Fried chicken is a Southern food staple that many places try to replicate across the country. It's like a comfort food when done right and folks across and region in the U.S. can appreciate it's juicy, crunchy goodness. Thus when a new place in town opens I'm always interested to give them a try, such was the case with Proposition Chicken. The space is bare bones industrial and the first thought that comes to mind is hipster chicken joint.
It's a limited menu, which is good, I mean you don't need to many chicken choices. You can get it slow roasted or fried in either a sandwich, salad or entree--good enough. After looking the things over I decide to go for the fried entree that comes with cole slaw and a biscuit with honey butter. I also throw in a side of brown sugar brussels sprouts just for good measure.
And all this for $17 plus tax..yes that's a bit of a sticker shock and I didn't even get a drink to go with this. Once I placed the order it came out pretty quick, alas this should have been my first clue. There were 3 small pieces of chicken--a leg, a wing and a thigh, with a buttermilk marinade and then lightly seasoned with salt and pepper then deep fried. There is no coating on this just the fried skin, but alas my chicken came out luke warmish at most and when I peeled back the meat and skin on the thigh it was cold inside, like they had been pre-cooked and sitting out a while and not under a heat lamp. The skin wasn't crispy and even though they should have been juicy from a marinade, they were more on the dry side and a bit greasy, like they had been sitting in oil, waiting for their chance to go out. This was not good fried chicken, there was no way this was made to order, it should have been hot out of the fryer, not room temp from the kitchen counter. If they tried to serve this stuff in the South they'd have been run out of town on the first day. They served it with some house made ranch dressing which tasted nothing like ranch, it was bitter and sour, I don't know what it was, but it wasn't ranch.
The cole slaw was a mix of cabbage, mayo, parsley and something that tasted a little peppery, but what this thing really needed was salt. It wasn't awful, but it was all that great either. And gawd, the biscuit--blek! This thing was not fluffy at all, it was dense, flat, heavy and dry--it's what happens when you put too much lard in the mix or maybe they forgot the yeast? Either way, no amount of honey butter could save this--I would have rather eaten a scone--AND I HATE SCONES! My own Southern sensibilities and taste buds have so far been assaulted and even though I held out hope for the brussels sprouts, again I was disappointed. They were lightly sautéed in brown sugar and well, I like a bit of al dente but the majority of them were closer to raw. The brown sugar was also a bit cloying. They tried to temper it with bits of garlic, but even that was overwhelmed by the sugar. And again they could have used some salt. I mean come on people--watch a Top Chef episode or any show on the Food Network and one thing they always ding folks for in these competitions is just a sprinkle of SALT. It's not hard and will add loads of flavor where it is lacking. And here, it is one of many things lacking.
Ugh...what can I say, I didn't like anything I had here. The fried chicken was just sad (and cold!) I mean there are so many other places in this town with waaayyy better fried chicken. Heck, even Safeway has better fried chicken than this--and no, that is not a compliment for Safeway. If there are many ways food can be bad then Proposition Chicken has got them all covered. I'm not telling you not to eat here, okay, well maybe I am, but if you insist giving it a try, you are on your own.
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