I would consider myself an amateur fried chicken enthusiast. From Raising Cane’s and Chick-Fil-A to Jewel-Osco and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, I wouldn’t even put myself above buffet fried chicken (although somehow I’ve never been to KFC). In 2018, I even had a mild addiction to Crosstown Pub & Grill’s Wing’n It Thursdays, where you can get their wing platter for half-off price. Recently though, all my fried chicken cravings have been fulfilled by a new place in town: Chicken Lit.
Where to begin? Think 2019. At the end of March, 25 year old Tony Chen bought the place on 931 E Ogden Ave, and so Chicken Lit opened. It served mainly fried chicken in the form of tenders and wings, along with fries, sauces, and buttery toast. Even their chicken burger is three chicken tenders and a few pieces of lettuce. Everything on their menu highlighted chicken, and their 24-hour “manrinade” ensured it was high quality chicken indeed. Still, this restaurant sat quietly and generally unnoticed until one day, Tony had this marketing idea.
This is where I come in. The above flyer made its way across social media like a virus, popping up on Instagram and Facebook more and more. At its peak, I came across the advertisement 10 times in 1 day. Drawn to the prospect of fried chicken in any form, I visited the restaurant and was pretty impressed, but not blown away. The 3 chicken tenders were crisp and tasty, the Yummi sauce exceptional, but the fries were mediocre at best and their toast was only buttered on one side. Still, the meal was a good price, with all that being $5.98. Not to mention, it was filling and didn’t have the nasty, greasy feel that accompanied many other fried chicken places. Combined with Tony’s youth and friendly demeanor, it quickly gained popularity among young people in the area. His stilted English but perennially courteous and cordial attitude helped draw customers (not to mention his looks).
Unfortunately (for the ladies), he left for more adventurous pursuits, and returned to China. He’s now back in America, the land of opportunity, and working on developing a sports-related project.
The new owner, Mike Kuo, bought the restaurant at the end of October, and it reopened for business on November 7th. Since then, the menu has been updated with various other options, and even the fries have been upgraded to a flavorful crinkle-cut from the original shoestring variety.
Mike runs Chicken Lit with his wife, and you can occasionally see one of their three adorable kids running the counter. Since taking over, they’ve refined certain items on the menu to better serve the community (such as fries, wings, sauce portions, and others). The toast is still only buttered on one side (but it’s honestly really tasty that way too), and their Yummi sauce is still made in-house with their original recipe, so not too much has changed from the original menu.
Since taking over, Mike and his wife are constantly experimenting with new dishes, and he has added around 15-20 new items to the menu with the most recent ones being the bibimbap bowl and the crab rangoons. In my interview with him, however, he said the most popular items were still the tender combos and wing combos. After all, fried chicken is truly their specialty.
Well, Lit me be brief. Chicken Lit is a restaurant truly lit for a king, and if you don’t flip your lit, over the small amount of littuce in their burger, you’ll see that its truly a solit and valit choice. Just like how they’re growing their business, Chicken Lit will grow on you little by little.
For more, visit their website at chickenlitil.com.