Heaven Sent Fried Chicken

I was really disappointed to find out Heaven Sent chicken is not what I purchased this last visit. Supposedly Heaven Sent has left this location and the BBQ owners are still selling chicken –pretty shady in my opinion. The breading on the chicken is clearly not Ezells (aka Heaven Sent) and not to my liking. The menu looks the exact same however, you’ll see the Heaven Sent sign has been removed. Feeling deceived :(

Their fried chicken is the best in Seattle, but their service is pretty bad. They work slow and aren’t exactly all that appreciative of your business.
If you do end up going, I’d recommend the spicy 3pc dark snack pack. The gizzards aren’t that great. you only get a few pieces in an order; the batter is good, but there isn’t any seasoning. The Shell on Beacon Ave has much better gizzards. BTW their parking lot is tiny and the exit is through a rough dirt and potholed alley, so don’t drive anything nice to pick up your chicken here.

They serve their chicken cold which is clear health code violation. When you get food poisoning you heard it here first. Chicken’s serving temperature must be at 165 degrees fahrenhight minimum. Call the health board!

Hands down, best fried chicken in Seattle! Highly recommended!

The chicken tastes the way that Ezells had made it when they first opened and quite possibly even better dare I say? The spicy was spot-​on and the skin was super crispy. The biscuits were buttery, flaky melt in your mouth dinner rolls. I’m so glad that the original secret recipe wans’t lost when the true owner of Ezell’s lost his name to his ex-​business partners. Heaven Sent is definitely as the name suggests it.

Sigh. The food is back to being terrible/​inconsistent.
Sometimes you get these horrible looking chicken strips that are obviously not Ezell’s quality (probably from Willie’s, where the food is not good at all), and sometimes you get the Ezell’s high-​quality stuff.
I am not going here any more. Way too often I am rolling the dice and not getting the real food. Very, very disappointed.

i was a little confused at first about the shared space with willies, but it’s not too hard to figure out. on the left order some willie’s soul food, on the right, order some heaven sent.
that is some seriously, good fried chicken and oh lordy im in trouble bc i live only a few blocks away. and those beans… oh man those beans… i like to have a spoonful of beans, mashed potatoes, and chicken covered in their hot sauce all at once. close your eyes and just enjoy the moment.
i have to agree with some of the other Unilocalers, this is way better than ezells.

It might have been my imagination, but for some reason, this fried chicken tastes better than the Ezell’s on 23^rd! I know it’s supposed to be the same recipe, and is now run by Mr. Ezell himself, but I would rather drive by the other place and come here for better food! The skin was crispy, and not too greasy, and the chicken was moist and delicious. I also thought the sides tasted better. Don’t drive too fast by this place, or you might miss the small driveway.

«Much better than KFC» is an understatement. There’s something oddly wholesome and pure about the fried chicken at Heaven Sent. I always get the spicy flavor, as I normally can’t eat fried chicken without feeling sick from the grease. The spiciness cuts through the greasiness just fine.
Their biscuits and sides are also awesome.
If you have a hankering for fried chicken, definitely try this place. It’s well worth the drive into Lake City.

I’m not too picky about fried chicken — if it’s freshly fried and crispy, I’m almost guaranteed to like it. I thought Heaven Sent was great! They have two flavors — original and spicy — and they were both super (original the slightly more awesome of the two, IMO, but I like plainer things). The rolls that came with the chicken were buttery and soft and the sides weren’t bad either.
I would definitely come here again!

The chicken was unexceptional, I had the wings dinner. The most confusing part is how the restaurant is split with Willie’s Taste of Soul but not very clearly, so I paid for my chicken then paid for my Willie’s order. At least they came out within several minutes of each other, but even that was confusing and disappointing, as I was sharing with my family. So some of us were eating cold food by the time the other food came out. It was exceptionally slow overall, and service was lackadaisical. Plus, my table was «clean» but sticky. Ick.

The whole scandal about Ezell’s really bothered me and i really wish i can give this place a better review. The service here is awful. We stood at the counter for almost 10 minutes before any one showed up and waited 25 minutes before even getting any food. People who didn’t realize that there are separate registered for Willies and HSFC were even more confused.
Now as far as the chicken I felt the spicy wasn’t spicy. It also lacked seasoning. The pro is that the chicken was juicy and the skins was extra extra extra crispy. The sides were ok. The rolls however are still da bomb!

Unfortunately, I need to update my earlier review — in part because at least some of what I wrote two months ago is apparently no longer true.
We have been back to Heaven Sent twice since I wrote my initial review. Both times, we had to settle for «regular» chicken because they were out of the spicy chicken that we wanted and had ordered. Last night, we’d placed our order and had already been waiting about 15 minutes to be served before we were told they were out of spicy and it would be at least another 15 minutes before there would be more. It would have been nice to have been told this at the time the order was placed. (Another customer, who had just come in, overheard this and did not seem surprised. So, I get the feeling their «running out of spicy» is a pretty regular thing.)
I had planned to get mashed potatoes and corn with my chicken to make it more of an actual meal. However, we were told they did not have corn. Per my earlier review, when my husband got these back in July, he got a little tub of potatoes and a whole other little tub of gravy. I was looking forward to having the extra gravy to slather on my chicken. This time, though, there was only one little tub — about 90% potatoes with a bit of gravy on top. (Truthfully, this is what we were expecting the first time we went. BUT, since we got something more that time, we were now expecting the something more.)
So, I ordered three things, got less than I was expecting on two of them and nothing at all on the third.
Service here is a bit confused. There are two registers, but only one is for Heaven Sent. The other is for Willie’s Taste of Soul, the BBQ business with with whom Heaven Sent shares space. We’d already been waiting several minutes in the Heaven Sent line, the only register opened at the time. The other register then opened and we were beckoned over as we were, by that time, next in line. However, when my husband started to order, he was told he could not order chicken from that register and we had to go back to where we had been…
We ended up being there close to a half hour — just to pick up a few pieces of take-​out chicken. My husband commented it would have been quicker to drive the extra couple of miles to Ezell’s in the Central District.
I still like Heaven Sent’s chicken. They just need to get a better handle on the concept of «fast food» — and change their spicy/​non-​spicy ratio to better meet their customers’ desires.

Came here expecting fantastic chicken with all the great words about the related Ezell’s chicken. Parking was a nightmare but can be excused for great chicken. Service was horrible but could be excused for great chicken. What did we get when we ordered? Probably the saddest example of fried chicken I have ever seen or had the misfortune to eat.
Service? The unfriendly and completely useless lady at the counter took our order in the way you’d expect someone that has no pride in their work did and couldn’t even remember to give us our drink cups until we asked for them. Then she mixed up the orders in a room with five or six different orders. And the kicker? We were the first of the entire group of orders and got our chicken LAST. It’s not difficult to read ticket numbers and realize who ordered first. Everybody that ordered after us got their chicken first, all the chicken came from the same batch.
Food? All the freshly fried chicken was BURNT COMPLETELY. Not just one area that may have been in a hotspot, the entire surface of every freshly fried piece of chicken was burnt visibly. Milk chocolate brown in color, you don’t need to be a chicken expert to know that batch of chicken is burned. The only chicken not burned were the chicken strips, which were not freshly fried but rather heated up pieces that were bland and soggy.
Time? Your chicken will be ready in about 20 minutes! It was ready and served up exactly 49 minutes and 36 seconds later. 5 or 10 minutes would be acceptable, but more than twice as long? Plain incompetence.
Did we come back to complain after taking our order to go? Not worth the effort, they would probably mess up the apology.
BTW, if someone orders a 3-​piece snack pack which is listed as 2 thighs and a leg you give someone 2 thighs and a leg. Not 2 legs and a thigh without telling them, especially after all the time and bull they put up for what was supposed to be some of the best fried chicken you can get.
I have never been moved to such dissatisfaction to take the time to write a scathing review.
Disappoint.

Ghetto Chick and Fried Chicken? Youz be knowin’ I’m on it!
I was in there a couple weeks ago and arrived about 1pm. Place was pretty empty. My friend and I grabbed a seat by the window to watch the traffic. Dining room is super spacious and they do share the space with Willie’s BBQ.
The chicah that manned the register could have been a tad bit more friendly. She wasn’t mean but I felt like I wasn’t making her at all happy. That’s okay, I have bad days too.
«Two orders of dark meat spicy and waters, for here please.» I put hot sauce on everything so I was happy to see a friggin’ shelf full of different kinds from the South. Don’t forget our friends from even further south, Mexico. Tapatio is my super fav and they had it so no complaints. I would drink that shiz.
Order came up quickly and I couldn’t even talk to my friend. I love her but at that moment, I needed to use my whole mouth to inhale that chicken. Papery thin skin, with a hint of spicy. Probably a two star-​er if you were to use the Thai restaurant system. Juicy to boot.
The roll looked like a Brown n’ Serve but tasted light years better. Slap yo’ mama good! And yea, I totally did just say that.
Come do it to it. Right here. Right now.
Ghetto Girl gives it 4.0÷5.0 Stars. Ahhhh yeahhh…

The chicken is heaven sent, but you have to go to hell to get your order right.
usually i like dark meat, but the white chicken breast i received was moist and had a decent skin. however, i don’t think they have their process right because our group had multiple errors on their order and it took forever to get it.

Really disappointed with the quality here after reading so many good reviews for all the locations across city. Came at 3 and all the chicken was under a hot lamp. Should of been a warning right there. Ordered a dinner which should of had bigger sides than lunch. Ordered an extra roll too since everyone said those were unreal. Brought it home which is only 5 minutes away. Chicken was soggy hard and cold. It was like something I would get at a truckstop. The sides I ended up getting were the snack size even though I paid for the larger sizes. At least the mashed potatoes were good and hot. The beans were gross and the rolls tasted like hard Hawaiian roll. Paid $ 11 for this and the people that worked there were not even friendly or even cared that someone was in their empty business as 2 men ignored me while I stood at counter while they were talking in kitchen and semi not mean girl came out of back and lethargically took my order. I might give another chance someday but it is not a priority.

I tell you what… Ezell can make some mean fried chicken.
I don’t know the back story about why Ezell no longer sells his chicken from «Ezell’s» chicken but this is the same amazing chicken that you’ve come to expect from Ezell himself.
There are a few things to know about Heaven Sent Fried Chicken:
The chicken is crispy and delicious. The spicy chicken adds both heat and flavor and is the way to go if you can tolerate spicy food. It’s not overly spicy but it has a little bite to it.
The rolls are soft and a little sweet. You need to try the rolls
The potato salad should be illegal in 49 states. If I was the Mayor McCheese of Idaho, I would make it illegal to eat Ezell’s potato salad outside the potato state. It just doesn’t seem right for the best potato salad in the world to be made just north of Seattle.
There are othere side dishes but I don’t know what they are because you’d have to be totally crazy not to eat the potato salad with the best fried chicken in the region.

Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.
I don’t know if you’ve heard or not but I eat more chicken than any man ever seen.
And this my friend, was some fine ass chicken.
I went in and grabbed what I have always loved from Ezell’s — a large order of the spicy strips– added some coleslaw for my husband, baked beans, a regular chicken breast for the little one (no spicy for her) and I could NOT resist the peach cobbler.
Having lived in the Central District in the early 90’s, I am fully aware of the magic that was Ezell’s. And Ezell’s today is might fine as well, but this, this my friend, is what chicken dreams are made of.
On the strips, they managed to get the breading to be crisp and moist at the same time. The flavor was PERFECT and just spicy enough to know you got the right order. That is the biggest downfall of Ezell’s modern day for me, spicy means nothing anymore. But not here. No sir.
The baked beans were chock full of flavor, sweet but also spiced just right so they weren’t over the top sweet. And cooked perfectly. Better than I remember for sure, I’m guessing sharing a space with Willie’s House of Soul BBQ may have something to do with that.
The slaw? Husband says it’s something he now thinks of as the side dish of his dreams.
The rolls were just like I remember, although I only got one small bite, the little one wolfed two down before I could get my hand in to grab a nibble.
And the peach cobbler? Oh, oh, oh yes. This was perfect. Cinnamon never had such a lovely companion as those peaches and perfectly textured crust/​crumble mix.
I’ll still hit up Ezell’s because it’s close to work, but it will always be second in my book as far as best chicken in town.
Heaven Sent is truly living up to it’s namesake.

We got take out from here, expecting some Ezell’s like magic. We tried the regular and the spicy, with sides of mashed and cole slaw.
It’s probably too early to tell, since they just opened up, but I was disappointed. The regular was really bland and the spicy really wasn’t. Some of the chicken was overcooked, but not all of it.
The mashed was not good, but the cole slaw wasn’t bad. Price… I thought it was pretty expensive for what we received. I was hoping for better.