Honey's Hot Chicken-Highland Park

I had dinner last night at Honey's Hot Chicken in Highland Park. Apparently, Highland Parkers love Fried Chicken as the place was packed. Honey's is a new venture from Jeff Shapiro owner of Real Urban Barbeque and his partner, Dean. All the chicken is made to order and takes about 15 mins to arrive at the table from the time you order at the counter.

Brought the family and we were able to try the Nashville Hot, Honey Butter, Buffalo and Original fried chicken. First, the pieces of chicken were plump, fried perfectly to the point of greaseless and seasoned impeccably. I loved the Nashville Hot but have no idea if this is an authentic version as I've not had it before. Honey Butter, Buffalo and Original were all excellent as well.

The sides we tried, grilled watermelon and feta, chipotle corn and several others were great. I thought $11 for a four pieces order with 2 sides was an incredible value. The menu has a grilled chicken option as well but make no mistake, this is a fried chicken joint.

We loved the remodel of this cursed location, we loved the food and will definitely be back. Interested to hear what others think.

Honey's Hot Chicken
1791 St. John's Ave
Highland Park, IL 60035

So I was there last night too. Got three meals for takeout. Overall impression; pretty much agree with the above. We had two Nashville Hot meals and one Honey Butter. I was very pleased with the flavor of my chicken but I’ve never had Nashville Hot so have nothing to compare it to. My son absolutely loved his Nashville Hot and Shredded Brussels Sprouts. My wife liked the Honey Butter but felt one piece of chicken was a little dry.
The place was packed with both eat in and people waiting for takeout. It’s really out of our area but we are usually in the neighborhood about once a week and adds a nice option if we are running late.

iblock9 wrote:We loved the remodel of this cursed location...
1791 St. John's Ave
Highland Park, IL 60035

Is that the old deli?

Looking forward to checking it out. Thanks for the heads-up.

Been here a couple of times already. Was in a similar boat as the previous posters with really enjoying the Nashville hot but not having a comparison.

One thing have seen mentioned yet is the biscuits. I would definitely recommend getting them along with a side of honey butter. Both me and the mrs. loved them.

I wasn't as keen on the sides. Thought the mac and cheese was a surprisingly flavorless (although like the version at RUB) and the coleslaw was a too creamy for my liking.

iblock9 wrote:

We loved the remodel of this cursed location...
1791 St. John's Ave
Highland Park, IL 60035

Katie queried:

Is that the old deli?

It was most recently the City Park Grill, AFAIK. Never went, myself.

Katie wrote:

iblock9 wrote:We loved the remodel of this cursed location...
1791 St. John's Ave
Highland Park, IL 60035

Is that the old deli?

Looking forward to checking it out. Thanks for the heads-up.

Yes, I believe it was Kip's when I first moved to Highland Park in 1970.

Most restaurants in this location stayed an extended period of time. Metropolitan Grill or whatever it was called was there for over a decade. It did remodel and reduce its footprint. They certainly left under protest, because their landlord had another tenant in mind. That certainly did not work out.

Regards,

Kip's Deli, yes, that's the name I was trying to remember. Thanks, Cathy.

I stopped in here a couple of weeks ago just to take a peek of the place. I decided to have a snack, so my girlfriend and I ordered one each of a Nashville Hot, Honey Butter, and Original chicken tenders plus a couple of biscuits. Like everyone else in this thread so far, I have never had real Nashville Hot chicken, so I have nothing to compare to. Probably like many Highland Park people think Real Urban BBQ is real BBQ because they never had the real thing (big difference). I suppose if you like it and support it, there's nothing wrong with that. I normally would prefer chicken off the bone to tenders, but we just wanted a sampling. The breading was thin, armor plated crunchy, pretty good, not greasy. The Original and Nashville Hot were both pretty good, though I know that you can get Hot Chicken WAY hotter and this in Nashville was not very hot. I didn't care for the Honey Butter on the chicken. I've never been a sweet and salty fan. The biscuits were decent too-nice and fluffy, and come with Honey Butter on the side.

As to Highland Park and fried chicken - I suppose we do like it, but we don't have anywhere to go. As far as chains - we lost our old dumpy KFC on Central decades ago. We lost our Brown's Chicken on 41 at least 4-5 years ago. We've never had a Popeye's which many people around here wouldn't mind. I was hoping that the Taco Bell on 41 that replaced Brown's would be a Taco Bell/KFC hybrid. I think it would have done well, but the owners didn't want it. Ravinia BBQ and Grill had broasted chicken than many liked, but they closed. Players Grill is meh. Little Red Hen in Glencoe is a little bit of a drive. So Honey's Hot Chicken fills a void here. I need to go back to have a full meal there.

Ram4, now that you mention it, I remember the KFC on Central. Some of my friends on the track team worked there. Man, were they trained in customer service! Any customer at any time day or night could have been a corporate customer service inspector. A store could get docked just for processing an order without a "Thank you very kindly" at the end of the transaction. I thought we were pretty strictly trained in customer service at the McDonald's on Second Street, but I wonder if any fast food places have such a rigorous system anymore as KFC did then.

The other thing I remember is that they didn't keep leftover biscuits overnight, not surprisingly, so if once in a while my dad and I gave a ride home to a friend who worked the closing shift, we got a big tray of biscuits for a reward, much to my dad's delight.

But yeah, you're right, not a lot of fried chicken available around there then, less now that KFC and Brown's are gone, but you don't have to go far for some. In addition to an okay KFC, there is a good Popeye's out here in Mundelein, on Town Line Road, and several places along Route 45 that do broasted chicken well.

I'm looking forward to trying Honey's Hot Chicken next time up over there, but not for the Nashville Hot, as I don't have much tolerance for hot sauce anyway. I'm looking forward to trying "the breading on the thin, armor-plated crunchy, pretty good, not greasy... Original." And I'll try the Honey Butter too.

One more personal memory about that Kentucky Fried Chicken comes to mind. Once in a while, my mother would take my brother and sister and me, the three littler ones, to buy a bucket of fried chicken there, and we'd go eat it and play at Sunset Park or at one of the parks overlooking the lake. It was a rare and I suppose rarely affordable treat, with the four older ones all in college at the same time, and one of my happiest memories of HP.

Hi,

I miss the HP Brown's. The city employees I'd see there I bump into at other places in town, we all still wish it had remained a Brown's.

One thing I have learned since HP Brown's went poof, they made their mushrooms uniquely. At the Brown's in Waukegan and Northbrook, their fried mushrooms are more standard food from the freezer. HP's seemed to be breaded with the same mixture used for the chicken. Either the other two locations switched to food concession breaded mushrooms or Brown's abandoned their method or HP's was unique. I never went to many Brown's beyond HP, until it closed.

Nearest (or at least somewhat conveniently located) broasted chicken is Full Moon on 41. There is a Popeyes in North Chicago on Green Bay Road, across from a KFC.

Regards,
Cathy2

I also miss the HP Browns. Where exactly was the KFC on Central?

Across from the main post office where a bank building, but no bank, is situated.

I had lunch at Honey's Hot Chicken the other day. As the first person to report who has actually had Nashville Hot chicken in situ, I can say that the flavor is about right, but I'd put the single heat level that they offer at no more than Prince's mild, perhaps medium on a good day. The chicken is very nicely fried, though.

Contrary to what has been reported here in the past, Honey's does not cook their chicken to order. I got there around 11:45, just before the lunch rush, thinking that I could order my chicken and have a leisurely 20 mins to catch up on some email and podcast listening. I was wrong. My chicken came out within 5 minutes. It was not as hot as it would have been fresh from the fryer, but still warm enough, I suppose.

Honey's Hot Chicken


A Tale of Two Chickens
Comparing Honey's to The Budlong, I'd give the nod for the chicken to The Budlong by a country mile. The Budlong's chicken is brined, and it shows up in the flavor of the meat itself, and the fact that you can choose your heat level is a plus. I'm a heat lover, so the extra spicy is my pick to click (or is that cluck?). Also, Honey's uses much smaller birds, so a chicken lover like me can leave Honey's still a bit peckish after demolishing a 1/4 chicken. Biscuit wise, The Budlong gets the nod as well, although Honey's biscuits are nothing to complain about. In fact, they are some of the best in the area, just not up to Kay Bee's at The Budlong.

Ambiance wise, the nod goes to Honey's. There is lots of comfortable seating compared to the small assed, jail-like metal stools at The Budlong. Honey's has real silverware, too, which is a huge plus in my book. Honey's has lot's of condiments available including little cups of honey, which is a nice topper for both the chicken and the biscuits. There is also a slide show in the front dining room that features some nostalgic shots of 1950's TV families and vintage chicken shack signage.

As far as the sides go, I'm giving a provisional nod to The Budlong. Every side I've tried there has been great. At Honey's, I was only able to try the Brussels sprouts and caramelized onions, which I felt were overcooked and mushy. I didn't care for that dish at all, but I'll reserve final judgement until I've had a chance to try more of Honey's sides. And then there's pie. Honey's has a selection of several types of pie for dessert, which is another big plus. The milkshake served at The Budlong, while excellent, doesn't qualify as "dessert" as far as I'm concerned (but it is an excellent drink).

The bottom line for me is that if you are looking for some authentic Nashville Hot Fried Chicken, go to The Budlong. If the atmosphere is more important to you than the food, or if you're spice averse, go to Honey's. Both are good...just different.

That's very helpful. Thanks, Steve.

Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read:

Honey's is in the suburbs, The Budlong is in the city.

scottsol wrote:Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read: Honey's is in the suburbs, The Budlong is in the city.

Okay, I waited a while to see, and no one else has asked, so I will. I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Specifically, I don't understand the wording "Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read ..."

(This is the complete post I intended. The above was incomplete and I can't figure out how to delete it.)

scottsol wrote:Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read: Honey's is in the suburbs, The Budlong is in the city.

Okay, I waited a while to see, and no one else has asked, so I will. I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Specifically, I don't understand the wording "Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read ..."

If you mean to say Honey's appeals to stereotypes of suburban preferences and Budlong appeals to stereotypes of city preferences, I have to say, I don't see how Steve's review supports that. Why should suburbanites and urbanites differ in their preferences concerning whether the chicken is brined, or how big the pieces are, or whether or not the dessert options are good? Or am I wrong in my guess about what you're trying to say? It's not clear from the wording of your post.

Another data point. My son who likes his spicy food very hot has had Honey's Nashville Hot twice in a little over a week and he noticed a marked increase in spice level this past Saturday night. Not sure whether this was due to inconsistent preparation or a tweak to the recipe. He was pleased either way.

I tried Honey's last week because I was stranded up north and craving fried chicken. So, my lovely wife picked some up for me and the boyo - Original Fried and Nashville Hot. It was fine, though neither -- nor any of the sides we tried (slaw, mac & cheese, potatoes, brussels sprouts, roasted poblano cheesy corn)-- would have me rushing back. Both versions were mostly salty with not much else to them. And I'm a bit embarassed to admit it but the pieces we didn't eat ended up getting tossed immediately. I'm not usually this wasteful but we all kind of realized none of us were going to eat it later.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote: And I'm a bit embarassed to admit it but the pieces we didn't eat ended up getting tossed immediately. I'm not usually this wasteful but we all kind of realized none of us were going to eat it later.

=R=

I have a bag in the freezer of odds and ends to use as stock. I might have pulled off the skin and tossed it, then everything else into the bag for a future stock.

Katie wrote:(This is the complete post I intended. The above was incomplete and I can't figure out how to delete it.)

scottsol wrote:Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read: Honey's is in the suburbs, The Budlong is in the city.

Okay, I waited a while to see, and no one else has asked, so I will. I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Specifically, I don't understand the wording "Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read ..."

If you mean to say Honey's appeals to stereotypes of suburban preferences and Budlong appeals to stereotypes of city preferences, I have to say, I don't see how Steve's review supports that. Why should suburbanites and urbanites differ in their preferences concerning whether the chicken is brined, or how big the pieces are, or whether or not the dessert options are good? Or am I wrong in my guess about what you're trying to say? It's not clear from the wording of your post.

I think he means (just my guess) that people in the suburbs tend to not know food as well as people in the city. A lot of people tend to equate suburbia as families and that means kids. Families with kids tend to "eat to live" rather than "live to eat" and most of the best food is in the city for people that live to eat. My cousin and my brother in the burbs are perfect examples. While they do appreciate great food, they'll rarely drive to the city to get the best food, and many times settle for mediocrity ("Real Urban BBQ is the best!" "Rosati's Pizza is so good!") because their world revolves around kids, staying home with the kids and they are ok with that. And most kids certainly don't care about the food. That's a quick guess. If I'm wrong, he can clarify (with butter if he wants). If you were to ask me, I would concur, I feel many people in Highland Park have no clue about great food such as BBQ or Italian Beef. Why? Because they can't get it around here and don't want to drive anywhere far to them to get it. It's not worth it. I fight this fight all the time with friends and family around here. The majority are sheep. HP and other lakeside communities are more or less bedroom communities. They'll eat whatever is around here. Some (like me) will drive to get great food. Honestly, I wish I didn't have to drive all the time, and many times I don't.

Honey's Hot Chicken is what I pretty much expected it to be for Highland Park (and coming from Real Urban BBQ) based on reviews here and what I tasted so far.

Katie wrote:(This is the complete post I intended. The above was incomplete and I can't figure out how to delete it.)

scottsol wrote:Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read: Honey's is in the suburbs, The Budlong is in the city.

Okay, I waited a while to see, and no one else has asked, so I will. I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Specifically, I don't understand the wording "Sadly, Steve's review could simply have played to stereotypes and read ..."

If you mean to say Honey's appeals to stereotypes of suburban preferences and Budlong appeals to stereotypes of city preferences, I have to say, I don't see how Steve's review supports that. Why should suburbanites and urbanites differ in their preferences concerning whether the chicken is brined, or how big the pieces are, or whether or not the dessert options are good? Or am I wrong in my guess about what you're trying to say? It's not clear from the wording of your post.

A stereotype represents a common perception of some real or imagined class, and like all generalities (except possibly this one) there are exceptions but often a grain or more of truth behind the stereotype.

My comment was to point out that the differences between the two shops aligned with the stereotype. The stereotype of city vs suburbs would include things like authentic vs dumbed down, gritty vs comfortable, the chefs vision vs market analysis etc.

The sad part is that Honey's more or less conforms to the negative suburban stereotype.

scottsol wrote:The sad part is that Honey's more or less conforms to the negative suburban stereotype.

I should point out that as much as I love Steve (and often agree with him about culinary matters), your conclusion here about Honey's is based solely on his post. Other opinions could easily lead to different conclusions.

Beyond that, if the place does reasonable business, keeps people in the area fed/happy and provides steady jobs, the overall outcome just isn't that sad. Well, it may be sad for some of us LTHers but not necessarily overall. Yeah, I wish I'd liked the food more but this is still a locally-owned business run by people who work their asses off, so I'm going to root for them, whether the product they're putting out appeals to me personally or not.

=R=

Guys, you didn't really need to go to so much trouble to explain (a) what a stereotype is and (b) what the urbanite/suburbanite food appreciation stereotype is. I thought my post conveyed that I do understand those things. I just find it surprising that things like brining versus not brining the chicken, serving smaller versus larger chicken pieces, and offering fewer versus more dessert options can be attributed to catering to stereotypical suburbanite food preferences. There may be other differences between Honey's and Budlong that reinforce such stereotypes, but those three things Steve mentioned in his post don't seem to me to have much if anything to do with where you live, how far you have to drive, and how food-worldly you are. Thanks, nonetheless, for your cordial and thoughtful replies; I hope you will consider this to be the same, as it is certainly intended to be.

Ram4 wrote:The majority are sheep. HP and other lakeside communities are more or less bedroom communities. They'll eat whatever is around here. Some (like me) will drive to get great food. Honestly, I wish I didn't have to drive all the time, and many times I don't.

I don't really think this is city vs suburbs, it is really 'normal people' vs 'food obsessed,' which we are speaking to the choir on LTHforum.

I remember in an early Chowhound thread when Gary recounted a motorcycle trip in the south. He had a hankering for a specific dish In NOLA (I think), which involved a 500-mile diversion. He did it and frankly, it sounded like something I might do, too. Most of the world would consider that nuts, I did not (and many here might do similar or wish they had).

Let's face it, we are not 'normal people.'

Cathy2 wrote:I don't really think this is city vs suburbs, it is really 'normal people' vs 'food obsessed,' which we are speaking to the choir on LTHforum.
. . . .

Let's face it, we are not 'normal people.'

Yep, this! And you know what, I like being odd!

And speaking as a city folk who may never return to life in the suburbs (though I grew up in them), while I generally think I can find far more food to my liking in the city, that's not to say that I can't find better of anything in the suburbs, and I can think of countless examples. Show me the Katy's or Mitsuwa in the city for example. And I've been in some tiny, tiny towns and eaten some spectacular food. Sorry for taking this off the rails a bit, but I loved Cathy's post and felt like chiming in.

I agree, Cathy. Well said.

Honey's Hot Chicken - The Deception August 2016. I was strolling around the downtown Highland Park Art Fair and wanted to eat. I a little craving for some chicken, and I decided to get a few tenders in Nashville Hot sauce from Honey's as a couple of other vendors had really long lines and I didn't want to wait. I had been to Honey's twice before, had a few tenders right when the opened and then later a had a regular meal. Both times were decent if that.

Anyway, I took a bite of the chicken and it was really good - much better than the ones I had in the restaurant. For some reason it had a totally different breading, flavor, and texture. I was impressed, but confused. The sign did say homemade chicken tenders. Their tenders I had at the restaurant were similar to the regular chicken, with a very crunchy and smoother surface crust. These tenders were closer to a crunchy frozen tender. I knew the hot sauce was not that hot, but I wasn't looking to be scorched. I walked up to the chef and asked him if they changed the recipe for the tenders. He laughed and said something about doing something a little different for the Art Fair/Taste of HP. I told him from what I remembered, the tenders today were a lot better than the ones I had at the restaurant. He nervously laughed again and said I might have gotten some that were sitting out a little too long (nice, so you admit that you don't fry everything to order) or were overcooked. I joked saying, "I thought you were going to tell me these were Sysco chicken tenders or something." Once again he laughed. Anyway I walked away.

About an hour or so later I came back around behind their booth walking down Central St. I saw him pull out a big bag of frozen Tyson Chicken Tenders! They weren't serving their chicken at all. They put on their sign "Homemade Chicken Tenders" but were selling frozen Tyson chicken. No wonder this lying schmuck was nervously laughing. Guess what - the frozen chicken was better than your own chicken tenders in your restaurant.