99 Chicken

Good chicken, not oily & crispy. Place is not as clean & service is non existent. Unlimited salad & rice but no variety & for a Korean chicken place no kimchi available. Place so small & not disabled friendly. The kind of food you can’t eat frequently.

This is one of my most favorite KFC places. I’ll admit I haven’t had too many korean fried chicken places; however, none of them beats the portion sizes of 99 chicken (like Bonchon). These drumsticks and wings are HUGE, the skin is crispy, and the meat is still moist. I love the honey chicken, so that’s what I usually get. Today, my boyfriend decided to try the regular sauce and I thought it was alright. Not the greatest taste and there was just way too much of it. Also the service isn’t the greatest, and I love great service. They just don’t seem too friendly.
Overall, I’d give it a try!

Big portions (10 piece is more than enough for two), delicious sauces, and fast service! It’s little more pricey than most wing shops but definitely worth for that authentic Korean taste.
The sauce chicken kind of tastes like ketchup so If you want that extra kick, I’d recommend getting a spicier sauce. The honey chicken is good if you’re looking for a sweet sauce and a crunch!

Fried chicken is good. But Korean fried chicken is soooo much better. Like omg.
It’s quick, cheap, tender and lightly breaded. If you’re getting this to-​go, get the sauce on the side otherwise it’ll be super soggy.

If you are looking for yummy, delicious, and crispy fried chicken that is better than KFC or any other fried chicken joint, you should come here to 99 chicken!
The prices have risen since the first time I’ve been here (10 years ago) but I think that the fried chicken is worth eating!
I usually just order a regular 10 piece fried chicken to share with a friend and we always have leftovers. There is a free salad bar that you can get rice and banchan (pickled radish, etc.) to eat with your fried chicken.
Beware of the special fried chicken (with the spicy sauce). My friend ordered this once and he couldn’t stop crying while eating it because it was so spicy. T-​T Bwahahaha.

OK, I have to admit, I am a die-​hard Bön-​Chon fan. My colleague told me about 99 Chicken, and I wanted chicken, so I figured, why not. We ordered the soy garlic and the honey.
The soy garlic, was good but deep down inside, I prefer the Bön Chon version. The honey was good as well. We took the left over chicken home and had it the next day. My take — the Bön Chon chicken tastes much better cold than the 99 Chicken version. Don’t get me wrong, it was good. I wouldn’t oppose coming back here again but if given a choice, and Bön Chon was one of them, Bön Chon will win.

Very intimate and small store. My group of around 10 came in on a Wednesday night and we were sat immediately.
First off, the man who took our order seemed very annoyed and rude when we were trying to order. so that left a bad impression. The store also seemed very dirty and sticky.
For the food, my bf and I ordered the combo half and half 10 pc. spicy and soy sauce flavored chicken ($ 19). I’ve tried their honey flavored one here but it was a little too sweet for me. Warning, if you don’t like your chicken drenched in a lot of sauce, don’t come here. The spicy chicken was eh. I got sick of the flavor, but the soy sauce chicken was decent. One of their items that really stood out to me was their kimchee jee gae… the best kimchi stew I’ve ever tasted. It was so good, I’m willing to come back just for that in the fall/​winter time. I also tried their kimchi fried rice which was ok as well nothing amazing.
They also have an unlimited rice, salad, radish, and sauce bar for customers which I totally loved.
Overall, for better service and better chicken, I recommend going to Bön Chon instead.

THIS PLACE IS TERRIBLE. Don’t even bother stepping in. The service is the worse possible. The food was alright but the old woman and the old man were really rude and didn’t care about the customers at all. After my meal, I wanted to tip in cash but right after I paid with my card, the lady angrily asked where the tip was. Tip shouldn’t be mandatory, especially for such rude remarks. I wouldn’t come here for another try.
If you really want fried chicken, just go to Bön chon.

Korean fried chicken places are becoming a dime a dozen in the South Bay and it seems like every place has their own take on it. 99 Chicken has a small, mom-​and-​pop feel to it, and the space itself is pretty small, so definitely come here early if you want to avoid a long wait. The place is so busy that probably less than 30 seconds after we had finished our meal, the waiter our out check on our table. Then, when our group lingered for another 5 – 10 minutes chatting, the owner actually came over and asked if we could please hurry up and pay because there was a line of 10 people waiting. I understand that the restaurant is trying to clear our the tables as quickly as possible to get new customers in, but still — we had just finished! I guess you can say this isn’t the place to have a long, leisurely romantic date? ;p
On to the food. We ordered a combination plate (with a mix of spicy hot and the original fried chicken), and a half-​half plate where you can choose any two kinds (we got the honey and soy sauce). The original flavor was okay, but I wish the spicy wings had had more of a kick to them; they tasted more sweet-​and-​sour than spicy. I liked the honey and soy sauce flavors best and would get these next time.
One pet peeve I’ve always had with Bön Chon Chicken is that their chicken ends up tasting mostly like the fried batter/​breading because they twice-​fry their wings. Here, the juicy meaty flavor of the chicken comes through and there’s a better ratio between the meat-​to-​batter. I prefer this place to Bön Chon.
Bonus: The meal comes with access to a free salad bar (gotta get those veggies in where you can!) and steamed rice.

My friends has always raved about the Korean fried chicken (kfc) here and they have finally taken us here over the weekend. We were hoping the hype was real as it is a long drive from oakland in traffic.
There is only two people working in this small establishment and they have setup the place pretty efficiently well. So, basically once you’ve ordered your meal you can go over the salad bar and create your own salad and plate your own pickled daikon and jalapeños. The choices of dressing is left to desire which consist of ranch and another dressing which is a little overly sweet for me.
If it’s your first time here I’d suggest you get the half and half style and try all the chicken flavors. The size these chicken are huge and freshly fried. The batter is light and crunchy okay in flavor. My only complaint about the execution of the sauce on the chicken which basically dumped on the meat instead of tossed with the chicken which would give it an all around even taste.
There’s really nothing particularly special about these chickens as the honey chicken is just regular honey drizzled on chicken and the spicy chicken is Korean pepper paste and ketchup mixed together poured on the chicken. The chicken itself could be crispier but its okay. The fries wasn’t great either.
99 chicken is a must try if you’re in the area but not too particularly special enough to go out of your way for.

I never reviewed 99 chicken? huh funny. Well I have been sating my fried chicken craving here from time to time over the last 5 – 6 years. The chicken is consistent, flavorful, the portions are humongous and you get all you can eat rice… I really don’t have anything else to say. I like the combo plate because I can never decide but the regular is a go to…
I guess the only thing I don’t like is when you get items to go everything is itemized out… you pay per serving of rice, which is large granted, you pay per box of salad… and per serving of sauce, again large… dinner for 3 (probably 6 if we weren’t gluttonous) will run about 70 and change…
I like it… when I want my poultry fried and occasionally drenched in sauce… I come here. on the off chance you haven’t tried it… do.

Their fried chicken is always juicy and hot. Their original flavour is my favourite though they have lots of other flavors as well. The honey chicken, garlic soy to name a few.
If you don’t like to get your hands dirty they provide gloves for you and have a bone bucket for you to throw your trash away in.
If you have a decent size group call ahead and make reservations as they can get crowded. They have one private room in the back.
Free mini salad bar and rice for those dining in. If you’re doing takeout they will charge you for that.
Great mom and pop restaurant.
They also have yogurt soju, lemon soju, and other Korean drinks as well.

Super long lines. Bad customer service.
Food is ok but that won’t be enough to make me come back.

Fried chicken is awesome, no questioning that. This place gets 1 star for that.
However, the service is very mediocre. The service quality depends on the servers’ mood. You cannot give tip less than 15% without getting scolded by the manager. In addition to that, one person have to order at least 5 chicken, even though you are a puny little girl who cannot even finish a piece of chicken wing.
Today, one of the server spilled water to my friend’s lap. Up until that point, we were okay with that because people make mistakes. However, instead of trying to offer napkins or wipe the water off the table properly, he used the plastic gloves to desperately wipe the water while spilling even more water to my friend’s lap. Wth?..

Eh… Service is meh. Food is meh.
You have to have 5 chicken wings per person. Three of us had to do half and half + kimchi fried rice. The salad bar is self serve and u get rice too if u dine in.

I got 99 problems and this place was definitely one of them. I don’t like giving bad reviews… But I’ve never had such an offensive experience! The wings itself are okay. Nothing to drool over in my opinion. I guess I would’ve gave them 3 or 4 stars if they stopped badgering me about tipping them.
First off, I am a generous tipper. I work in the food industry so I understand! But this old couple puts up signs that says MUST TIP MINIMUM ! They even chased my friend down once for not giving 20 percent tip even though their service sucks. Tipping is optional but at this place it’s MANDATORY. I think that’s illegal btw. They kept reminding us over and over after we ate that we must tip them! No matter how «great» your food is. Bad customer service will drive people away. Sorry not coming back.

This is one of my favorite chicken place. The chicken is always super crispy. The honey soy sauce flavor is the best one to get.
You have to order minimum 5 chickens per person.

Mm, Korean style fried chicken. We were just talking about Bonchon Chicken in San Mateo yesterday and I happened to be in the area so gave it a try. Very casual place, lots of photos of customers on the walls.
There is a small salad bar for dine in customers as well as self-​serve rice, water, and tea. You get your own utensils and cups too. We ordered #7 combination chicken which was 3 fried, 2 spicy, 3 sauce (spicy and sour), and 2 honey. It says on the front of the menu that for chicken, each person must get a minimum of 5 pieces so watch out because some orders only have 8 rather than 10 if you’re trying to do the math for that. Plastic gloves are provided for you in a box on your table. The spicy sauce was good, lots of flavor and had a nice kick. Spicy and sour was less spicy and had the taste and consistency of spicy ketchup to me. Fried chicken was not as flavorful as I expected, just plain old fried chicken. My favorite was the honey. Sweet and fragrant honey on crispy chicken.
Simple meal because you get everything yourself and don’t need to wait for servers to come by. Fried chicken is fresh and sauces are good!

Updating my review to three stars because I really enjoy the spicy soy garlic. The regular soy garlic and the spicy soy garlic are the only flavors worth trying. This place is a-​ok but still not amazing.

This place would get a 3 star if I weren’t so in love with their damn chicken.
Forget Bonchon. I found their chicken offerings subpar. crunchy but small with superficial flavor.
99 chicken gets its chicken right. First off, BIG pieces, both drumsticks and wings. Also, deep, rich flavor that soaks into the flesh. I got half and half (5 soy sauce and 5 spicy sauce). ~$ 21 with tax. Both were great (and messy). Plan to get your fingers sticky! I had a personal preference for the soy sauce just because.
I also love the radish side they give here. more plentiful than Bonchon’s version and juicier/​fresher. Perfect complement to the chicken. If I had some beer, I could’ve indulged in «Chikmaek.»
It’s true what the other reviews say. A sour expression seems to permanently be plastered on the owner’s face. like he just heard someone insult him across the room. also mirrored in his actions. He doesn’t seem very pleased that you’re there eating his chicken most of the time. I don’t know what his story is, but it’s definitely a downer on an otherwise great establishment.
The «We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone» sign is pretty unnecessary IMO. Should I feel honored that I wasn’t refused service? It’s borderline threatening and hangs like a dark cloud with each visit.
This mom and pop shop is on the smaller side, and it gets very busy and noisy especially for dinner towards the end of the week.
Overall, some great chicken that I’ll be coming back for. I just wish someone would give that owner a hug so he’d lighten up already. I’m sure this would increase 99’s already booming popularity.