White House Chicken

White house is always hit or miss. One time is fabulous… next time, not so much. Tonite was the latter.
I’m a single mother… and my daughter and I opted to split a large dinner… and then I added an extra thigh. Just honestly trying to save money. plus her and I can’t eat all that food.
And $ 14 something for a 5 piece chicken dinner isn’t cheap.
Well the food came out, and being knowledgeable in the industry… and going here like a bazillion times… I could tell right away this was old chixken re fried.
I was going to say something, but I didn’t. It wasn’t hot at all… lukewarm at best. The hot rice was very thick/​old as well. …
And again, if I didn’t know any better– it would of been fine. But I did.
It’s pretty bad that they do this. I mean I’ve been coming here for over 20 years and it just makes me loose respect for them… you know? I know when it’s a re fired order and when it’s fresh… Bread was hard too when we were served it. It was like they scorned us for trying to be frugal???
And it kinda alarmed me because as we were arriving a big party was leaving… and as we sat there, multiple to go orders came in.
So I know they had to been cooking some fresh chicken in that kitchen tonite. We just didn’t get any of it.
But, it is what it is… I got a mediocre at best– dinner tonite.
Maybe next time they will do the right thing.
I just hope I don’t get sick because it didn’t seem up to temp.
I may call the manager tmrw and tell them about it. Quality control is necessary… for health concerns and keeping customers — –that’s why we frequent WH rather than Hopocan… but as for tonite, it was a let down.

This was my first time and I gotta say it was GROSS… The chicken skin was chewy like it was old. Fries were old and over greased. The coleslaw wasn’t bad.

Everyone has their favorite Barberton chicken house and White House is ours. The chicken is amazing, always served piping hot and the meat is so moist and tender and the crust is so good. Add some delicious fries, their fantastic coleslaw and hot rice and you cannot get a better fried chicken dinner!

Or 10 piece chicken bucket with fries comes with a ton of fries waitress was very nice chicken with dark and greasy and little bit dry not sure if they cooked the fish in the same grease as a chicken I probably won’t go back

I agree with a couple of other reviewers: It’s a place that if you’ve grown up with I can imagine the nostalgia outshines the actual food because as a recent transplant to the barberton area (at least job-​wise) I heard so much about this place that I had to try it out. But I’ve had much, much better elsewhere.
I ordered a 2 piece tenders snack and fries along with an extra side of cole slaw for a little under $ 6. Service was great, friendly and prompt.
Food:
Chicken: large breast pieces that really aren’t tenders, more like a sandwich size tender. Chicken itself was really, really bland. Juicy, but almost tasteless. Breading was the same. Pretty basic but virtually tasteless. Fries were okay but lots of small bits and pieces vs. a heaping helping of long cut fries.
Overall, it’s not what I would consider a ‘destination’-type place that many little cities have.
Good: Cheap.
Not so good: Very bland, small bits of fries.

5−6÷10 on my scale. Staff was really nice. The taste was good, but the texture wasn’t too crisp and it was too oily.

We ate here tonight for the first time with close friends. Service was outstanding, the place was packed and loud but our server managed to place our orders correctly and was very attentive. Portions are pretty large and the prices are low. The food? Not great. I ordered chicken tenders and they were hot on the outside but lukewarm at best on the inside. I don’t think they cook with salt, at all. The breading had zero taste, but it left a lingering aftertaste to me, almost as if the fryer grease was dirty. We will not return, not quite sure what he hype about this place is. You want great fried chicken? Go to Mrs Yoders Kitchen in Amish Country, not here.

Continuing with our a barberton chicken tour. This is the location to go for authentic White House chicken c falls or green do not hold a wing to Barberton location. The hot sauce is the spicest sauce and rice have ever had and once again nothing like vinegar coleslaw so delish. The chicken is nice and juicy and the coating is crispy service really courteous and friendly. Enough food to get doggy bag.

I’m a Belgrade’s kinda gal (maybe because they serve beer, unlike White House), but White House does a very proper rendition of Barberton chicken and the requisite sides. Service here is highly efficient but a bit brusque and the setting is spare. It’s a decent place to get your fix, but a cold beer and nicer atmosphere would do wonders.

Best chicken around! We have lived out of state for 5 years and we make a point to stop here every time we visit!

Four stars for Barberton chicken. Family chicken house and great hot sauce. Always consistent and good.

This is another of many chicken houses in Barberton. I did not frequent this one very often. The chicken was good as well as there hot rice, coleslaw and homemade fries. I would say there chicken is not as good as the rest of the chicken houses. But it still has good chicken dinners.

As a child this was a place my family and I would go to at least once a month, and I mean my whole family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, ect. Fast forward 30 plus years and I still got here with my son. The chicken is good, not as great as before since not cooked in same way as the past due too using healthier was of cooking. The hot rice is still the best around!!! The décor is a little dated and old, hasn’t changed much in 30 years, could use a little updating for sure. Overall still best chicken place in Barberton.

White House chicken and hot rice is AMAZING! Just had to stop on my way through Barberton from our out of town vacation. Now that I live near Youngstown… I don’t get the opportunity to have a taste of childhood very often … It’s a real treat!

I really don’t understand what all the hype is about this place. I know several people who live here locally and that’s all they talk about, and from the reviews from the locals, the same thing… but I really think that this is just that… a local favorite, nothing outstanding, just something you love if you grew up here.
I ordered the four piece meal which I was assuming would be like any other 4 piece chicken strip meal for around $ 8…I was very wrong. The chicken was twice the size of any other «chicken strip» I’ve ever had, huge, so big I wonder how they make any money. My sides, green beans and «hot sauce» as well as fries were pretty generous too. However, the food wasn’t outstanding. The chicken was kind of hard and the breading had absolutely no flavor to it. The hot sauce is a local thing and I didn’t particularly care for it. The fries were outstanding and the green beans were pretty good. I couldn’t even eat half of my meal so I took the other half home and used it for lunch the next day.
But as far as taste is concerned, Raising Canes makes a way better chicken strip. Lots of crispy flavor, super juicy chicken, and a matching sauce. Here they gave me sauces from store bought packets which was very disappointing. You can’t beat the price here for the portion size, I will give them that. But you can also tell that this is the type of place where cheap people come to eat and old people come and run up a $ 50 bill and leave $ 0.50c as a tip, it would suck to be a server here.
I honestly can’t say I would go back if I was in the area again, it wasn’t good enough to make me want to return without trying many of the other businesses in the area first. If I didn’t find a better restaurant then I would probably come back vs. eating at McDonalds.

I was there years ago and I still remember it as the best damn chicken in the state, and arguably in the country.

Maybe it’s me, but I just got back from there for lunch and I have to say, I wasn’t that impressed. I still favor Popeye’s or Church’s over this.
I did see that they had freshwater pike like along with their chicken for a surf-​n-​turf meal but didn’t opt for it. I came to maximize the chicken experience so I ordered the classic dark. It was interesting to see the back was served as a piece. Never seen that before although I eat whole rotisserie chickens and the back is always worth picking at.
Overall, the food wasn’t bad, it just didn’t live up to the hype. The slaw was so-​so as well as the hot sauce, nothing to rave about. The fries were pretty good. I wouldn’t go out of my way out to come here. I’ve heard that Belgrades was family related with White House so it seems like the food will be similar. I don’t think I’ll need to make a trip there as I think it’ll be just about the same. The food is not under seasoned at all. I don’t know what the obsession American’s have with salt, but I felt like I had my sodium for then week eating the chicken alone.

Gross. A friend that lives in Canton took a couple of us out-​of-​towners to the (self proclaimed, I’d assume) Fried Chicken Capitol of the World.
We all got the 6 Tenders & 3 sides. The Hot Sauce was played up as a «local thing» so I had to try that, also got slaw and fries. Thank god for the fries. Everything came out in a timely manner, and everything looked great, check the picture I uploaded. Tried the tenders. I don’t know if they forgot to season them or what but they were reallly bland. There was no flavor at all, not even salt. It was just not good. All three of us sat there discussing how it was possible for a place known it’s chicken to have such mediocre product. Maybe it was presumptuous of me to think that they must have a distinctive quality of ANY kind. And it was a little dry. The slaw was equally bland. Cabbage, vinegar, sugar, meh. The Hot Sauce: glad I tried a local thing, alas not for me. If you’ve never had it, think soupy Spanish Rice. That’s it. Finally the fries! Thank god for the fries. They’re hand cut and really pretty good. But then the ketchup was Hunts. I think it’s common knowledge that Heinz is the gold standard and Hunts is what you get where someone cuts corners, runny, sweet, and attempting to pollute the one thing on my plate I wanted to eat, the fries!
I guess I just don’t get it. From the drab dining area with tables and chairs suitable for a church basement rec room, the blandest meal ever, I’m quite amazed this place is 65 years old. Maybe it’s the «big city foodie» coming to town, but after his second bite, my friend looked up at me and said in a low tone, «this isn’t good» –his exact words, so I’m not alone here.
Good luck White House. You’re going to need it.
Soupy Spanish Rice jars available to go. Great service.

My views on this place may be a bit jaundiced inasmuch as this was about the only restaurant for which my rather «Scotch» parents would spring back in the day.
So this was just short of mother’s milk for me, but here goes.
As the Marine Corps of Barberton chicken houses these guys offer two entrees; chicken, and begrudgingly, fish. Other of it’s counterparts venture boldly into other «haute cuisine» offerings of one kind or another, some do a nice paprikash etc., but not these guys! No hamburg, cheeseburg!
The chicken is largely unseasoned, breaded and deep fried of course, so you may want to keep the salt shaker handy,
For reasons unknown, though, perhaps it’s laced with a narcotic, the stuff requires return visits. The bird is always juicy and, after salting, quite flavorful in an understated little black dress kinda way. Typically the fries are to die for, although on this visit they were a bit overdone, but they’re fresh cut and the coup d’ gras is the «hot sauce», (Hungary’s version of Spanish rice). Get extra. Dip your fries in it and you’ll never again be happy with ketchup! Dip your chicken in it, and the experience becomes transcendent! Back in the day, when I was the guest of my parents, the plates were overfilled with all the above and cole slaw, (vinegar and hint of sugar syle not creamy style), and everything ended up with either some cole slaw or hot sauce as a volunteer condiment, Just like the day Mr Hershey and Mr Reese bumped into one another, it was a most happy accident!
One doesn’t come here to impress one’s friends.
No alcohol is served, just soft drinks iced tea and coffee. It’s a casual eatery, but one often sees suits and dresses as quite the cross section of people get hooked.
Just rest assured that family-​owned restaurants don’t survive for over sixty years by serving slop, so just come and enjoy, you won’t regret it!

How does this place only have 2 reviews?
I find it a bit odd that any restaurant that’s been around as long as this place has, with as much outside advertising as this place has had (there was an Iron Chef special that was hosted here!), that SOOO many people from Ohio have taken pride in (seriously, appearently if you move away from Ohio, you have chicken from Barberton specifically mailed to you so you can have that taste of home), would have so little following on Unilocal.
The same goes for Belgrade Gardens, another Barberton Chicken staple. This town is the «Fried Chicken Capital of the World»! And only two people have ever written reviews for White House?
Bizarre.
With that rant made, let me go into my own experience here at White House. Towards the end of my Thanksgiving trip to meet and visit my girlfriend’s family, I was told I just had to come here and experience the … well, experience, I guess. I’ve read about the style of fried chicken in this town, was told that if you didn’t come from here, you may not ‘get it.’ But I think I’ve had enough southern comfort food to appreciate another take on this classic staple.
First off, let me just say that the chicken itself is delicious. Yes, the breading is different, and many people would be put off that there is no seasoning in the crust (a major point to anyone trying this the first time). But you need to understand that that’s kind of the point to his style. No excess pepper or parpika or thyme or whatever to detract from the natural flavor of the chicken. The breading serves more as a seal to help keep the juices inside instead of overwhelm the protein with salt. In that respect, the crust does a damn fine job.
And the second, my most favorite aspect of Barberton Chicken, is that they serve the chicken, ‘Depression Style.’ This means that they cut the bird into eight different pieces, instead of four, to get as much out of one chicken as possible. The results of this are pieces and sizes most people would balk at, including the ‘Chicken Back’ which has little meat on it, but resembles as close to a set of baby back ribs as a hen can muster. I personally thought that was pretty cool.
Still, and this may be my non-​Barberton-​ness just ‘not getting it’, seasoning does go a long way and there’s only so much that thick breading fried in lard can do. All of that together, considering just the chicken, makes this place, in my eyes, just slightly below average. But I didn’t get into the sides.
The cole slaw is simple, vinegar and cabbage. At first this doesn’t seem that great. But bite after bite being that fresh and crisp, with the acid from the dressing melting into an impressive sweetness in your mouth was quite fantastic. And then there’s the hot sauce. It has the taste of a mexican rice, but with a thinner consistancy that made it perfect for dipping everything into. Definitely the best thing about this place and I could easily come back just for that.
So, all in all, not brilliant, but definitely worth trying for yourself if you’re in the area.
And for everyone that’s reading this from Ohio … WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEWS FOR THIS PLACE! White House chicken has been around forever, show your love! And, most importantly, tell us why your the Fried Chicken Capital of the world. I’d like another perpective and I don’t want the knee-​jerk response, «It’s just a Jersey thing! … err, Barberton thing!»