University Boulevard eatery can bring nice and greasy, albeit pricy, fare to your door
There are several things I wish were different about University Boulevard's newest addition, Chicken Kitchen.
However, first and foremost, I wish they were more literal and had the kitchen actually run by chickens. Chickens serving chicken. Wouldn't that be something!
Alright, that's enough joking.
Chicken Kitchen has, yes you guessed it, a lot of chicken, meaning there aren't too many options for vegetarians there.
But for us carnivores, there are several different types of meals you can order: plain grilled chicken (in various proportions), pitas, wraps, sides, salads and CHOP-CHOPs, (a combination of chicken, vegetables and choice of sauce).
In general, the chicken, while it was tender and tasty, was a bit too greasy for my liking. I know they pride themselves on offering a healthy menu, but with chicken so greasy you could style your hair like a frat boy; I think they may need to work on that.
I started off with the #1 Family Value pack ($13.99), which contains one whole chicken (eight pieces), three side orders, four sauces and two pitas. This is definitely the best value if you come in with, say, your roommates. It's a much better deal than the Skinless Breast Platter and one side for $7.99.
Unfortunately, neither the menu nor the employees informed me that I should choose the sides that could be mixed with my chicken in the pita that comes with my meal.
I chose the corn, red skin mashed potatoes and a caesar salad for my sides. The corn had little flavor and the caesar dressing wasn't sweet enough. The mashed potatoes had pieces of shredded potato skin in them and had a lot of flavor, but the texture was a little too much like boxed potatoes.
Individually, each side costs $1.69 for a regular and $3.29 for a large.
I also tried the Mexican Pita-Pockette™ ($6.79) with chopped chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, sour cream, cheddar cheese and yellow rice.
The yellow rice and guacamole added an extra kick, but there are plenty of other restaurants in very close proximity where I could have a true pita experience.
Their signature sauces add a little to most meals, including Mustard'n Curry, BBQ, Sweet'n Sour, Cran'n Orange and Fresh Salsa.
The BBQ sauce was the best, hands down. The sweet'n sour, was neither sweet nor sour, but rather just bland. Mustard'n curry was very typical of curry, but nothing special.
Chicken Kitchen's atmosphere is pleasant, with a nice choice of complimentary colors and fancy blown-glass light fixtures. It was not crowded or too noisy, but that, unfortunately made it easier to hear the B-list classic rock playing in the background.
It may be a little pricey individually, but the best way to go is to buy a value meal. And if you're just looking for a roasted chicken, it would be better and just as convenient to buy the fresh roasted chicken from the grocery store and make your own sides.
But when you're lazy, Chicken Kitchen, 940 E. University Blvd., does offer two very important words: "we deliver" (792-8227).