The Bird House

Drove by here today and drove by again until I found it. You really need to keep your eyes open to find this place. Their sign is the size of a realtor’s sign out front. We went for lunch and I had the 2 White piece Chicken with sides of Jalapeño Corn and Red Beans and Rice.
The Chicken breast and the wing were good size and were cooked well and very tasty… the crust is different than what I’ve experienced before in that it basically all comes off, is pretty hard and turns into bread stick side if you choose. Obviously it’s crispy and has some zest to it.
The Jalapeño Corn was excellent and the Red Beans and Rice were good but could of used some more spice. It came with 2 rolls that were okay but nothing to brag about.
Overall, you need to be very aware that this is a tiny hole in the wall place with a couple of picnic tables outside or you go drive thru. If it’s cold or rainy you either wanna pass or use the drive thru. The food was good and if it were $ 2 — $ 3 bucks cheaper then I’d say it was a helluva deal… but it’s not so I’ll say it’s 4* food.
I would definitely go back again but it’s my understanding that come January 15^th they shut down until Crawfish season so I guess we’ll see.

My Mom and I eat here for lunch today. It has the best fried chicken and sides. To the chef We’re not worthy, We’re not worthy!!!

The chicken was fried too hard, covered with mainly a lot of fat and full of grease. I was disappointed because I expected a lot more. The red beans and rice were good but the chicken needs to be pulled off the menu. Who has better fried chicken? My Madea… and yes, Frenchy’s
But wait… there’s more folks. The biscuit. That’s all. Left in the oven for too long? What’s up with this chicken coop? Plan B needs to start now.
Try the sweets on the left side though! That woman is so sweet!

Not sure how this place is getting 5 star reviews. Where do they get there chickens? these chicken breasts seemed to be pumped full of steroids. The crispy skin just fell off the large breast them all you had was weird textured, flavorless chicken. I had the creole cole slaw which was pretty good not great. Its hard to go wrong with a biscuit but they were just ok.
If you need a chicken fix I would recommend chicken ranch or KFC over The Birdhouse.

Not sure how this and the Boil House will commingle once crawfish season returns. I am not a big fan of just boiled crawfish, so the Boil House was not my particular cup of tea, and respectfully left the reviews to people that actually appreciated such things.
Once I heard the Bird House was taking over, and serving fried chicken… I thought… eh, don’t care. I grew up on fish fries on Friday, and chicken fries on Sunday. My Grandmother doing the latter, which meant all her kids. aka my ants an uncles… my Mom being one of 12, plus all Inlaw’s, kids and kids kids etc. Meaning well over 50 people for a regular Sunday. Making fried chicken so good, and fattening that the FDA needed to put a warning label on. So this new fired chicken craze that is taking over never really grabbed my attention. I hate being that guy bragging about family traditions on Unilocal,but going anywhere to buy fried chicken is just something that never enters my mind because of that.
OK, that being said… and being very skeptic, everything was phenomenal. Order at the tiny counter from the lovely, knowledgeable, and oh so willing to help cashier. Grab one of the few picnic tables outside, and soak in the wonderful charm of this spot. No liquor of any kind, but they are BYOB if you want. A Saint Arnold Root Beer is just fine for me though.
I just love the batter for the chicken, and the special sandwich was amazeballs. That perfect crust on the outside, with really flavorful, juicy meat inside. The sandwich was marinated in Franks Hot Sauce, and other spices, along with a kind of Franks Aioli. I am not the biggest fan of just straight up Franks Hot Sauce, but it made for a great spicy sandwich. For as big, and juicy as the chicken was, the bun was perfect. Toasted, fluffy, and held its shape when all the juices run out, and oh yeah those great house made pickles. Then the sides, oh the sides. Collard greens, red beans and rice with a bit of Andouille sausage. Hell yeah. Everything is made to order, so it is about 30 minutes for a wait. When everything is this good, I really don’t care.
Um, just read the previous paragraph to this. You don’t really need to know my families eating history, or need to care for that matter. Just know that I was really skeptical, and with other places like Funky Chicken being so mediocre, I was not expecting much. Now, I need to check out the rest of this new wave, including, Dak & Bop, and Chicken Ranch.

My 5 star rating is purely based on the food. The fried chicken is amazing, the sides are nuanced and are all really good as well. I always call ahead for my order and go through the drive-​through to pick it up, and that is really convenient. I never end up waiting long at the drive-​through at all. It probably isn’t the best place to try to eat at because of the limited parking and seating, but for takeout, this is one of my favorite places in Houston.

Excellent service. Excellent sides– especially the smothered cabbage and mashed potatoes.

Fried chicken was perfectly cooked. Tender on the inside but crispy on the outside without the greasiness. Chicken was very lightly seasoned but delicious! Potato salad has a strong hint of dill and tasty. Red beans and rice was a tad disappointing. The biscuit was amazing, wish i ordered another one.

FRIED CHICKEN IS AMAZING!!! Really the fried chicken gets 5 stars, but the long wait and so-​so service are what knocks it down. Again, the fried chicken is DELISH! Juicy on the inside with a crispy crust on the outside, it’s just perfect. The biscuits are just OK, but the fried chicken is the main event. But just know that we went at a non-​peak hour, and it took 20 – 25 minutes to get our food.

Came here as the fiancé wanted to try a new fried chicken place. Everything was outdoors which I wasn’t expecting. Definitely became food for mosquitoes, which put me in a foul mood. Maybe should have opted for the drive thru.
We ordered the 3 piece meal that came with 2 sides and the chicken tender meal with one side. For the sides, we chose mac and cheese, red beans and rice, and okra. They had an option listed where the chicken tenders were only $ 5, but they said it was only if you ordered the tailgater pack or something. I wish they would have let me gotten the chicken tenders without a side. That would have been much more appreciated as all their sides were all okay and nothing special.
As for their chicken, the tenders were nice and juicy, but were very small. I opted for the sweet and sour sauce but it had a very strong fish sauce taste. Probably would recommend another sauce if you can’t stand that taste as it was the most prominent. As for the fried chicken, the skin was crispy, but just okay in taste. Again, the chicken pieces seemed kind of small.
This definitely wasn’t the best fried chicken I had, so I wasn’t too impressed when we ate here.

You want a little bit of chicken fried? Cold beer on a Friday night?
You’ll at least get the chicken fried here. Don’t blink this place looks like garage with a few picnic benches. But the guys running H-​town Street Eats running this kitchen know what’s up.
Now my ma and grandma don’t really make fried chicken but I’ve dined on quite a lot of home fried chicken. This is the reals. And the sides?!? They’d make you forget your mom’s name! Especially that creamed corn — just the right amount of kick. Honestly, if I could add it on top of a bowl of rice… Heaven.
You may be upset at the prices. Well, #byefelicia more parking for patrons who want to dine on delicious food. Oh you’re upset at street parking? Look around. You’re in the Heights. Supply/​demand. Go on through that drive thru then.
Eat. Repeat.

Ever since this place opened, I’ve wanted to try it and we finally did Saturday night
First, the chicken was good. Well seasoned and hot out of the fryer. The breaking was a little dark — indicating the oil needs to be filtered a little more often.
Second, the sides were ok. I got the mashed potatoes and carrots. The potatoes were real so that was a plus, but the carrots were ok.
Several issues. The biggest reason this place won’t make it is basic customer service. As has been mentioned, the person at the counter is like the soup nazi in Seinfeld. She seemed irritated at any question you might ask. Then, when your chicken is ready, they should it from behind the counter. They can’t step outside and call a name?
The next issue is just basic cleanliness. During the entire time, no one ever came out to clean the picnic tables. And nothing available to clean them yourself. Napkins must be rationed, because they only put about five out at a time on the counter.
Anyhow the chicken was good (but not worth over $ 40 for two two – piece meals and one one-​piece meals with three Coke’s.). So when the rare time that I’m willing to splurge my calories on fried chicken, it won’t be here.

Formerly known as «Boil House», since crawfish season is over. We’re not so much into fried chicken, but I would like to try some amazing fried chicken once in my life. We decided this was going to be Saturday’s dinner spot.
I had sort of low expectations, but definitely hoping for the best. It looked like most of their patrons take advantage of the drive-​thru option. There’s not much seating anyways, maybe 4 tables outside. We ordered the family pack (8 pieces of chicken) to feed us 4 and broke up the 2 large sides into 4 small ones, choosing mash potatoes, okra, bulgar salad, and coleslaw. I thought the sides were ok, but the chicken was a little disappointing. The skin was super crispy which was nice, but the overall taste was just ok.
We all concurred, 3 of us giving it a 3 and the 4^th person gave it a 2 – 3. Before this year, I hadn’t had fried chicken in years, I don’t even like fried chicken, never crave it. But because of this 13 year old in the house, we have had fried chicken 3 times, and somehow I have been on this mission to have the best fried chicken! Total fail and now all this chicken tasting has pushed me over my limit and I’m officially done with fried chicken for now.
For photos visit my blog!

I didn’t even get a chance to try the food before I was blown away by their horrible service and lack of hospitality. First of all, NO PARKING! Second of all, limited seating. Now I’m probably just grasping at straws here but those things are a big deal to me. The woman working at the front was extremely rude, to say the least.
First of all before I get to the terrible attitude of the cashier, let me talk a little about the prices! From what I’ve read, and seen from Unilocal and what other people were eating beside my friend, my sister, and I, the chicken is not out of this world good but I have heard interesting things about the food. 2 pieces of chicken, a biscuit, and a small side is a whopping $ 9 and it just goes up from there all the way to $ 25. Price isn’t really an issue if the portions and service are great and the food looks awesome. But the menu board was just your basic run-​of-​the-​mill southern food with a twist.
Now to the cashier– rude. as. hell.
I had my sister hold one of the 4 only picnic tables outside for us while my friend and I ordered. I left real quick to ask my sister what she wanted to drink and the cashier just stood there asking «So am I waiting?» with a condensing attitude. For 8 pieces of chicken, 4 biscuits, 2 sides, and 3 drinks our total was about $ 36. It was super steep but my friend and I handed her our cards to split the tender to which she refused to split because «their system doesn’t support that.» (IS THIS THE 1800’S?!) Which is complete bullshit because she was using Square to charge us. I use Square for my business. YOU CAN SPLIT THE TENDER. I’m assuming she just didn’t want to lose the 2.75% per swipe that Square takes out. We asked her to void the payment and walked out. Instead we went to Good Dog for lunch and it was absolutely amazing with fantastic service and scenery! **** this place. Not going back. The food wouldn’t even have worth all of that even if it was the best chicken on earth. Avoid The Bird House. Waste of time AND MONEY.

The chicken was cooked well. The breading and the sides were not enjoyable. The breading tasted like crawfish broil spice in a really overly tough dark batter, the slaw tasted like vineger and cabbage and nothing else, the brocolli and cheese had a crust that tasted like stale crackers.

I had the 1 leg/​1 breast and side. I though the portions were great, awesome flavor, and very moist. Service was also great. One of our orders took a little longer and someone from the kitchen noticed and immediately offered an appetizer on the house until the last order came out.

Chicken tasted good, interesting dark crust, crunchy.
As others have pointed out, amenities (food served in a box with a floppy spork and wetnap) and service are not highlights;. It might help to think of this place more as a stationary food truck than a restaurant. Not super cheap by fried chicken chain standards, but for $ 9 I was full.
I think this is a worthwhile addition to the city.

What is all the hype about? The chicken is moist, I will give them that. However, NO flavor whatsoever! We had the white breast meat and I had to put hot sauce on it to even have a taste. You get better flavor at Popeyes. Very disappointing! We had the collard greens and cabbage side and again just a pepper flavor. Will not return. What a waste of money.

I went by on a Saturday for lunch. I really like good fried chicken and since that is what this place is all about I had to try it out.
Upon arriving I realized that parking is a challenge. Since the restaurant sits on E. 11^th Street in the Heights and you can’t park on 11^th your only options are the side streets which limits your options. Walking up to the restaurant I realized that this is primarily a take out location. Yes there are 4 picnic tables out front next to the street but they have no shade or umbrellas and would only be used if the weather was nice like it was that day. The store looks like it is in what used to be a small garage. I looked at the menu and decided on the 2 piece dinner that comes with a biscuit and one side. I found out that the two pieces would be dark meat or I could get one breast instead. I decided to get two dark pieces and that turned out to be a mistake. For the side I asked for the mashed potatoes and gravy. I added a coke zero and the bill with tax came to $ 11.91.
The food arrived about 10 minutes later and I sat down on one of the picnic tables to eat it. I took a pic of my food. Be sure to look at it. For some reason my two dark pieces turned out to be a leg and a wing! For the second piece to be a wing disappointed me since it is white meat (which I like too but that’s not what I was told that I was getting) but also the smallest of the pieces of a chicken. Don’t ask me why they gave me it. I don’t know. The chicken had a thick crust on it and had a reddish color to it. It looked and smelled good.
I decided to try the mashed potatoes and gravy first and fell in love with them. I would rate it a 4.5. It was excellent and the gravy had a hint of pepper flavoring that I really liked. The biscuit that came with the meal was average sized and that’s how I rated it. A 3. I would have expected a larger biscuit but after all I didn’t come here to eat biscuits and mashed potatoes and gravy. It was time for the chicken…
I went for the wing first. The crust was good at first but then I realized that that was about all of the food that was on that wing. In other words very little meat. I was surprised and kind of considered the wing to be a loss and waste of my time. A lot of crust and practically no meat. Then I dove into the chicken leg. Again a lot of crust but this time also a normal amount of meat. It was good but that was all. The crust has some kick to it but that didn’t necessarily turn me on. I like good crust and this was good but didn’t stand out to me. If I had ordered the breast instead I would have gotten more chicken than I did.
My overall score (3) is for the following reasons: I don’t take off for the parking because it is what it is and sometimes you have to put up with that when a restaurant starts up. If you live in the immediate area and are wanting take out then those aren’t negatives either. For the rest of us, I live too far away to come hear and take chicken back to my hood. I think the prices are too high. Two pieces of chicken, biscuit and one side for $ 9 is EXPENSIVE… especially for take out. I mean I know that it is located inside the loop so it’s going to be more expensive but that is ridiculous. My side was excellent but the biscuit and chicken were average in my opinion. I might even be generous in giving a 3 here but don’t feel mean enough to give a 2.
When I think of the best fried chicken in Houston I think of Barbecue Inn or Frenchy’s. I won’t think of the Bird House.

What do you get when you order a «Hillary Clinton» at Bird House?
Two breasts and a left wing.
Har har har.
The heights is rapidly becoming chicken central and Bird House is the jumping off point. Bird House is a chicken joint that has set up shop in Boil House, the grade A crawfish joint during season.
This tiny shed quite possibly houses the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. The f.c. is super crispy and aggressively seasoned with a real spicy kick. If your children are sensitive to spice, this is not for them. This is grown up chx. So grab a beer and get ready to get your wrists slick in chicken grease and drool.
The chicken they use is local and they rotate out their sides with seasonal items. With our order from opening day on Saturday, we got the braised green beans and mash with gravy. Both were amazingly flavorful and not an millimeter of the to go container went unspooned. The biscuits were fluffy with a nice salty resonance that went well with the spicy chicken.
Don’t walk in expecting Popeye’s prices, you are paying for quality chicken here. What is similar to Popeye’s is… drum roll please… A DRIVE THRU! The boyfriend swore it was some campy sign that was on the side of the building but it is a legit drive through that I see causing quite the traffic scene once word on the street gets out about this place.
This isn’t your grandma’s fried chicken. This is your dirty joke tellin’, tailgatin’, football lovin’ uncle’s fried chicken. And he’s KILLIN’ it!