Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner

This place used to be good but to me just wasn’t the same anymore. The prices were more expensive then the last time I came. The food wasn’t as good as before. The best part of my chicken dinner meal was the Chicken Noodle Soup at the beginning and the Boysenberry pie at the end. Those little biscuits were ok too.

We used to love this restaurant. The new décor is great. Unfortunately they’ve dumped their experienced wait staff for a younger crew. Bad move! We were waited on by the bartender, Corey. The bar was not crowded. He forgot our drinks and then didn’t refill them until we asked. He brought half of our desserts before getting distracted and moving onto something else. We had to ask for our other two ice creams that were just sitting on the bar melting. Like I said, neither the bar nor the restaurant were crowded, he just couldn’t figure out what to do. We’ve been going there for years and will not be going back.

Bring back the old people!!! all these new waitresses are terrible it took forever to place the order and even longer to get our food and they got it wrong and the menu is simple how do you mess that up? Yes it’s remodeled and the place looks great but I prefer the old dumpy dingy weird smelling with better service from the more mature (sorry I said old people) waitresses! Really truly earning their tips.
Oh yeah we been coming here for years and the waitress I guess tried to make me look stupid in front of my family saying she’s been there for 4 years (maybe with knotts but not with the restaurant) piss poor service. If I do decide to go back its gonna be an order to go!

Having been here before a few years ago, I brought my family who was visiting from out of state. We were seated relatively quickly — about a 30 minute wait for 4 of us during prime lunch hours. In the past, I’ve waited ~hour for 2 people in the middle of the afternoon.
Server brought our drinks and took our order quickly. Then we start running in to problems. We chose to go with with the family-​style dinner since it’s more or less the same thing as the individual chicken dinner we were all planning on getting. Our server took our individual orders (soup or rhubarb; cabbage or corn), and let’s just say none of this came out right. Example: I was the only person who asked for corn, and when our food came out, we got a HUGE bowl of corn and no cabbage. It was only when my dad asked where the cabbage was, was when the server brought out a small serving out for him, but no one else in our party.
Then, because there were 4 people in our party, each of us was supposed to get a ½ chicken. When our chicken came out, there were only 3 of each piece. Brought this up to our server who just looked dumbstruck.
We got the last ½ chicken to go, and for all the screw-​ups, the manager comped us my dad’s beer. However, not the experience I remembered from the past. Majority of the food was very tasty, but not worth $ 22…and $ 5 for a soft drink?!? Needless to say, this is probably the last time I’ll be here.

Please for a while. We finally stopped by this place after visiting knots berry farm. I was really looking for that home cooking — like coming from granny’s kitchen.
The food was average.

Delicious!
We had the best service too from our lovely waitress Deja!
Oh my goodneSsss –I highly recommend sharing the chicken dinner it comes with a salad. A soup … Biscuits … And a side. Of course because my honey only eats white meat (3.99 extra) we were so shocked that three huge chicken breast came for only one order of the chicken dinner!!! Soooooo much food!!! Literally limping out of the restaurant and even a random guy told us we looked tired! We were so full and we shared a mea!
The children’s menu was also good, our daughter got the fried chicken legs and it’s a great meal for the kids … It also comes with dessert and jello… OMG I forgot to share the fact that the chicken dinner me and hubby shared ALSO came with a slice of pie!!! (totally took it Togo. Can’t breathe)
The food was delicious and it came out fresh!
Don’t order the boysenberry butter though, it’s a hilarious joke. Because the biscuits already come hot and fresh right… But with creamy butter and a side of boysenberries jam! (the boysenberry butter was the two items just mixed together– that’s all folks)
The chicken and the mash potatoes n gravy were better than roscoes!!! (yeah I said it)
That was the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had !!
And My honey ordered me a boysenberry mojito and he got the boysenberry beer, both soooo refreshing! I’m not a mojito fan but this one was ohhhhh sooo good!!!
Excellent service and food! I highly recommend when in knotts area!!! Plus save this for the end of your long day at knotts so worth it!

I love the new ambiance. Ive been coming here since before i can remember. So obviously a little kid so well over 30 years.
The chicken dinner is so big and tasty. and now that they have a full bar… makes it even better

This is the best fried chicken I have had it is very juicy and has great flavor. The mashed potatoes and gravy are great also the biscuits are really good !!
The staff is very kind and friendly they provide great customer service. The service is really fast as well. This is the best place to get chicken. They also sell pastries, cakes and mini pies as well.

This place just reopened so of course had to check it out. It’s been closed for about 5 months for complete remodel of the place. Everything was redone and it looks nothing like it did before and now on the inside it’s really really nice looking and more client friendly.
Food wise we ordered the famous fries chicken lunch. The chicken soup was good, nice and thick with good chunks of chicken. Really good was the mashed potatoes with the chicken gravy, of note is that the potatoes were mashed fresh with no other add like milk or any ring else, looked and tasted more like scooped out potatoes. The fried chicken was ok, big pieces not greasy, with good crisp skin.
It was a bit expensive but you are at an amusement park so it was on pat cost wise with the rest of the park.
Try it you will like it:

Let me say this; I haven’t been here in quite a few years. More like 10. My mom told me it had been redone and just opened up a couple days ago, so I said «let’s do this.»
We went to Mrs. Knott’s chicken dinner for lunch and we were NOT disappointed. The entire place completely redone. It looks amazing! They have a bar area which serves beer and mixed cocktails! Good music and of course good food. The menu is the same, but that didn’t have to change!
Good job Knott’s. Love the new look and can’t wait to come back! Perhaps Sunday brunch…

Please management you need to educate your hostesses. We came across a rude one, Joey. Didn’t know what he was doing but spent the entire time playing on his iPad
Other guests complaining the restaurant is half full and they are being told a 45min-​1 hr wait, even for a table of 2.

There is an expression that was associated with Bill Goldberg and was believe the hype. Sadly Mrs. Knott’s is a lot of hype with not that much follow through.
I came during the lunch time and you can get a few different choices, but I got the fried chicken plate.
It comes with two pieces of fried chicken, chicken noodle soup, and cabbage.
The biscuits were ok and come with whipped butter and preserves. The problem is that the biscuits weren’t that fluffy and they can be small, but they are endless.
The cabbage was bland and needed salt and pepper.
The fried chicken was mediocre and wasn’t really worth it. The batter was limp and the chicken wasn’t flavorful. Luckily though the chicken was moist and hot.
Is this place that much better than KFC or Jollibee? I don’t think so.

My Mum in law & Father in law are here from England for only a week to see their only grandchildren, because they’re saving their holiday for their Christmas visit. So, since it’s a short visit, we planned local activities. They haven’t been to Knott’s, so we thought a visit to the park & Mrs Knott’s would be a hit. Park was a hit. Lunch at Mrs Knott’s… a total miss. Sucks because we made such a big deal about how it was a «thing»… First let me say it looks great, but that’s where great, or even good ends.
The hostess was bland –no smile & irritated that she had to repeat herself when I couldn’t understand what she’d asked me. Waited for nearly 30 minutes with 2 small parties ahead of us.
Upon being seated, we noticed it was pretty empty. Our server was nice, but wow … Slow in an understatement). I had to ask for our drink order to be taken & it came out in chapters… I’d have understood alcohol, but waters & a coke? Same with our food.
After waiting forever after ordering our food, we were notified there was only 1 pot pie left, so we had to change 1 order to something else. The salads that accompanied the entrees were drenched in dressing. The food finally came out in chapters. My salad was OK. Chipotle Chicken (and there wasn’t much chicken & it wasn’t tasty) … Truthfully the salads have shrunk big time! Hubby’s pot pie looked as gross as it tasted. My inlaws’ tenders were so hard, they couldn’t eat the ends & they looked over cooked. They didn’t eat most of their meals. I was so embarrassed.
When the server asked how we were doing, I told him I was disappointed & why… he didn’t even look surprised. Then said he didn’t blame me. Yikes.
The supervisor nicely removed the 3 entrees from the bill — I hadn’t asked for that, but was grateful.
I hope they turn it around — I used to love going there!

By far the WORST dining experience in my entire life.
Anticipating eating at the newly renovated restaurant, my group waited 1 hour to be seated, with a reservation. The inept servers took another 30 minutes to get us drinks and when the food arrived, it was in inedible. Really. Awful. As in chicken on top of a side salad for $ 19 and calling it, «Chipolte Salad».
To make matters worse, the cleaning crew started closing and cleaning around us and our waitress actually started giving us boxes and checks 10 minutes after being served. All this for a pre-​established birthday.
The most laughable moment was when our waitress handed the birthday girl a bag and a pie with a candle in it as we were all leaving.
My smart friend shot out of there and got fast food on the way home.
Patron beware.

Very good a nice fresh and clean look.
Love the idea of texting you when your table is ready

This review is for the NEW remodeled restaurant. First let me start off by saying the chicken dinner tastes as good or better than before. You now get a great set silverware to use, real Knott’s jelly’s and the same fantastic biscuits. We did not have to wait to be seated, and they appeared to be about half full on a Friday night at around 7 Pm.
Now for the bad news the seniors discount is gone… the overall menu prices have gone up ($ 22.00 for the chicken dinner & $ 4.59 for a soda)… I did not see any of the regular staff. Our greeter and waiter were a little inexperienced and did not have a good attitude.

I don’t want to give this restaurant a 1 star, because their food is okay. But everything was extremely sub par, just like the entire Knott’s Berry Farm park.
FOOD
Famous Fried Chicken: I was actually surprised at the amount of chicken you get! The chicken is pretty hefty and they give you a TON of mashed potato. I shared this with the boy and we were both full from 1 order. The chicken itself is okay, not anything to rave about. I prefer Korean fried chicken to this.
Chicken Noodle Soup: Very thick but still okay. There are plenty of places that serve soup way better but this is a step above canned soup. Not salty which is a plus.
Farm Fresh Salad: The cheapest salad that you can find. Basically just bits of iceberg lettuce and some baby tomatoes. Not a fan.
Cabbage with Ham: It’s really just boiled cabbage with some ground meat. I imagine that this is what Charlie used to eat before he found Wonka’s golden ticket.
Buttermilk Biscuits: SUPER yummy! This is the only thing I would come back here for. The biscuits are soft and fresh and the perfect size.
Boysenberry Pie: Good and not overly sweet. The crust is the soft kind which I guess is more traditional than the flaky kind. They give you a pretty large slice of pie, easily shareable between 2 or 3 people (especially after all that chicken and mashed potato).
Boysenberry Sherbet: Yummy! I would get this again. They give you two medium sized scoops which is good to share.
SERVICE
Our server was not very attentive or thoughtful at all. We told him that we were sharing a meal and he didn’t even bring out a second plate. We had to ask for water multiple times even though I could clearly see him walking around and passing our table. Sometimes he would forget that we made a request and we would have to ask again. On top of that, the food took a while to come out even though there were plenty of empty tables around. Looking around, it seemed to me that staff morale was pretty low.
AMBIANCE
They definitely need an update to the building. It looks like nothing’s been updated since the place opened 70 years ago. The walls are all old and yellow with outdated wallpaper and the lights are very old-​fashioned. I guess they’re trying to preserve the original feel of the restaurant, but there’s a difference between ‘classic’ and ‘outdated’. The layout of the restaurant is really weird too, as it seems like they added on an additional dining area after the fact and the designer did a really bad job. It doesn’t flow.
Our table looked into the kitchen area and I saw a server girl texting in the kitchen. Maybe it’s slow, but if you have to text at least go somewhere where customers can’t see you. It just makes it seem like the staff is slacking off and no one cares. It’s especially irritating to see when you’ve already been waiting 20 mins for your food.
OVERALL
I will not be coming here again unless the food was free. I don’t care how ‘famous’ it is.

PLEASE NOTE — this is about the temporary «to go» location. I hope when the restaurant reopens it’s better.
Having grown up in Fullerton, Knotts chicken was a huge part of my life. A special memory. I’ve been here many times as an adult, and it was always as I remembered it. Until this time.
I got the largest «To Go» offer they had which was something like 24 pieces of chicken. Sadly, most of it went to the animals.
The chicken was dry and tasteless. Like ingredients were missing. Even walking out the door, the biscuits were hard. I ate one as soon as I got to the car, and it was like a rock. Mashed potatoes and rhubarb was still good. But when your name is Mrs. Knotts Chicken Dinner, you can’t mess up the chicken. I was so thrilled they had a temporary location where I grab my childhood favorite. Now I’m sorry I wasted the time and money. Knotts would have been better off just closing down completely during the remodel.

While looking for lunch, we decided to give this place shot. It is right next to Knotts Berry Farm.
The restaurant seems a little run down and it needs a little renovating.
There was hardly a wait to be seated.
We both ordered a Mrs. Knott’s Famous Chicken dinner. It basically comes with 4 pieces of fried chicken, mash potatoes, corn, salad, chicken noodle soup, biscuits, and dessert. That is a lot of for an incredibly low price.
The chicken noodle soup was alright. Didn’t taste amazing nor did it taste bad. Just a normal chicken noodle soup.
The biscuits were definitely fresh, warm, and fluffy, but it did lack the buttery taste. Use the butter on the side of your table.
The mash potatoes was creamy and tasty. Nice smooth consistency. All the elements of a good mash potatoes.
The fried chicken was good, but something about it was missing to me. I liked it was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. I think it was a normal pieces of fried chicken.
The dessert was a choice between ice cream or the famous Boysenberry pie. We obviously chose the Boysenberry Pie. It was very unique. I never tasted a pie this unique and quite tasty. Definitely a must try.
The service here was very top notch. Our waiter, he was very attentive and friendly.
I think this a good option to go to if you want to get lunch outside of the Knotts Berry Farm park.

Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner has been around for a long time and is a tradition for many locals and visitors. Their large restaurant is located at Knott’s Berry Farm, but you can park in a validated parking lot for free if you dine at the restaurant. This a popular place, so expect a long wait during peak times.
I was not really impressed by the place. The biscuits and chicken were good, but the soup was really salty while the mashed potatoes and gravy were bland. They do not serve Knott’s jams (Smucker’s on the table), which is very weird. Service was very good though with the staff being very helpful and kind even with a big group.
There are just so many better places to get fried chicken that is very hard to recommend Mrs. Knott’s. Even KFC produces a similar product at a much lower cost. Try Roscoe’s for a real Southern California fried chicken meal.

not a chicken fan… but wow! im sold!