Dante Fried Chicken

Had some today as part of AirBnB BackyardBBQ@SunsetStrip. Had the fried chicken on its own+in a taco with their signature sauces and everything was very tasty!

Dante travelled to Scotland for a music even I was at and cooked up a treat for us. The food was delicious, with so many different flavours going on and they all married perfectly. I am allergic to Garlic so I was not really thinking I could eat much, but Dante made me a garlic free platter without even thinking it was any hassle, going that extra mile shows how much he cares for his food so that everyone can have some.

BEST FRIED CHICKEN EVER! I used to eat this once a week or more and i miss it ever so much. Double brine and super secret homemade batter on free range chicken. So succulent. The slaw is retarded good! And the homemade apricot hot sauce creates the winning combo. If you get a chance to try, take advantage!

As a fried chicken lover, Dante’s Fried Chicken is not at the top of my list but I would tell a friend to try it if they happen to be around. They do have an interesting batter that I have never tasted before, which went well with their own dipping sauce.
A food truck festival is probably not the best time to try them as they can take orders faster than they can serve them. I waited 15 mins in line to order and about an hour in a large frustrated group to get my food.

I agree with the other reviews that their portions are kinda lacking. In ordering a ten dollar plate, you want the chicken to be the most dominant thing on the plate. Unfortunately, you only get a few pieces but let me tell you those pieces are really good. The batter is nice and crunchy and the chicken is moist. You gotta do a juggling act of eating the sides, then chicken, and back to the sides so you don’t finish all the chicken early. With my meal I ordered the cheese grits and okra with rice and sausage. These sides were satisfying and the coconut biscuit capped off a delicious meal.
In the end, I would come back to this truck and I look forward to trying their mac and cheese and greens next time.

Let’s talk about what really matters here, the food. The chicken (and tofu nuggets) is a real sensory treat; the smell of the spices, the texture and mouth feel of the coating, and the complexity of the recipe that you can immediately taste — how many other food trucks can you say that about?
Organic at this price point makes it a no-​brainer. If you really have a problem with the wait, how about you stop eating at food trucks? New Yorkers don’t have any problem waiting for quality food (just ask your friend who lives there) and I definitely don’t have any qualms about waiting in line for DFC.

Horrible ! Went to a food truck festival this past weekend at Santa Anita racetrack. They took orders and ran out of food ! Ended wasting 2 hours of our time, 30 mins to get to order then 1.5 hrs to wait only to find out that the orders they took 1 hour ago were not valid anymore because they ran out of food. Poor communication, idling workers inside, small portions that we could see (looks like one strip of chicken tenders), orders coming out once every 10 – 15 minutes. Expensive!!! 8 – 10 dollars for one piece chic and bisquit and small side ! Ridiculous business management. Avoid and do not go here !

MMMMmmmm, this was really good and probably would have gotten 5 stars if it hadn’t taken a little under two hours to get the food. (Not their fault, just tons of people at the Santa Anita Food Truck Festival causing the orders to back up). It’s ok that I had to wait Dante, it gave me a chance to go buy a beer (BTW, Longboard beer sux) and win on the #4 horse. But onto the food…
I ate the Sock-​it-​to-​me Fried Chicken which was pretty good, which I faithfully dipped in the apricot hot sauce. Sounds weird, but the chicken and apricot hot sauce just comes together in your mouth and screams, «yummy»! The chicken is organic/​farm raised so that makes me feel a little bit better.
The chicken was accompanied with some type of biscuit (can’t remember the flavor). Let me tell you that these biscuits are dense like cornbread and are deeeelicious! I almost thought that it had a pumpkin taste to it. No matter what, I loved it! It tasted like I was biting into cake!
For the side, I had a cranberry salad which I of course loved, since you can’t beat a fresh salad.
Loved this food truck and definitely would eat their food again, if I could catch it without the super long lines!

The food is really good. There’s a big BUT coming up, though. I had the cheese cauliflower grits, which were amazing and the sausage, beans and rice side was pretty good too.
The chicken is great, BUT I had to walk back to the truck to ask if there had been some sort of mistake, since I just paid ten bucks and got what looked like 2 nuggets of friend chicken. She said they were 7oz breasts and I strongly disagree. So did everyone in my office. There’s no way that was more than a half-​pound of chicken. See photo for scale with paperclip on top of one of my nuggets. I mean, I’ve gotten bigger individual chicken strips than what I was served.
To their credit, she gave me another nugget but for ten bucks, they should be giving at least twice the size of portions of chicken that they do. See other reviews for same complaint.

First off, is the name Dante Fried Chicken or Fry or Ride?
It seems it should be Fry or Ride but the man behind the enterprise started out as Dante Fried Chicken in New York. Oh, he didn’t have a food truck but he’s an artist and fed people his family’s fried chicken.
He’s tweaked the family recipe a bit and I checked them out when the first rolled out. I thought the chicken was really good despite the truck having problems. But it’s such a tiny little bite and not worth the price.
The blueberry Guinness brisket was all right. Besides slaw and a bunch of chips, it seemed like more food at $ 5 versus the chicken’s $ 6.
But oh man, that biscuit? Outstanding.

«RIP KFC!» I think this is a mantra of Dante Fried Chicken. Simply put, Dante Fried Chicken puts their own spin on Trans-​Atlantic African cuisine. They even offer fried tofu that tastes like chicken for those healthy eaters.
From their website
:
«It’s a story on every plate with hints of Cajun and Carribean spice, Latin and European influence, NYC, LA, Stockholm, London love, y’know? We’re also using whole, natural, sustainable and healthy products, and you can get pretty much anything vegetarian!»
They have unique black sesame tortillas which didn’t taste particularly different than a regular flour tortilla but it makes for nice presentation. I got their signature Sock It To Me Fried Chicken black sesame taco topped with cole slaw. I only got to try one of their tacos but Dante has something good going on here. The chicken was lightly fried and thinly breaded. The sauce was something else. With all the different textures and flavors going on in that taco, it was definitely a unique experience. The chicken was juicy and tender inside. Quality was excellent for food truck standards. I’m looking forward to trying their tofu version of the Sock It To Me!

After a long night of drinking at Short Stop, I stumbled out onto the street to the smell of fried chicken. Fuck yeah!
Hook.
Me.
Up!
With the little cash left in my pocket, I got myself a plate. Now I’m pretty sure my entire face was numb from the alcohol, but I do know that I demolished that plate with a quickness. So it had to have been at least somewhat tasty. I’ll have to try it again when I’m not so drunk and give a more accurate review.

A bit of backstory is necessary for this review.
I went to a Thrillist event in Hollywood to support one of my favorite trucks in a contest to see who was the best food truck. I had already tried all the trucks that afternoon except for Dante. Their line seemed the longest and I had no patience to stand through a long line for a food truck. (Those days are over) It did intrigue me when I found out later that Dante won the title of best food truck.
Seriously? For chicken? Fried chicken? It didn’t look THAT good.
But I made a mental bookmark to see if I would run into them again.
After an afternoon of eating with Ciara G. at a few of our favorite trucks at a different part of Los Angeles, I was already in a serious food coma. I returned to work with the full intention of hibernating for the rest of winter.
I later left the office for an appointment in Pasadena. Knockout Tacos, another favorite were going to be at Pershing Square, but was going to skip a visit because of the aforementioned appointment and food coma. As I headed into Pasadena, my appointment had to reschedule so I checked twitter and saw KOTaco tweet about Dante Chicken. Call it a message from the gods or just serendipity, but something tapped my inner foodie monster. (It was actually a tweet from Dante telling me to hurry that he is only staying another hour or so) It didn’t take me long to turn around and head back to Downtown where KO and Dante were — which is only 2 blocks from work. LOL.
I’ll be honest. I was predetermined to hate Dante Chicken. I wanted to nitpick and a snobby critic. That didn’t last long at all.
I was warmly greeted by the staff on the truck, as well as by Dante himself. There was a minimal crowd, practically no one waiting in line. (It just wasn’t the right crowd). So it gave me a chance to chit chat with Dante about his truck. He shared with pride about how he prepares his chicken, etc. I interjected with different comments or questions to see where he was coming from. Hearing his genuine pride about his food I could tell his commitment to his product. I order a small combo plate but Dante threw in some mac and cheese because the traffic was pretty dead.
He made my chicken to order. I fully expected my order to be pre-​cooked and sitting in a heater. Not the case for DFC. (Sure he may do mass cooking for big events). Dante shared he prepares and cuts his chicken in a way to cut down the time of frying to get the product to the customer. I don’t mind a wait if the food is good. It was a nice touch to see him check each of my pieces with a thermometer to make sure the internal temp was right.
Dante Fried Chicken is the real deal.
I was in chicken heaven it tasted so good. I did mention this is post food coma? Yes, its simple fried chicken. Yes, his sides are things you will see in many standard fried chicken meals. But its exactly that… basic and comfort food with his own subtle and unique twist. People talk about the secret ingredient in comfort being «love» There is a whole lot of that in this badass chicken.
The crust is fascinating. I still can’t pinpoint it but you can see and taste a lot of things going on in it. I need to see it again in better light. The chicken came out beautiful. Piping hot with a so much moistness. You can tell it was brined properly and soaked in some buttermilk. The juicyness of the chicken reminded me of my first experience with LudoTruck. (Yes, I dare compare DFC with the Coq)
The sides paired nicely with the chicken. I was offered some cranberry almond slaw (nice), a ginger spice cornbread (because he was out of coconut biscuit), and fantastic macaroni and cheese (do I taste leeks — yes I do).
One part of the meal that I am still marvelling at is Dante’s hot sauces. The apricot hot sauce was excellent. The blueberry Guinness (YES!!!) hot sauce was fascinating. The only complaint I have about is that I didn’t get enough and that I didn’t get a straw for it.
Dante has a new fan and follower. Its worth visiting and trying.
Addendum:
I went to show some love to KnockOut Tacos and Chef Chris. I wanted to refuse the tacos he gave me but I had to accept. I was going to save my Dante box to take home. Sadly, as I ate my last taco, I found myself dipping into the chicken dinner box until all the contents were finished. Food coma part 2.
p. s. if you’re bitching about higher prices on food trucks, you should just stick to a McRib or Happy Meals.
*** edit. my only real nitpick is that I wish Dante had some dark need. This asian man gots to have his thighs and legs.

These guys were parked outside during the closing ceremonies for one of LA’s historic record stores, Fat Beats.
Since I didn’t feel like jumping in a care and venturing for food, I figured I’d give them a shot. They are a bit on the pricey side, but, this is no standard fried chicken /​KFCesque meal. The chicken they use is all white meat and comes fried in a very nice batter. It was served with Mac and Cheese, Cole Slaw, and Coconut Grits. The grits were AWESOME.
Also, after some casual conversation with the folks who were working on the truck, they insisted that I tried their fried Tofu and put a piece of it in my to-​go box for me to sample.
I am NOT a tofu fan and never believed that you could use Tofu as a replacement for real meat. The interesting thing about Dante, is when I ate the first piece of «chicken» in my box, I could have sworn that it was real chicken and I was going to discover the tofu later. It was THAT good.
Tofu lovers will love it.

I hit it for the fried chicken.
so this is how the story goes. Combo with a bebida is 10 bucks.
The hot sauce is good and definitely went well as a dipping for the chicken. The portion of the chicken is definitely small but i don’t care for a HUGE meal so all of that doesn’t really apply here. I can see how this would impact ppl from really being content with their meal since after all people want to be satisfied. if you have a big appetite you’ll either kick down for another plate or go somewhere else, or maybe even drink a little liquor, quicker! (Drink responsibly)
The food is prepared and hot, the batter on the chicken was salty for my liking, mac n cheese was good and i really-​really-​realz enjoyed the coleslaw! That damn coleslaw had me at hello. I skipped the biscuit cause i ain’t a biscuit kinda gal.
Like many, i like trying new things and dante’s was one of them. His Vlog is dope and i suggest you try the food and support the concept, even if it is just once, but hopefully it’ll be more than just that. :)
Ryde or Fry!
–G

Tried for the first time at the Food truck rally this weekend and was blown away. Had to wait awhile for the chicken to come out but was more than satisfied with the by the fried tofu nuggets and the blueberry coleslaw & brisket. Delicious. The fried chicken was amazing… i don’t know what he uses in the recipe, but it was hands down the best fried chicken I have ever had. Highly recommend checking out his truck if you can.

You know it’s sort of odd that most people running a truck do so because it’s a step towards owning your own place. King Taco, Carl’s Jr, and Get Shaved are all businesses that worked up from a cart/​truck. So it’s sort odd to see a lot of established businesses revert to a truck when they already have a brick store.
Dante’s Fried Chicken is one of those and this review is for their truck. First off, the service was pretty alright. Sufficient. They got the order in and turned you around pretty quickly.
The Guinness blueberry brisket tacos, which combines three things I love. Irish stouts, Summer seasonal berries and Tacos. I have to admit it was good. The problem was that it just was a bit steep on your wallet.
I think that’s the whole problem here. The prices, Ouch. It’s like Honey Kettle Chicken level prices but from a truck and. just slightly less than what I expect from Honey Kettle Chicken.
Though, it is a pretty above average/​good tasting chicken. It’s only just one piece and for a very high price. Well worth checking out if you haven’t tried it and have a hankering for some quality chicken. But this may not be my first choice if I was near a couple of food trucks.

I know they have chicken in their name, but they have some of the best fried tofu I’ve ever tasted. Also, plenty of great spicy sauces.
They also have this delicious biscuit thing, although I can’t remember what it’s called.

[This is a review of the food truck, not the stand/​restaurant.]
Just this afternoon I spotted Dante’s food truck outside my office near Wilshire and Robertson. I assume they’re new, since they didn’t have a menu. If they had, I might have ordered something different (or not), but I got the combo plate, which was the first thing they described when asked.
The price is steeper than the taco truck I frequent, but the portions are generous and more varied than the typical beans and rice. The plate includes several pieces of boneless fried chicken, mac and cheese, green bean salad, and a taco.
This «Trans-​African» joint offers some unexpected twists on familiar dishes. The mac and cheese tastes heavily of the corn included, which I have mixed feelings about, but it’s still pretty good. It has a nice layer of baked cheese, which is always something to look for in a solid mac/​cheese dish.
The taco is sweet pork, seasoned with what I assume to be allspice, offering a flavor reminiscent of char siu pork (which I fucking love). It’s lean, comes on a sesame tortilla, and is topped with carrots and cabbage.
The green bean salad is dressed with a sesame oil vinaigrette like you might find on a Chinese-​esque salad (as in Chinese chicken salads found on many «safe» Asian menus enjoyed by your melanin deficient friends). It’s full of crisp coarse-​cut broccoli, green beans, and cucumber, as well as shredded carrot, bean sprouts, corn, and onions.
The chicken is boneless white meat, with a thin, crisp layer of batter, which I believe to be seasoned with parsley (which I also have mixed feelings about). It’s super low on grease, and is served with a side of sweet and sour sauce. I’d compare the style to a more thinly battered variation on the fried chicken plates I used to get in Temple City at boba spots (aside from the parsley and other seasoning).
There’s also a biscuit with shredded coconut which resembles the chicken enough that I didn’t realize what it was. It’s sweet, and the coconut provides some texture.
It didn’t bring the heat chiliwise, but I didn’t think to ask whether they had a hot version. Next time. Their drink selection is meh, and their lack of a menu is disorienting, but they’re new so I’ll let it slide.
As with most foreign food, I disclaim that I’m an unworldly American, so you’ll forgive me for not speaking to the authenticity of the menu. If you didn’t tell me what it was, my palate would say it was Asian fusion.
A sign warns that the chicken is fried with peanut oil, so if you’re allergic, avoid (as the peanut allergic must avoid all things fun and tasty).

Had this at the Mad Decent Block Party last weekend, definitely my new favorite truck on the street, the brisket tacos were incredible!