Edit:
I don't have any information about starting a Harold's Chicken.
Sorry!
Many years ago, a good friend of mine attended the University of Chicago's renowned Graduate School of Animal Husbandry. Even then, Harold's Chicken was famous in Chicago's south side, particularly for fueling the cogitation of thousands at UChicago. Harold's has now spread beyond Chicago, but this writer had yet to experience Harold's mystique. Until now.
Harold's doesn't use a cookie-cutter model for their "shacks," so each one is slightly different. Above is the neon sign hanging in the window of the 1208 E. 53rd St. location, which is in an unprepossessing smallish strip mall. The interior is similarly unprepossessing: The tables and seats are mostly typical fast-food design, surfaced with light blue Formica. There are no accoutrements on the table, but there are a number of soft-drink machines inside; if you don't like the drink selection, you can purchase something from one of the machines.
The menu above the order station lists chicken (white, dark, and mixed or "regular"), and a couple kinds of fish (perch and catfish). They also list french fries, chicken gizzards and livers, and a few other items. When you order your chicken, you'll be asked "Mild or hot?" My dining companion asked for 1/2 chicken, white and hot; I ordered 1/2 dark and mild. The drinks one can order are also bottled; I was pleased to see I could get a liter of A&W root beer.
At this location, the order station is fronted by what looks like about an inch of bulletproof glass or plastic. A small hole is partially covered by an additional piece of plastic; one talks through this. Money changes hands via a slide or tray much like one sees at many movie ticket counters. Food is passed to the diner through a revolving carousel, also made of transparent plastic.
Our chicken came up in a few minutes -- just enough time for me to duck out and take a picture of the store's neon sign. This location partially pre-fries their chicken, then finishes it to order, much like how fancy french fries are cooked. (The method of cooking and menus differ between locations.) The meals were wrapped in big paper bags. My friend asked nervously if we wanted to take this out; I understood, as the lack of amenities and enhanced security did not inspire confidence. However, in the name of culinary reportage, we decided to stay, and found the one clean table in the restaurant. Incidentally, despite the worries and considerable amount of traffic (we were there at around 7 pm on a Sunday), I was happy.
Unbagging our meals, we found a large paper carton or boat, each with our four pieces of chicken. My legs and thighs had been squirted with a thin, reddish fluid; my friend's breasts and wings had a darker, redder sauce. Atop the chicken was a reasonable portion of french fries, a tiny paper thimble with maybe a half-tablespoon of slaw (perhaps a tasting portion?), and two pieces of white bread. We each had a packet with a plastic knife and fork, napkin, and salt and pepper. The cost for this generous pile of food: mine was less than $5, including the liter of A&W -- I think it was something like $4.87. White meat costs a little more; my friend's meal and beverage cost slightly over $6.
The bread: it wasn't Wonder Bread, but it was close. The tasting portion of slaw was finely cut cabbage, flecked with carrot, bound with mayonnaise or salad dressing, and slightly sweet -- the kind of cole slaw one finds throughout the Southern US. The fries were pretty normal -- not the crispy kind, but they could have been cut from real potatoes. I had difficulty telling, as I was distracted by the chicken. The breading looked a little dark for fried chicken, but the first bite confirmed that it wasn't burnt. In fact, it was excellent: tasty and juicy, but not overflowing with juice or grease. I intended to plow through all 4 pieces, but with the slaw, fries, bread, and drink, two pieces made a good dinner, leaving me with two pieces to take home. The sauce is hard to describe: slightly sweet, slightly vinegary, and thin, it had mostly soaked into the chicken. In my opinion, there was nothing at all wrong with the chicken, save being slightly less salty than I'm accustomed to. The breading was neither too thick nor too thin, the temperature was fine. I have no complaints, and lots of praise. My friend, in defense of his waistline, said he was glad he hadn't found Harold's when he moved to Chicago. :) He finished his, and despite the spicier sauce and the four pieces fried, had no gastrointestinal complaints. He thought the white meat was just slightly dry -- common to white meat -- and said he'd get the dark next time.
It's hard to capture why this chicken was so good. Perhaps it was the low expectations, helped along by the somewhat downscale environs. Perhaps it was the very low price. Perhaps it was the friendly faces seen through the protective partition. Or perhaps it's the frying medium, reported (in yesterday's Chicago Tribune) to be a mixture of half beef tallow and half vegetable oil. Maybe it's the sauce: the mild version might be described (and please don't take this in a negative light) as somewhat like what one would get with a sweet-and-sour dish in a Chinese restaurant (unfortunately, I forgot to taste the hot kind). Or maybe it's just the inherent pleasure of fried chicken.
Of all the seemingly everyday foods, I think fried chicken is one of the hardest for me to do well at home. I confess to often buying fried chicken at Bojangle's or Church's. I can't buy Harold's in Durham -- yet -- but apparently there about 62 locations across the US. Most are in Chicago, but some are in Detroit and Atlanta, and a new one is to open in St. Louis. So there's hope. If you can find a Harold's near you, give it a shot. Again, there's variability in the restaurants, so your local version might be better or worse than another. A friend, who first experienced the Hyde Park Harold's, says the one in Atlanta is inferior. YMMV.
Links:
- Google Maps for 1208 E. 53rd Street in Chicago
- Harold's Chicken Shack Wikipedia entry
- "Fried chicken worth clucking over", Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2006 (registration required)
- The Unofficial Harold's Chicken Weblog
- Two Chicago Reader articles on Harold's (PDF)
Edit: Check out "Harold's 6 Piece" on YouTube.
