Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles
We went to the one in Long Beach but there are several throughout the LA area.
Atmosphere: Casual, Family
Menu: Soul Food
Kid Friendly: Absolutely
Lou and I just got back from L.A. visiting his brother's family. While we were there, we had the pleasure of returning to Roscoe's. Roscoe's specialty? The name says it all... Chicken and Waffles! Roscoe's has been serving up soul food since 1976 when it were founded by Herb Hudson, a Harlem native who relocated to the west coast. All it took was a few Motown celebrities visiting his restaurant to get the word of mouth going and the rest is history.
In recent years other establishments have tried to benefit off of Roscoe's good reputation, so be warned. If the sign says Rosscoe's with two ss', you aren't getting the original!
Since I first heard of Chicken and Waffles years ago in NYC, I wondered who thought to put them together in the first place? It is definitely not for the light eater. This is as hearty as it gets, so I tried to do a little research. What I found is there are a few theories out there, but no one really knows where this combo originated. What is known though are there are cookbooks in the 1880's where the recipe seems to first appear, and there are also references to a similar recipe in old Pennsylvania Dutch cooking.
Whatever the origin, in the last 100 years chicken and waffles has been embraced by the African American community as one of their staples in soul food. As one article I read put it, if you eat the chicken and then the waffle, you are eating a chicken and then a waffle. You've got to combine the two to have it be true chicken and waffles.
Roscoe's has a variety of meals on their menu which involve A LOT of food and fun names like The Stubby, The Oscar, and Lord Oscar. Most meals include chicken, two waffles, eggs, grits and a biscuit. Like I said A LOT of food. On our recent trip to Roscoe's, I wanted to taste as much as possible, but not necessarily eat as much as possible, so I immediately began negotiating with Lou on what we should order. Remember, my blog's name IS Burke's BUFFET. I like to try it all! He called me out though, knowing what I was up to. In the end, Chris, my brother-in-law pointed out I could order most items ala carte, so this is what I ended up with: 2 eggs scrambled, one waffle, and a fried breast of chicken. Lou got two fried chicken legs, a waffle, chicken sausage patties, and cheesy eggs!
The waffles are about 8 inch round and come with a giant pat of whipped butter and warm syrup on the side. One waffle is more than enough for the average person. I got regular scrambled eggs, not much to write home about there, but Lou's cheesy eggs, as he would say were "the truth" ( we think this is his new favorite slang) The cheesy eggs usually come with onions, but we ordered them without and they were creamy cheesy goodness.
Our fried chicken was just as good. It was moist, and the crunchy skin flavorful. My five year old nephew Karis, who was dead asleep when we got there, woke right up when his drumsticks arrived. I am sure Lou was thinking of stealing one, but thought better of it and ordered his own.
The service at Roscoe's is always welcoming. Wait staff remembered Chris even though with 3 boys, he rarely gets to visit these days.
My only regret with this place is I don't have a bigger stomach.
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