One recent evening, I emerged from the 24th Street BART station after work, bleary-eyed, tired, and hungry. Suddenly, the clouds parted, the skies turned golden, and herald angels began to sing.
I looked up incredulously; did my eyes deceive me, did my nostrils? No! There, behind the BART Plaza, on Osage Street, I espied the familiar, happy red-and-yellow logo of none other than KRISPY KRUNCHY CHICKEN!
For those of you not in the IYKYK club when it comes to this fine establishment, KKC is a fried-chicken chain, with licensees selling their chicken and other fried foods in 47 states, with almost 2,300 stores across America, American Samoa and Malaysia. The chain is usually found in gas stations or convenience stores, but there are stand-alone shops as well, which is what we now have here at 24th Street.
But the key thing to know about KKC is that it is most excellent, hand-breaded, Cajun-spiced, Louisiana-style (where it all began) fried chicken, served fresh and hot (small batches are cooked on site, multiple times a day). Forget your Kentucky Fried, forget your Popeye’s. If it ain’t KKC, it ain’t fried chicken. Fight me.
And yes, I know there’s another KKC in the Mission, and has been for years, at the gas station at South Van Ness Avenue and 17th Street. I’ve been there innumerable times, as well as to outposts in Oakland, Richmond and Berkeley. But this one is close to ME, and right by BART! So it’s close to YOU, too. And now we have TWO.
Not a week elapsed before I announced to the BF I’d pick up some chicken for dinner.
SIGH. Just look at that: Crackly golden crevices, just dying for a slosh of buffalo-wing sauce or a dip into cool ranch dressing. They didn’t have breasts for the BF (not sure why, other stores do carry breasts), so I got him tenders, and was surprised at how juicy they were, for white meat.
Me, I’m a thigh woman. The thighs at KKC are big, fat, meaty, and always hot. (I’ve driven across the Bay with a box of KKC and it was still warm, 20 minutes later.) The flesh inside is unfailingly tender, steamy and juicy, while the crispy, crunchy, lightly spiced coating is the stuff of dreams. This is what all fried chicken strives to be. It is why chickens are born; it is where they go to self-actualize. Ask Maslow.
My favorite side is their Louisiana-style red beans and rice: Porky and flavorful, with nicely cooked rice. Sadly, our newest neighbor said they weren’t carrying that, but would be getting it soon. So we tried the jambalaya and the macaroni and cheese. Unfortunately, we found the mac and cheese bland and the jambalaya passable.
Other sides are fries (more like wedges), mashed taters, and honey “biscuits.” Why the quotes? As anyone will tell you, from the South or not, these ain’t biscuits. Rather, they’re some sort of crumbly muffin-like thing, bedazzled with honey. They’re actually pretty good; I like a plain one slathered in butter, but the blueberry one served with our meal was a bit weird.
And please don’t bother with the chicken sandwich. I picked up one for lunch, and was disappointed. It’s one little tender with a drizzle of honey and two sad pickle slices, smashed into an (actually very decent) bun. And, because they’re premade and wrapped in a foil pouch, the chicken is no longer Krispy nor Krunchy. It’s a disservice to the KKC brand, is what it is. Stick with the chicken; plain old, mouthwatering, always-comforting chicken.
You can get it by the piece or in a Krunch Box (chicken, tenders, nuggets or honey-buttered shrimp, a side and the muffin), as well as Family Meals that offer more of everything. KKC is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the storefront carries convenience store items such as chips, sodas, etc.
I asked the young man serving me if they’d been busy since opening, and he shrugged a bit, saying, “Well, it’s only been 8 days.” Have faith, my good man. You have built it, and they will come.
Krispy Krunchy Chicken (website)
3325 24th St., San Francisco
(415) 650-8837
Read our earlier review of the Krispy Krunchy Chicken inside the gas station at 17th Street and South Van Ness Avenue, “The Fried Chicken Sandwich showdown visits the Gas & Shop.”
I am curious if ML would be willing to report on how KKC avoided the formula retail restrictions to open this location. Were they granted an exception?
Having lived near the 17th and S Van Ness gas station for some years, KKC definitely helps keep many of the low-income folks (like the SRO residents across the street) fed with affordable convenient food. I also love that a more working-class-oriented establishment moved into this space right at BART (and that it probably irritates the well-to-do pro gentrification crowd).
it looks like they are all stores, this one sells chips and drinks as such, and then also peddles KKC with a logo, the chicken is not the primary.
Popeyes is better
Pro-tip: get that takeout and bring it home, make fresh waffles, feed your family. Everyone will think you’re a genius.
It’s not that good.
Crispy and Crunchy, perhaps, but I always found it dry and not as flavorful as Pollo Campero or Popeyes.
Wait, no boba or door-dash?! Techie sez no! Techie wants no part of boba-less calories not delivered by starvation-waged maniacs driving their scooters recklessly down the middle of the sidewalk!
Fair ball. As you annoyed 2 techies enough to thumb down it’s probably spot on.
fwiw—-even as an failed attempt at humor, this may well be why chickens are tortured in cages stacked ten feet high defecating, vomiting, and urinating on each other for life while being injected with growth hormones and a stream of antibiotics, but satisfying your presumably nutrition starved self with their scorched, deep fried bodies drenched in iodized salt, cheap oil, and processed bread is not their aim in life.
headed to get some chicken, not because of this article, but because of this comment.
California has newer laws governing chicken-raising.