Broaster Chicken

Best Fried Chicken in the Bay Area. Crispy, juicy, and a great taste. The exterior location is good at the Westlake shopping center but not much to eating in, the interior isn’t much. But great to pick up a bucket of chicken and cook some steamed rice. This review is for the fried chicken. Skip popeyes or KFC, this is quality chicken.

i walked into this place with very low expectations because by the looks of the place, i know why ive never been inside. i guess thats why they say «dont judge a book by its cover». the fried chicken was one of the juciest ive ever had. next time ill pass on dining in though. id rather get take out. the breaded mushrooms were also very good!

The chicken is great. Juicy and Not greasy. Good customer service. The young guy there was really nice and attentive. We spent 34 dollars and all in all got 2x 2Fish and 2 Chicken and fries meal and a Corn dog with fries and 3 drinks. Not bad all. My son loved the chicken. We’ll be back for sure

Craving some fish and chips and this was on my list!
Before I opened the door I saw the pictures on the front window. The food looked good but how does it taste! I then walked inside to the counter and reviewed the menu. To my surprise there are not a lot of meal options as I had hoped. This was not a big deal but I did expect a little more to choose from. I looked on the special board as well and that was a BUST! After taking about 3 minutes to decide I went with the 3 piece fish and a side of mashed potatoes. This sounded like a good choice.
After placing the order I took my seat. There were not a lot of people here while I waited. The first thing I noticed when I sat down was the sign next to my table telling customers to TAKE THEIR LOUD CELL PHONE CONVERSATIONS OUTSIDE”. That would be useful to have in every department store and restaurant! Seriously, I have seen this happen most recently at Costco checkouts and coffee shops, just annoying! Some people need to learn some manners while others need to relearn some manners.
Anyway, a couple of teenagers came in while was waiting. They seemed excited for lunch. They took a long time to order as well.
I was expecting to hear some groovy tunes in this place but it was fairly quiet.
When my food was ready I made my way on home to get into this FISHY business. When I opened the bag I could smell the fish. When I finally opened the container all the food looked great. However, I was expecting bigger pieces. I grabbed the fish first to start my meal. Not bad. Not the greatest. Definitely worth the price of what I paid though. Willing to give this place another chance to sway me and make me a believer out of this place.
Something that I would suggest for this place would be to expand the menu and create more lunch specials.
There is plenty of parking because it is in the Westlake Shopping Center.
Go see for yourself and you be the judge. This places usually tend to be a hit or miss for the most part.

Great fried chicken! I came here right before they closed and they had no problem serving me. The food was ready in about 15 minutes and they gave you decent-​sized chicken. They have great deals as well, so I’d recommend coming here if you’re looking for fried chicken!

I still remember coming here to eat the fried chicken years ago. Unfortunately since then I think the flavor has declined. The chicken used to be full of their flavorful seasoning but now, although the chicken is still very juicy and the skin very crispy the flavor is lacking. I’ll still give this place another shot.
Prices are a bit higher in comparison to other local Fried Chicken establishments*

Went here for dinner on a week night. Don’t really understand the appeal or elevated prices compared to places like Popeye’s. Chicken was somewhat dry, though the batter was decent. Fish appeared appeared and tasted like it was reheated from a caterer. Fries were pretty good. Not the worst I’ve had but don’t see much reason to return.

I ate here for the first time yesterday and it was probably the worst meal and service I’ve received here in the Bay Area thus far. We ordered a chicken sandwich and a teriyaki chicken bowl. The teriyaki bowl was all rice with a few pieces of chicken served with little to no sauce. The sandwich was undercooked with bone left in the chicken. We found out the hard way. She is now dealing with food poisoning today and can’t work. All of this also took almost half an hour to come out. This place should not exist.

Coming here is a hole in the wall! They have a variety of different foods, like soul food, Japanese, and American which is good for people because of what they crave. They have little seating area! I got the burger which was ok, but the chicken special looked really good and the sides that they offer! I would come here again.

Tip the register guy! He seems to hate life and need some motivation. Chicken was good, but the home made ranch was like water. I cant really recall the rest.

I came here for dinner, and I ordered the two piece chicken meal with mashed potatoes. It also came with a dinner roll. The chicken was super crispy, but the meat was a little dry and needed more seasoning. The mashed potatoes were alright, but they were a little dense. But the dinner roll was good. It reminded me of the Hawaiian rolls.
Service was ok. My cashier had no personality, and he short-​changed me by a dollar. Good thing I noticed it when I was still in the restaurant.

So disappointed… I’ve been coming to Broasters for almost 20 years and the quality has gotten worse. The last couple of times I got the chicken teriyaki, the sauce is watered down and so salty. And what prompted me to write this bad review was today… I got the tempura (which is usually good), but my sauce tastes like ammonia was added! Seriously some scary stuff! Will not be going back to what used to be a Daly City institution. Insert sad face.

Crispy outside moist inside chicken. Cooked to order so expect to wait at least 15 minutes.

First off, this place is small and easy to miss.
However, I remember having been here when I was younger and haven’t been since. Just recently, I had a craving for chicken and decided to stop by.
We got 3 pieces of fried chicken with two sides (cole slaw and fries) along with breaded mushroom. I also ordered a Kern’s mango juice.
The one star off was for the guy almost forgetting the mango juice. I had to remind him when he brought the drink over. I don’t think it was fridged for long because it was borderline room temperature.
Aside from the drink…
Service was average on this place. It’s small so the cashier also serves as the guy who brings the food as well as busses the tables. Poor guy — so remember to tip!
Food itself:
Fried chicken is pretty good. It’s not aa greasy or salty as other places. I would order it again in a heartbeat.
Cole slaw: okay. I am not fond of it, so I only took a bite and declared it decent. At least it’s not overpowered by the mayo.
Fries: don’t know about everyone else, but I liked it! I am not fond of overly salty, greasy, and twice fried fries. So i like these ones. They’re lightly fried and not as greasy. I don’t think they’ve been salted. So i enjoyed them.
Breaded mushroom: enjoyable. It’s breaded, deep fried and comes with a ranch sauce. Try it out!
Overall: i would come back here for the fried chicken and breaded mushroom. I remember they used to have fried zucchini but it looks like they removed it from the menu.

What a great find!
I have noticed this place quite a long time ago but never made the stop to go in and I’m glad I finally did.
We ordered a fish and chips and a cheeseburger. The order was to go and was pleasantly surprised that the fish and fries were not all soggy and gross by the time I got home. They cut little holes in the box so the steam wouldn’t get the food gross. What a great idea!
The burger was delicious and huge for what we paid, $ 5. At Nations around the corner a burger that size would be almost double the price! I now crave these cheeseburgers based on that initial experience.
I can’t wait to try more things on the menu.

Food = okay. I tried their chicken and vegetable stir fry over rice. Maybe I should try their fried chicken…
Prices = reasonable.
Service = okay. Yeah, just okay. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad.

Broaster Chicken is a little hole in the wall chicken establishment in the renovated Westlake Plaza, next to Chipotle. Our family would order a #-piece meal for family parties, so we were familiar with the chicken’s crispy, juicy deliciousness. I took my husband here for the first time (and honestly this was the first time in their restaurant) and was surprised at how small it was. Maybe enough for 6 to 7 parties of 4 people. It could get crowded fast, but luckily for us, there were only 2 other parties there. Definitely casual and honestly could have a better appearance, but all the same, it’s about the food.
My husband and I got the 3 and 2-​piece meals, respectively, though we were both surprised at their wider Japanese menu. Alas, I promised him chicken, and so we got chicken. Being Filipino, the broaster chicken over rice was superb. As everyone has already mentioned, their stuff is made to order, so 1) it’s fresh, 2) it takes a bit longer than you’d probably prefer, and 3) it’s HOT (a.k.a. watch out with those first bites — i burned my tongue)! The chicken met all expectation (as usual): crispy, juicy, full of flavor in the simplest way (i know that’s confusing but when you can get a lot of great chicken flavor without adding in 3 lbs of seasoning, you’ve got a winner).

I wouldn’t put Broaster Chicken in the Unilocal ‘soul food’ category. Chicken was moist and crispy since it is cooked to order. Not much flavor and fries were soggy.
Also tried fish and chips. Tartar sauce on the runny side.
Not sure I would go out of my way for their food.

Gee, how did I end up here? Oh yeah, Jamie W. and I were on our way to Filoli for the very first time, and I was trying to figure out a convenient pit stop on the way down to Woodside. Westlake Shopping Center came to mind as I had been meaning to try Tani’s Kitchen for home-​style Japanese. But alas, her door was shut until noon, and I was in no mood for a burrito bowl at Chipotle. I just happened to pass by Broaster Chicken and had no sense that this was part of a bigger chain. Is it just a nondescript version of KFC or a true find heretofore undiscovered by poultry purists? The truth, as my rating reveals, is something in between.
I came in to find that previously ignored formica clearly has found a home here, and so have a lot of regulars who like to scarf down the chicken with no hesitation (photo:
). There must be something to the flavor, I said to myself in a mumble eerily similar to the way homeless people talk to themselves on the street. There’s a lot more than broasted chicken on the menu with teriyaki plates, burgers, tempura and even udon noodle bowls possible options (photo:
). Clearly it’s an Asian-​run place, and the real irony is how skinny the guy behind the counter was. I assume he knows when to push the plate away, or he must have incredible metabolism.
But I digress since who comes here for anything but the chicken? I decided to go for three pieces and a dinner roll for $ 5.75 (photo:
). It was good with moist meat and a crispy crust but honestly, nothing that had me craving for more right away. The chicken is apparently cooked in a pressure fryer that reduces the fat content but not the flavor. It also gets served blisteringly hot so careful where you affix your tongue on said bird. FYI — you can order 48 pieces for $ 40.75, a rather price-​efficient quantity I hope not to order in a moment of quiet desperation. I hope I don’t end up hanging out with the other regulars with my bulbous thighs (mine, not the chicken’s) epoxied to the orange formica.
FOOD — 3 stars… solid fried chicken but not the best ever
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… rather sterile with all the formica in here
SERVICE — 3.5 stars… pretty quiet
TOTAL — 3 stars… if broasting is your thing…

Marketing is everything.
Put a hot girl in an upper decker flopper stopper and butt floss, then in front of your product and cha-​ching! There’s may be no connection between the scantily clad girl and your product but the point is you will attract the attention of a potential customer (s).
Broaster Chicken has been at Westlake for as long as I can remember… back to the Loehmann’s days. If you remember this, congrats… you’re an old fart like me.
Last month was my very first visit to Broaster Chicken and I was surprised to see how little reviews this place has considering its been open for nearly 3 decades.
Ahhh marketing or lack thereof. Did you know that Broaster Chicken has 30%+ less calories, 50%+ less fat, and 90%+ less carbs than KFC (if you take off the skin)? Shit, I didn’t…
I found this out during one of my many neurotic research sessions:
.
The marinated chicken is cooked in a pressure fryer which locks in the moisture and prevents oil from soaking in thus being healthier. What you get is an incredibly tender and succulently moist chicken with a delicate, grease-​free crunch. No disgusting feeling of inhaling a tub of Crisco afterwards. I personally don’t mind that the Broaster Chicken is not as seasoned as KFC (which I think is salty as f*ck) because you can actually taste the chicken more. Plus, it’s easily solved by being hella pinoy and using ketchup (or bringing a bottle of banana sauce).
I would have thought Broaster Chicken would have used this nutritional info as a marketing tool to dominate the fried chicken world. Or at least have a hot girl in upper decker flopper stoppers and butt floss sitting there and sensually devouring a bucket of Broaster Chicken. Mmmm…
OTHER NOTES:
*Broaster Chicken’s menu has fried chicken, fish & chips and Americanized Japanese items like tempura, teriyaki and udon ($ 6-​$ 13.99).
–I ordered a 3 piece meal w/​2 sides & a roll for just $ 7.75:
.
*Long wait times for food because everything is cooked to order. It took 25 minutes to get the Broaster Chicken.
*Cheesy old skool décor with seating for 25 people.
*CC’s ARE accepted ( Unilocal needs to update this).