By Richard Foss, Cuisine and Restaurant Writer
When I mentioned that I was going to Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles, someone asked me, “What’s good there?” This actually made me think for a minute, because we were talking about a place where literally half the menu is contained in the restaurant’s name. If you subtract everything involving waffles and chicken from the menu, you don’t have a whole lot left. If you’re a person who doesn’t like waffles or you’re a gallinaphobe (and if there wasn’t already a Latin term for those who hate chickens, I just invented one), this is probably the wrong restaurant for you.
For those who don’t know the place I’m talking about, Roscoe’s has been an institution since the first one opened in Hollywood in 1975, and the Long Beach location has been a popular hangout since 2001. They didn’t invent the combination of fried chicken and waffles, which supposedly goes back to a supper club in Harlem. Musicians who stopped by in the wee hours after gigs were too late for dinner and too early for breakfast, so they had something that combined both. Like that supper club, Roscoe’s is open late — until 2:30 a.m. on weekends — and attracts a fair share of performers and other night owls.
The atmosphere is casual, a bustling dining hall where you come to eat, but not linger, and at peak hours it’s a popular place with families and large parties. The welcome is usually friendly but brisk — the servers here have a lot of tables to cover and generally do a good job of handling things. It’s not like they’re asked a lot of questions anyway, because just about everybody gets the same thing. Order up an iced tea or coffee to start, because they don’t have an alcohol license, and you will probably be able to figure out what you want without guidance.
I have been eating at Roscoe’s for decades and usually know what I’m having when I walk through the door, but recently I decided to broaden my horizons and try something besides what’s on the sign outside. On one trip, I tried the chicken chili and a chicken salad sandwich while my wife had the fried chicken livers. (Yes, the things that aren’t fried chicken still contain chicken. You’re surprised? They have one item that doesn’t — the red beans and rice, and I may try that someday.)
The chicken chili unfortunately is nothing special, a bit timid and bland even by the standards of coffee shop chili. I wasn’t expecting the spicy cumin-laced blast that you get from a Texas joint, but the broth here was thin and didn’t have the garlic, oregano and cumin that gives even a mild chili some backbone. The chicken salad was better, meaty with just a dash of seasoning — get it on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato, ask for your fries crisp and you have a pretty decent lunch.
As for chicken livers, you like them or you don’t — they have a rich, delicately funky flavor and a soft texture that makes partisans for or against. My wife thinks chicken livers are wonderful; I find them OK. When she orders them at Roscoe’s, snacking off of her plate is enough for me. My wife gets grits with her livers, another Southern specialty that this Yankee doesn’t often get, and she vouches for those, too.
So now to my favorite order, which is almost the same as everybody else: the chicken and waffles. I always order the dark meat and pay the slight surcharge to get the buckwheat waffles, which have a slightly heavier texture and mild nutty flavor that matches the savory flavors of the chicken. Waffles here are served soft rather than crisp, so if you like them crisp, just ask for them that way. A decent mild gravy is available. If I order it, I get it on the side, because that way the waffle stays crisp longer.
As for the chicken, the batter they use here is very mildly seasoned rather than laced with pepper and herbs. It is applied to the bird in a relatively thin layer, instead of heavily in the style that someone once called “a fried dough ball stuck on some chicken.” (That person was “Colonel” Harlan Sanders, and he was talking about his own product. Roscoe’s difference in style from “The Colonel’s” is a good thing.) The chicken usually is moist inside but not greasy, as might be expected from a place that makes a business of serving it. The cooks are fried chicken pros, and they have the timing down.
So is Roscoe’s the best place for chicken and waffles? I actually know places that have chicken I like more, but don’t serve waffles, and vice versa. But they aren’t anywhere close; they aren’t this inexpensive; and they aren’t open late so I can get my chicken and waffle fix any time I like. Roscoe’s does what they do well, and if that’s what you want, this is where you go.
Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles is at 730 East Broadway in Long Beach. It is open daily at 8 a.m. and it closes at 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 2:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. There is free parking across the street. It’s wheelchair accessible. They have few vegetarian options and alcohol is not served.
Details: (562) 437-8355; roscoeschickenandwaffles.com.