a main reason the comparisons persist. They both make damn good chicken. Both were fast. Both had service that was spot on. Truthfully, there is no loser, but a winner must be declared. So by a score of 6 to 4, Heaven Sent is the Winner!!!
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