When it’s done well, this is some of the best tender, succulent, crispy, crunchy chicken you can find. Special can either be a fresh, crispy chicken breast and a dense, yet soft, buttery waffle, or it can be a piece of plywood with a cold circle of sawdust on the side. Depending on the day and your luck, the #13 Carol C. In more sober moments, I’ve come to learn that this particular Roscoe’s location can be a mixed bag. Roscoe’s was founded in 1975 by Harlem native Herb Hudson, aiming to bring the sweet-salty soul food combination of chicken and waffles to the beach crowds of the west coast. It’s been a factory of regret for me through the years, often consumed under all-too-blotto conditions where I’m neither qualified to rate nor barely able to remember the food. This was years before the combo started popping up as ‘brunch’ on every middling chain restaurant menu in America, always obscenely priced and served Instagram-worthy with a giant knife stabbed through the middle of something on the plate. Like everyone else, I went there to see what this chicken and waffle on the same plate deal was all about.
Los Angeles, CA ( The Joy of Food) - I’ve been visiting Roscoe’s since I was in college, when the door guy at the original Hollywood location would refer to me as “the girl who can’t parallel park” to the other guests.
