Crisp - Korean Fried Chicken

Has anyone been to "Crisp" yet? They are selling Korean Style fried chicken. I've been wanting to try some since reading that Nytimes article about it.

My friend just sent me an article about it:

http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=27850

One of the owner's family runs the hotdog stand Budacki.

Crisp
2940 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657

here's the website i found: http://www.crisponline.com/crisp.aspx

interested in seeing if they're serving chopped up tung dalk or they're using drums/wings...

either way tho, this is SCARY:

homemade Korean / American fusion BBQ

and this was MY IDEARRR DARNIT:

burrito is generously filled with rice, onions, tomatoes, chives and our homemade marinated Korean beef, Bulgogi

funny this pops up a week after i referenced Kyochon's fried chicken: http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=17030

In service to my fellow LTH'ers I stopped off at Crisp for dinner on my way home from work tonight. Today was the first day that they were open.

I had wings, 5 Crisp BBQ and 5 Seoul Sassy (ugh). The names not withstanding, I thought the wings were pretty good. Both were definitely on the sweet side, dangerously approaching cloying territory but stopping just short. The Crisp BBQ had a nice spicy kick to them. I preferred the Seoul Sassy (ugh), which was more of a soy/ginger marinade. The skin was delicately crisp. I also had fries, which were unremarkable.

So, the wings judged on their own were pretty good. I've never had other examples of Korean fried chicken, so I can't comment on authenticity or how they compare to others.

They have a bunch of other stuff besides chicken. A couple sitting across from me ordered Bi Bim Bop, which Crisp calls a Big Boy Buddha (ugh). It looked pretty good, but it costs $10 (and that's the meatless version) and doesn't come with an egg on top (which I thought was how this is usually served).

Definitely a work in progress, but a nice addition to the neighborhood.

Cheogajip was disappointing for me. Hopefully, Crisp will be able to scratch the itch between trips out to NYC/LA.

I think that this is simply a repackaging of the former Rice Box which previously occupied that space. The owners seem to have caught on to the fact that the local Trixies and Chads will eat Alpo if you put it in a wrap or serve it in a bread bowl.

Don't get me wrong, Rice Box was a decent neighborhood place serving pretty authentic, though slightly watered down Korean Food. They're simply addressing the neighborhood market.

Was there the other day. There's some truth to both sides here. The buddha bowl isn't great, but the quality of the marinade on the vegetables which top it is. The ssam or burritos are horrible.

The Seoul Sassy fried chicken on the other hand is in the same vein as the Kai Thawt or Gai Tod at Spoon. It's a little more sweet (unless you dip spoon's in the tamarind sauce, then about the same), but I love the sweet savory balance on it.

Pictures here

MJN,

Couldn't agree more with your review (my fear was that everything other than the chicken was going to be pretty bad). My fear is that the owner is intending this to be the first of a franshised operation. If he could just focus on the chicken and a few really good sides for now he'll have something special on his hands. The lack of quality on the other stuff is going to dilute the overall value of this place.

Speaking of Asians and fried chicken......There's the filipino market on Lawrence about 4600 W. (near Halogen Supply) they have the big fried chicken sign in their window.

Is there a thread on LTHForum about them?

James and Joy is the name of the place on Lawrence. The chicken is pretty good. The rest of the menu seems to suffer from too much time on the steam table.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 67cd626b18

Our pal Will is correct about the steam table / time issue at Joy and James.

I stop in occasionally to see what is fresh and earlier today I got there when Ading was in the process of making chicken rolls.
I had two of them fresh and it was the best 4 dollars spent all day. We also had some chicken to go which was pretty good.

I asked if there were times when they prepared the fresh not on the menu items and she said the best idea was to call ahead.

Since I was asking about other items she had me sample some of the foods they had ready.
I tried some ham which they made start to finish.

I also was given some fried chicken skin which was kind of a surprise for me. I am pretty much a glutton and eat all of the marble in my steaks and then sum, read all the fat on the plate. I even eat an embarrassing amount of turkey skin at Thanksgiving, but something about the fried chicken skin and its very strong fatty flavor was a little more than my cracker palate could handle. Go figure.

Anyway,
Joy and James Cafe
4701 W Lawrence
Ading Alonzo
773 736 cafe(2233)


If anyone can explain a bit about the chicken rolls I would appreciate. I thought she said that it was an egg batter with water chestnuts but I really have no idea.

MJN wrote:The buddha bowl isn't great, but the quality of the marinade on the vegetables which top it is.

Bummer. I had high hopes that there would be another good bi bim bop option in the neighborhood. Rice Box's offering, while not great, was adequate. Koryo is right down the street and does a decent job, but they're a bit pricey.

I'm not surprised it fell short, given that the name was a bit of a giveaway.

You know the guys who own this place seem like they have good intentions and some flexibility. I bet if someone told them they need a fried egg and some crunchy rice bits, they might try something like that. The veggies that top it were very good, so they are half way to a good bibimbop.

Did they have kimchi?

I didn't see any kimchi.

I went back to pick up dinner for last night. Got 10 wings, 5 plain and 5 sassy. They were both tasty but must have been loaded with salt. I couldn't stop drinking water for the rest of the night.

I just called. They can do an egg for a small charge, but they don't have kimchi. They said they could if enough folks requested it, which I did as it's rather integral as far as I'm concerned.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:Did they have kimchi?

The former incarnation would add a side of kimchi to your bento for a buck if I recall correctly. While I normally like kimchi very much, I had it once and didn't think their kimchi was worth the cash so it may be for the best that it is no longer available.

FYI. I received a PM from the owners of Crisp today advising that they are not in any way related to the past owners of Rice Box, which had previously occupied that spot on Broadway in Lakeview. Theyu're simply Korean busiess owners operating a business in a spot where the previous owners were Korean and operated a restaurant.

YourPalWill wrote:FYI. I received a PM from the owners of Crisp today advising that they are not in any way related to the past owners of Rice Box, which had previously occupied that spot on Broadway in Lakeview. Theyu're simply Korean busiess owners operating a business in a spot where the previous owners were Korean and operated a restaurant.

Ya know I used to eat at Rice Box alla time and clearly the people at Crisp are different people. I stopped in there to check it out and was quite underwhelmed. First of all, I'm not down with "communal tables" and small weird stools for a casual dining/takeout place. Second, uh, the chicken is $9. There are lots of chicken places with smaller size/price points around there. They are NOT going to attract individuals looking for a quick bite in lakeview, i.e, a quiet non-communal table to sit for 20 minutes and eat an entire individual portion of something for less than $7. They are ALSO not going to attract the fine dining crowd.

If you wanna be the korean Chicken Hut, gimme a 1/4 chicken with rice for $5, and my own little table to devour it.

Marco wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:FYI. I received a PM from the owners of Crisp today advising that they are not in any way related to the past owners of Rice Box, which had previously occupied that spot on Broadway in Lakeview. Theyu're simply Korean busiess owners operating a business in a spot where the previous owners were Korean and operated a restaurant.

Ya know I used to eat at Rice Box alla time and clearly the people at Crisp are different people. I stopped in there to check it out and was quite underwhelmed. First of all, I'm not down with "communal tables" and small weird stools for a casual dining/takeout place. Second, uh, the chicken is $9. There are lots of chicken places with smaller size/price points around there. They are NOT going to attract individuals looking for a quick bite in lakeview, i.e, a quiet non-communal table to sit for 20 minutes and eat an entire individual portion of something for less than $7. They are ALSO not going to attract the fine dining crowd.

If you wanna be the korean Chicken Hut, gimme a 1/4 chicken with rice for $5, and my own little table to devour it.

1/2 chicken and side is 4.50. I ordered 2, one with rice and one with fries last week. The chicken was ok the fries were the seasoned type and I did not like the rice.

third coast foodie wrote:

Marco wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:FYI. I received a PM from the owners of Crisp today advising that they are not in any way related to the past owners of Rice Box, which had previously occupied that spot on Broadway in Lakeview. Theyu're simply Korean busiess owners operating a business in a spot where the previous owners were Korean and operated a restaurant.

Ya know I used to eat at Rice Box alla time and clearly the people at Crisp are different people. I stopped in there to check it out and was quite underwhelmed. First of all, I'm not down with "communal tables" and small weird stools for a casual dining/takeout place. Second, uh, the chicken is $9. There are lots of chicken places with smaller size/price points around there. They are NOT going to attract individuals looking for a quick bite in lakeview, i.e, a quiet non-communal table to sit for 20 minutes and eat an entire individual portion of something for less than $7. They are ALSO not going to attract the fine dining crowd.

If you wanna be the korean Chicken Hut, gimme a 1/4 chicken with rice for $5, and my own little table to devour it.

1/2 chicken and side is 4.50. I ordered 2, one with rice and one with fries last week. The chicken was ok the fries were the seasoned type and I did not like the rice.

Was the 1/2 chicken and side @ $4.50 a special? Because according to their online menu, 1/2 chicken is $8.95, and small sides are discounted $1 if ordered with a 1/2 chicken. (The cost of eligible small sides--pre-discount--is $2.95 to $3.95.) For $4.50 I'd try it, but for $11++ it's not really worth it.

I plan on checking it out for takeout tonight. I'll let you know about both the prices and give some more feedback on the food.

When I lived in NY in the early 90s, there was this place called East Side Chicken on the upper east side that served chicken and sides on a takeout basis only... Rostisserie, fried with skin on, fried with skin off, great homemade mashed potatoes and veggies. That's the kind of place that I'm jonesin for in my neighborhood these days.

Maybe Crisp will provide a nice new alternative for my love of all things chicken.

chgoeditor wrote:

third coast foodie wrote:

Marco wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:FYI. I received a PM from the owners of Crisp today advising that they are not in any way related to the past owners of Rice Box, which had previously occupied that spot on Broadway in Lakeview. Theyu're simply Korean busiess owners operating a business in a spot where the previous owners were Korean and operated a restaurant.

Ya know I used to eat at Rice Box alla time and clearly the people at Crisp are different people. I stopped in there to check it out and was quite underwhelmed. First of all, I'm not down with "communal tables" and small weird stools for a casual dining/takeout place. Second, uh, the chicken is $9. There are lots of chicken places with smaller size/price points around there. They are NOT going to attract individuals looking for a quick bite in lakeview, i.e, a quiet non-communal table to sit for 20 minutes and eat an entire individual portion of something for less than $7. They are ALSO not going to attract the fine dining crowd.

If you wanna be the korean Chicken Hut, gimme a 1/4 chicken with rice for $5, and my own little table to devour it.

1/2 chicken and side is 4.50. I ordered 2, one with rice and one with fries last week. The chicken was ok the fries were the seasoned type and I did not like the rice.

Was the 1/2 chicken and side @ $4.50 a special? Because according to their online menu, 1/2 chicken is $8.95, and small sides are discounted $1 if ordered with a 1/2 chicken. (The cost of eligible small sides--pre-discount--is $2.95 to $3.95.) For $4.50 I'd try it, but for $11++ it's not really worth it.

My point exactly. I went there to try it out, but a "try-out" is $5, not $10+. Not with a nearly infinite number of choices around there. Esp not if if nobody on here is really excited about any of their items.

Sad thing is, the box lunch at Rice Box was an incredibly good deal. I'd get the salmon teriyaki and it was really a tasty big piece of fish. With miso soup, rice, and 4 or more sides you NEVER had to pay extra to discover on your tray. It was $6-7 depending on time of day.

I wonder if, in general, we are more hostile to places that replace old faves--as opposed to ones that emerge neutrally.

Da Beef wrote:I tried the fried wings at crisp and thought they were some of the best I had tried...

I am a fan of crisp's wing's and would recommend ordering them plain with sauce on the side, im not big on the sauce but if getting them to go, just coat them with your favorite hot sauce at home and they are perfect.


Box of wing's from crisp.


Wing's with side of "smashed potato's" served cold on purpose and "oh so cool" cole slaw.

Stumbled into Crisp over the weekend and ordered 5 wings with the Crisp BBQ sauce (tastes like a sweet gochujang to me) just to give it a shot. The bonus for me was receiving the little wingtips as well - those are the best part of the wing for me.

I asked for my wings extra spicy and this resulted in them slathering on enough sauce to drown a chicken in. Still not very spicy but I will admit the sauce IS strangely addictive. All said, I'd go there again if I was in the neighborhood, but I won't be clamoring to return.

Tried out Crisp on Saturday for lunch, since I had read/heard they had pretty decent wings and I tend to like ones with an Asian flair.

I got 10 wings -- 5 BBQ and 5 Sassy Seoul. I didn't realize they were the whole wing so I did quite a double take when my order was called. But both flavors were really good and I just about finished all of 'em. The chicken was hot and crispy. While I found the BBQ sauce to be interesting, I preferred the Seoul flavor. Nice balance of sweet, ginger & spice without the sauce overtaking the chicken and getting all over everything. Also ordered the fries, which were cut like McDonald's but not salted very much.

Definitely would go back for the wings. Had been intrigued by other items on the menu but they don't seem to be as highly regarded as the chicken...

Had my first, and last, Crisp experience tonight. The wings were decent but overly fried for my taste. The bi bim bop, or "buddha bowl" as they embarassingly call it, was wholly mediocre, with almost flavorless meat and veggies. (cheers for the option of brown rice; jeers for the lack of kimchi)


I'll stick with Koryo if I need Korean near that intersection.

Count me as a big fan of the fried chicken here - I love the batter, great texture. Will happily go back soon for a whole chicken to-go.

I knew I forgot to post about this -- glad I saw the thread get pulled up!

Some friends and I had dinner there a few weeks back and it was good, I thought. Three of us split two half-chickens, one was Seoul Sassy and the other their BBQ. We also had an order of onion rings. I liked everything, though it was hardly a balanced meal (the bowls did looked over-priced and unappealing). The sauces were fine, and I think we preferred the BBQ (the SS tasted only of soy sauce and ginger -- too much so). The chicken pieces, though, were perfectly crisp (shouldn't be surprising, considering) and not greasy. I was surprised, pleasently, by the last part.

This isn't a place, I think, for a proper meal -- rather a snack, or as hangover food if you're in the neighborhood. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there, but if I was in front of the store and I was feeling hungry, I'd go in.

I picked up an order of wings at Crisp a couple of weekends ago. First, they're absolutely huge. I couldn't finish a five wing order in one sitting. The wings were fried hard, and were a bit on the tough side though still tasty. Given the size of these wings, one might expect them to be a bit tougher.

The kitchen cook poked a series of holes (intricately, in cool looking patterns) in the top of my to go box which let the steam of the hot wings out kept the wings crispy on their two block walk home. I like attention to detail and that showed that they were thinking about that ahead of time.

The sassy sauce was really both sweet and flavorful. These wings were immensely better hot and crispy than they were at room temperature. Then again, what wings aren't?

This is a weekend sports watching snack that I'll order again. The employees here are really friendly and outgoing.

Honestly, I think you're asking for trouble at Crisp if you wander past the chicken. The wings used to be my go to order until they became massive. Now I much prefer a half or whole chicken, depending on how many people will be eating.