Chicken Now in San Francisco, CA: A Review

Chicken Now just sort of appeared in the Stonestown Galleria food court at some point in the last twelve months or so. As I don't go to Stonestown very often, I can't say exactly when, nor can I even remember what was occupying the space before them. What I can tell you is that this is an interesting Asian take on the Popeye's/KFC formula that actually beats the established fried chicken kings on a couple of points.

The main thing they advertise is their chicken strips made from plump chicken breast, which the lady working the counter is usually offering free samples of along with their Thousand Island-esque dipping sauce. The combination works. While the dipping sauce really is pretty decent, and a new spin on the usual chicken complements, the chicken itself is the star of the show here. It's tasty, moist, not overly salted, and the strips are about 2x the size of KFC's or Popeye's while being about the same price. For $7 you can get a combo meal with four strips, fries and some buttered toast. The fries are fairly generic, resembling McDonalds most in style and texture, but they add a sprinkle of Mrs. Dash or some similar seasoning across them to make them more interesting than usual. The toast is just a big piece of white bread, but it tastes pretty good and isn't over or under-buttered.

This particular location also offers a bunch of chicken wraps, sandwiches and salads, but it's all breast meat strips whether they be fried or grilled. They do not seem to have any other, more traditional fried chicken on the menu. That's the one downside I suppose, you can't just grab a couple of legs or a thigh on the cheap for a quick meal. Sides are also somewhat limited - coleslaw, corn that appeared to be straight from a can, mashed potatoes or a fruit cup are about your only choices if you don't want the Mrs. Dash fries. Strips seem to be the crowd favorite these days, however, so I'm guessing not too many people will mind that limitation.

The Lakeside neighborhood area immediately around Stonestown and San Francisco State has really been lacking for good fried chicken for some time. You'd think KFC or someone would have exploited this situation by now, but I'm glad they didn't, because it left an opening for Chicken Now and their chicken is really better than any of the major chains I've ever been to.