Harold’s Chicken Shack

Their chicken is good but it’s not consistent. They have their good and bad days. This chicken shack was a hot mess when they first opened. They didn’t accept credit cards for awhile now they do. So many people standing around wasn’t sure who needed to place an order or who was waiting for their food. Couldn’t find a phone number for them online until recently.
Some advice:
This is not an appeasing dine in restaurant, it’s more of a take out type of place.
Call ahead to order, wait time is like ordering Pizza!!! Up to ½ hour wait.

We stopped by to try this new Chicken place (Harold’s) for dinner to take home. The order was for 2 quarter chicken dinners. When we got home there was only 1 dinner and a large tray of French fries and 2 tiny 2 ounce cups of slaw. The chicken had a good taste but the pieces were incredibly small, the thigh was less than 4 ounces. l did call and asked for a refund of the missing dinner. The redeeming thing here is that they refunded the entire check.

I have a lot of problems with this Harold’s chicken here in Merrillville. At first it was the «cash only» issue but I can see now they do allow you to pay with credit card so that was a big plus. The main issue with Harold’s is the wait. I mean Harold’s chicken has a history of being very tasty chicken that is freshly prepared but at the same time having people wait 45 minutes to fulfill in order for chicken that honestly tastes over cooked is just unheard of!!! Not to mention it wouldn’t help if they just worked on the overall look of the place. That place looks like someone’s old basement. If they want to have any luck being a successful takeout business they need to speed it up! Especially when you have a Sharks chicken 10 blocks north. And quite honestly their chicken isn’t that bad neither are the wings! Harold’s chicken needs to do better!

This is not Harold’s Chicken as I know it can be. My family and I have been to various Harold’s Chicken Shack restaurants in the Chicago area. We love the quality of their food and their generous portions. This Merrillville location did not meet our expectations.
First, there is much confusion about the ordering line and the pickup line. How about better signage so customers don’t have to keep sorting things out among themselves? Kudos to my fellow customers on the night I was there. Everyone was more than civil, though I wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been short tempers. Why? That leads me to my second point…
The wait for food is much too long. I appreciate the fact that Harold’s serves freshly cooked chicken, but it does not take 45 minutes to cook chicken. It just doesn’t. I counted as many as 15 people waiting for their orders. Some said they’d already been there for more than half an hour. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, many orders were filled out of sequence. That may or may not have something to do with order specifics, but to me it is also a sign of a very disorganized kitchen. We asked for a to-​go menu so we could order ahead next time and avoid the long wait, but were told they had run out.
The quality of the food was mediocre at best. We asked for mild sauce on the ½ chicken order and hot sauce on the gizzards. Neither came with sauce on top of the meat. There was a small container of sauce included with each meal. Yes, we should have checked before leaving. If we go back again we surely will check, but I have never been to a Harold’s where they didn’t add the sauce right on top of the meat. That’s what gives their chicken that special flavor. The chicken was overdone but edible, but the gizzards were mostly inedible as they were horribly overcooked.
Finally, watch out for the large pothole in the parking lot and the uneven flooring in the restaurant.
I know they’ve only been here a few weeks, so I’m giving them two stars. I’ll revisit later in the month and hope they have their act together.

Horrible horrible horrible take out service. If you want an order of chicken how about 50 minutes… No clue no rush mañana staff of 3 takes orders and fill orders in non-​sequential numbers. If you dare order white meat that is a big delay. Came in at 6:50 and left at 7:40. REAL!
One cook doing his best but kitchen help is really no help. Many customers all shared the same experience looking at the kitchen all on hold for their orders for a long time,…
Might be good chicken it’s ok,. not that great and definely not worth this hassle.
Harold’s you have to have some level of customer service or mindless people as customers that just don’t care if it takes almost an hour for carry-​out. The Colonel and Popeyes are better options… seriously, not happy.
Management? No where to be found. If dumb people want to go here for just ok fried chicken almost burnt expect THE worst customer service.

I had been wishing and hoping to have a Harolds Chicken near me for years and now — dreams answered :) If you have been to a Harolds you know the run down. Chicken, wings, fish, fried perfect covered in sauce (unless you dont like that kind of thing — they will give it to you plain), fries, theres not much flair to it but they know what they are doing. The business had only been open 6 days when I went so it was a little slow but customer service was good and they were very busy. The interior was very nice for a Harolds. They had a seating area with a tv. They are cash only for now and they had out what looked like great deserts (red velvet cupcakes). I will have to try next time.