Harold’s Chicken Shack #42

EDIT: LOCATION HAS CLOSED. Sign on the door says that it will re-​open, no idea where or when. Apparently, they didn’t tell Groupon of this development. Retaining 5-​Star rating for food quality, but caveat emptor!
Discovering that a Harold’s Chicken Shack was within walking distance (if at the edge of that designation) is as important a public service as a library or access to mass transit. #42 is, with the exception of that weird Wisconsin outlier, the most northern of the Harold’s locales, I believe. The first thing one notices is how hilariously inaccurate its website is (
): Harold’s Fried Chicken simply does not look like that, never will, and would probably be shunned if anyone saw it talking to crudite or a ceramic dip bowl. Also, while I am still reeling from how the Hyde Park locale is now accepting credit cards, this location was revealed to me through a Groupon… A Groupon, people! What is this madness?!
The four wings mild sauce salt and pepper (the omission of commas is intentional) is, of course, more similar to that of the Hyde Park location than anything else in the world, and yet, the differences are noticeable and perplexing. For one, the chicken is much more moist, which gives it a distinctly southern taste. Also, the mild sauce has much more of a sweet-​and-​sour tang to it, as opposed to the much more BBQ-​based Hyde Park variety. (It actually comes closest in taste to the Mumbo Sauce I first encountered in DC three years ago.) The fries ended up getting a lot of the ambient moisture, which left them soggy, but, then again, the fries in Hyde Park aren’t great either. And of course, like Hyde Park, they never give you enough coleslaw to make the deep-​south white-​bread-​slaw-​and-​sauce burrito that the bread is there for.
However, these are quibbles (and the long wait… order ahead, people!). It may lack the bulletproof glass and RC Cola liters of my forever-​favorite Hyde Park location, but it is a Harold’s Chicken Shack. And the quality of Harold’s Chicken Shack remains outside the realm of human judgment. It is sublimity in a paper sack.

Amazing. Simply amazing. It’s been four days since my visit and I still have dreams, visions and daily I salivate when I think of my meal. The chicken was perfectly crispy, perfectly moist, just perfect all the way around. And the catfish. I’ll need a completely different paragraph for the catfish alone.
Ok, so you remember that episode of the Cosby show where all the guys gave birth to their favorite inanimate object (stick with me here…) and Cliff delivered like a 12 foot submarine sandwich? That’s how it was with my catfish. I reached in the bag to pull out a piece thinking I was just going to snatch it out and keep going but as I pulled, more… and more… and more came out. Like each piece was about 10 inches, I kid you not. Fantastically crunchy and fresh. I also like the fact that neither the chicken nor the fish are so over seasoned to the point where the sauce would be overkill. If you don’t like sauce and want your salt to be on the meat itself, then you might find it a little bland, but for the majority of their customers who like sauce I think the salt ration in batter to sauce is perfect.
So why is this a four star review and not a five star one? Because my total wait was about 35 minutes. 10 to place my order and 25 for my food to be prepared. Now I can accept that if I went in there asking for a burger that’s not their main specialty, but as I went into Harold’s *CHICKEN*, the fact that I ordered *chicken* which constitutes half of their selection, and fish, which is another ¼ of their selection, to have to wait 25 minutes for an order that is pretty basic when it comes to their offerings was a bit much. I don’t want my food under a heat lamp by any means, but it seems they could either have an extra person there (I only saw three when I went), or a better system of handling their constant influx of customers.
Was it worth the wait though? Yes! Harold’s…I’ll be back!

Delicious fried chicken when nothing else will do!!! Sometimes, I have a craving for something fried the traditional way and it can’t be oven fried or some other trick to make you think you’re eating fried chicken when you’re actually not. Not too salty, never greasy, never dry — just the tastiest, most awesome, moistest fried chicken in Chicago! You know good chicken when the leftovers the next day are just as amazing cold, as they were the night before, hot. Also, we use Grub Hub and there’s never been a problem with the wait. Staff is generally helpful if you ask their opinion and they’re always, always, very friendly!

I made the mistake of reading an article this afternoon about Harold’s being the «best bad chicken in the world» and realized I hadn’t eaten Harold’s in like forever. I am a north side transplant and recall fondly the Harold’s on 89^th and Stony Island. I have had Harold’s at the now closed Lake Street shack and at the Milwaukee Avenue shack. All excellent. The Wilson Harold’s is just as good. My only complaint is that I got the 4 piece mild instead of 6. Just a tip, order on Grub Hub and there won’t be a wait.

Yyyuuummmmmmmmyyyyyyy… had it delivered via Grubhub.. the corn on the cob & hushpuppies are off hook… also got the catfish dinner & ½ mixed chicken dinner… first time ever experiencing Harolds… definitely will repeat … it’s comfort food… wished they had mashed potatoes & gravy on the menu definitely would make it Perfection!!! Everyone’s should definitely try this place… BON APPETITE!!! Oh they also offer free stuff coupons on orders– I got a 6pk of Coca-​Cola for free!!!

The wait for the food after ordering got worst. I literally waited 40 minutes for a 4 piece dinner deal. PLUS they bumped up the prices while other Harold’s kept theirs the same.

Ordered a delivery for meals worth $ 18, delivery was $ 5.50 and I tipped $ 4.50. Estimated arrival time for food was 1.5 hours, arrived after 2 hours when I was just about to cancel order.
Fried chicken is solid and catfish is good although I would have preferred the fish being fried a little harder.
Fries and bread were inedible. Fries were cold, soft, oily, tasteless mush and bread was oil soaked from the fries.
It was just OK, definitely not worth delivery or a special trip. Is this the chicken everyone raves about? I am scratching my head here, definitely nothing special.
.

The ghetto crew must be working tonight. They not answering phones and refusing to take people’s orders. This the Southside crew has to be. They need to understand they are on the Northside now. I should have gone to godfathers the service is better.

While the food is spectacular at this Harold’s (quickly making its way into my top 5 in the city), I’m forced to give this establishment a 3 star rating based solely on the level of service here. Every time I call in, I wait on an average of 6 minutes to place my order. At least I learned to start calling in before venturing to this location.
I will say that every is pleasant in this location, it simply seems as if they are severely understaffed to be able to supply the demand of this location. I simply shudder to think what it’s like during lunch, especially having Truman right across the street.
3 stars because everything is amazing except the wait times. Actually, I’ll make it 4 cuz the chicken I’m eating right now is way too flame.

greasy or not, I love their pizza puffs! and a great deal is a great deal! I once ordered 6 pizza puffs just so I can eat 2 a meal for an entire day; and that I did lol true story, I regret nothing haha Their Chicken is ok… I guess I don’t mind it. It is just fried chicken after all. I like it but I wouldnt rate it higher than any other fried chicken except the salty and dry ones from KFC… Perhaps fried chicken just doesn’t taste all that different to me but untill I find other pizza puffs that taste really good. Here is where I will always get my pizza puffs lol and get 2! it’s a good deal: D

Waited over 45 minutes for a small order for two people on Tuesday night.
Apparently there were several «party orders» right before us and nobody thought to tell us when we placed our order that it would take that long.
Unacceptable, would never go here again.

One of the best chicken joints out there, PERIOD.
Aside from delicious food, Nita, the owner has gotta be the sweetest woman I have ever met. I would go in just to see her if nothing else, even when they are super busy she goes out of her way to be exceptional to everyone.
If you haven’t been, GO!

I came here because my wife used to live in the Southside of Chicago and this is hands down the best Chicken in the Southside. They, fortunately, did not disappoint. Everything I got here was good! I don’t know what’s in that sauce but Mmmmm… so goooooood. This location is in front of the College so it’s relatively safe and there’s a lot of cops driving around. So just be aware of that. They only do carry out in this location anyway so you should be in an out quickly. I would suggest to call ahead or go for the Grubhub. They get busy fast. A 20 – 30 min wait is possible if you don’t order ahead.

You can’t beat their meal deals for what you get! I think I paid $ 6 for a ¼ chicken meals with a drink. Perfect portion sizes for lunch. The fried chicken was good, I usually get the hot sauce on the side, because I don’t like too much. The fries are fries and the bread is bread LOL.
The lady who took our order was nice and even confirmed our orders before giving us our food.
The Cons:
You wait a long time for your food — order ahead!
The place had a funny smell, like cleaning fluid, must, and fried chicken — but I took that chance.
You risk your life by possibly being shot in a drive-​by. Those who don’t live in the area won’t know this because the news never reports this area, but it happens in this exact area weekly — day or night!
Overall, for cheap friend food, you can’t beat Harold’s!

My favorite chicken place in Chicago. The sauce is amazing and the chicken is always crispy. I would recommend Harold’s over Popeyes and KFC. Big portions and a great price.

First let me state, I love Harolds. I would have Harolds every Sunday when the Clybourn location was still in business and it was my favorite fried chicken hands down… however, the food from this location left me wondering if the Harolds Chicken I remember even exists.
I recently ordered from this location on Grub Hub. The food took 2 hours to be delivered and my order was not complete or correct and was ICE COLD!
The chicken was VERY bland, the wings themselves were not what I have come to expect and love from Harolds. Instead of the big hearty tasty wings I got TINY over cooked wings with very little flavor and very little meat. I asked and was charged for sauce, which was expected, but did not get ANY sauce when my order arrived. Come on now Harolds, your sauce is the best that there is, if you are going to charge me for it, I expect it to be in the box.
At the end of the day, I was incredibly disappointed. Harolds in my mind was the best you could get and I would tell everyone about it. Now, im forced to look elsewhere for good Fried Chicken in Chicago. Sad day.

Mmmmmmm mild sauce…
I believe with all my heart that you’re nuts if you don’t like this place. The chicken is fresh and juicy to a fault! It’s amazing. The cheese sticks are awesome. The biscuits are awesome. The service is amazingly awesome. Ms T owns this store and runs it well. You can tell she has a passion for this business and I respect that wholeheartedly. Yes I WILL be a frequent customer and promoter.

I keep hearing about how great their fried chicken is. I tried that, fried okra, and fries.
Nothing great. The chicken is decent. It’s not the the most flavorful, but it’s also not as rich to the point u feel super regretful. One thing I really liked though is their hot sauce. It’s like a lighter version of sirracha I think. It has a thinner texture and it’s not as spicy.
What if it’s really just diluted sirracha??!

Yep, they done let me find out there is a Harold’s Chicken in my hood! I did not realize there was a Harolds uptown.
I was speaking with one of the ladies that work there and she told me they used to occupy space on 87^th & Cicero and I remembered frequenting that location back in 1999 – 2000 as i used to work out @ the nearby Ballys at the time. small world!
Got my normal 4 piece mild and it was as good as any other Harolds that I normally eat.
Found my new Friday night dining joint now! Thanks Uptown for making a south sider feel @ home!

Harold’s Chicken on Wilson is my Chicken Heaven!
And now they are making Homemade Biscuits too.
So. I need to be careful because too much Harold’s Chicken
and Biscuits can make it my Hell.
Okay. so Mario is the Biscuit King and man can he make
some tasty biscuits.
They are baked golden brown and taste like.
well you know. Heaven.
Light and Fluffy, so phenominal…
And I am not giving Mario props just because he
called me Beautiful.
But wait. I actually did like that!
Seriously. if you are craving fried chicken and homemade
melt in your mouth biscuits Harold’s on Wilson is the place
to go.
So. well deserved props to Mario.
You are the Master of Biscuits.(and chicken!)
I’ll be seeing you again.:)