The Unofficial Harold's Chicken Weblog

The chicken box?

2008-06-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

I had Harold's twice on a recent weekend -- once on Thursday night and then again on Saturday night. Thursday night my chicken came in the bag I've been familiar with all along, but Saturday night it came in this box.

Since when has Harold's been using boxes?

Personally, I get my Harold's with hot and mild sauce (extra hot on the side), and for some reason I kept dropping my chicken that night and had to dig it back out of the box.

Are they using chicken boxes at your favorite Harold's?

Harold's: A good way to induce labor?

2007-08-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

While in Chicago recently, I spoke with two women who had each heard of other women using Harold's Chicken to induce labor on their pregnancies which had gone past their term. Both of these women had heard that Harold's was good for that and had recommended it to friends of theirs, and it never failed: The past due moms went into labor shortly thereafter.

Anybody else heard of that before?

Can't help you with franchise questions

2007-07-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

Just a note to say that this blog is not in any way connected with the good people who own or franchise Harold's Chicken shacks. We quite often get inquiries from people asking "how can I open a Harold's in [you name it: Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado]?"

Can't help you there. No idea. Best of luck to you though, from one Harold's lover to another -- and if you do get one going, make sure you come back and tell us about it so we can share that good news with the world.

We can't help you with online car insurance quotes, either, or student loans consolidation, or your new home equity line of credit.

The official Harold's Chicken bag directory

2007-07-17T13:02:00.001-07:00

It's here -- the official Harold's Chicken bag directory, taken from the bag of chicken I had over the weekend.

Click here for the directory.

Bulletin: Harold's #14 closed for vacation

2007-07-14T14:23:00.001-07:00

Here I come back to Hyde Park from the Galut, high-tailing it to 53rd Street for my dark half (hot and mild, extra hot) -- and they're CLOSED! For vacation.

Fortunately, there's Stony Island, and if no Harold's is open on Stony, you're just not going to eat chicken. And I found a place, right across from the mosque -- my first time there and it was fabulous. (By the way: They served wheat bread under my chicken. My wife thought that that somehow was an improvement; I couldn't tell any difference, frankly, when I made my fry sandwich. That much hot and bbq sauce on any piece of bread is going to taste pretty much the same -- and pretty good.)

UPDATE: They're back open, though the old phone number (667-9835) just rings off the hook. Better you should check the Official Chicken bag directory and call their newer number.

Ordering chicken online: a good business idea?

2007-01-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been thinking about whether it would be a good business idea to make it so you could order your Harold's online -- probably just for a few particular stores -- and I wonder what y'all think about it as a business idea.

One key question is, would you pay any extra for your order to be able to order it online? If so, how much? A nickel? Dime? Quarter?

What if every online order entered you in a contest of some sort -- say, free Harold's for a month? THEN how much extra might you pay for your order?

Chicago Reader on Harold's

2006-04-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

For those of you who (like me) can't pick up a copy of the Chicago Reader, click here to read their recent pieces on Harold's. Great history and a mathematical system for determining which store is the best.

The Yuppie Chicken King?

2006-03-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

So I read today that they're putting a Harold's up on the North Side, in Wicker Park. Two big changes from Harolds' tradition:

No bullet proof glass
WHEAT bread instead of white bread

What's next? Rotisserie Harolds?

Let's get a Harold's in Midway Airport

2005-12-05T05:03:00.000-08:00

Every time I leave Sweet Home Chicago, I wish that I could get a half for the flight. Frankly I wish that I could get four or five halves and take some home.

Imagine a Harold's franchise at Midway airport -- you wouldn't even need bullet-proof glass! It would be the safest, most secure Harold's on the planet (where else can you get all potential customers to remove their shoes to be x-rayed before placing their orders?)

Anyone connected with the Midway Airport people? If we can get a Yes from them and from the good people at Harold's, I just know that money would be available for the project. . .

Where else would you like to see a new Harold's?

Chicken, anyone?

2005-11-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's just the whole Thanksgiving thing coming up that's got me thinking about poultry. It certainly has been too long since I've had my dark half, hot and mild, pepper, extra hot.

But here goes the website again. I want to hear your stuff about Harold's! I want your stories, want to know which store you go to, want your pictures. . .

But most of all I want some chicken.

12 minutes

2005-11-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

"12 minutes"
November 16, 2005

Friday night and it doesn't really matter
where you at in Chi-town, as long as it's lati-
Tude is on the South,
Side cuz that's where
You'll find the best chicken
that anyone would dare

To put in their systems,
I gotta be frank
You might as well forget
puttin money in the bank

Cuz nothin's causin build-up
in your arteries
Like the chicken they are servin
at the local BPC.*

CHORUS
12 minutes, 12 minutes, 12 minutes
and your chicken's on.
12 minutes, 12 minutes,
Better keep a close watch, or your chicken's gone.

When you pick up the phone
and you placin yo order
They still tell you "12 minutes"
like it's a recorder.

Nothin's changed since 1986
when we'd rock up seein double
to get our chicken fix.

You pull up in your ride,
you might just be buzzin.
The beers you got inside
could add up to a dozen.

But when you walk into the joint,
and you get the first draft
Of the chicken in the hopper
you know you can't turn back.

CHORUS
12 minutes, 12 minutes, 12 minutes
and your chicken's on.
12 minutes, 12 minutes,
Better keep a close watch, or your chicken's gone.

It only takes 12 minutes
for them to throw down,
The tastiest meal
that ever will be found.

The wangs, the drums,
don't forget the thighs.
The Grizzledunk's drippin
and so are the fries.

The last thing to know
about eatin Harold's Chicken,
Is to always place your order,
early on the weekend.

But no matter how much
you and your posse will kibbitz,
To get yo Harold's Chicken,
will always take 12 minutes.

CHORUS
12 minutes, 12 minutes, 12 minutes
and your chicken's on.
12 minutes, 12 minutes,
Better keep a close watch, or your chicken's gone.

* BPC refers to what I once heard a U of C student call Harold’s, or Bullet Proof Chicken. This, of course was a reference to the bullet proof glass inside.

Yet another harrowing experience while waiting for our chicken

2003-10-25T00:22:00.000-07:00

(Contributed by Wobbie)

Anyone who has logged in much of their life in a Harolds waiting for their Dark Half to be ready has had an encounter that made him wish he hadn't gone in. For me, that day was in 1992 right after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.

As any Hyde Parker knows, when you have tied a good one on and our beloved late Harolds on 53rd was closed, you had to go farther afield to get your poultry fix. On one particular evening, Agent Dwyer and I found ourselves walking into the store on 63rd and Stony Island at around 2:30 am. Neither of us should have been driving, but if we hadn't, who would have picked up our chicken?

As we waited for our orders to come up, there was a small crowd of peaceful, hungry citizens doing the same. One of them, however, decided he would take the opportunity to foment a small racial altercation while waiting out his 12 minutes. Fueled by the violence of both the Rodney King tapes and the rioters in Los Angeles, he made a direct connection between our skin color and that of the accused police. He ranted like a bum who had had his 40 ganked -- only drunker and madder. Tensions rose quickly. Dwyer and I both (in our own somewhat sedated state) were wondering if the fire was about to spread from California to the Midwest.

When it seemed as if this Harolds patron might just put his words in motion, a levelheaded bystander stepped in. He pointed out, firmly, that we were simply waiting for our chicken like everyone else in the bulletproof glass-encased area, and why doesn't he calm the *censored* down. We nodded out heartfelt appreciation for his action, and the rabble-rouser piped right down.

Moments later, our order was called. We spun the revolving chicken door, grabbed our halves and raced for the door like cows escaping the slaughter house.

Those rank as the tensest moments I have ever experienced in a Harolds. One moment we feared for our lives -- or at least our car parked out front. The next moment we were back in HP, pouring on that extra hot sauce, chomping on a Grizzle Dunk, making fry sandwiches and knowing that what we endured was a small price indeed for the chicken we were dogging.

the craving never stops

2003-08-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

(contributed by anonymous)

first of all you guys have way too much time on your hands for UC students - but Ok for no clear reason 12 years since leaving Hyde Park I have developed this bizarre craving for Harold's - you know a half with hot sauce-forget the BBQ sauce

why I decided to type this web address in is yet another mystery – fate?

if Legal Seafood can ship live lobster-why not fried chicken? - but how you recreate the smell, the lazy susan, gruff women behing the plastic, and mainly the grease-covered ceiling tiles will be a challenge........

A Harold's Haiku

2003-07-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

regular half, with
hot and mild sauce, extra hot
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