Fried Chicken Festival

Woot woot — at first I somewhat balked at the idea of paying $ 55 + $ 2.50 for a fried chicken festival that lasts three hours. I had to take off a star — It was so hot and there were barely any indoor tables and seating for non-​VIP. One room had a fan, the other did not and no air conditioning. HOT HOT HOT!!! However, even with all that heat, it didn’t diminish the fun my girlfriends and I had.
AYCD! — Didn’t pay for the VIP :(*cries!!! Three extra drinks. le sigh, there’s always next year. For beers, they served Firestone, yes, like the tires, and the bachelor dude. Three were on tap: Solace, Union Jack, and Pale 31. Union Jack was pretty light, but flavorful IPA. Solace was a light pale ale. Union Jack had a cider-​like quality. Will definitely search out the next time I’m at the market and would like some beer to accompany my meal. Cocktails by Milagro Silver. It was a watermelon, lime with tequila. Very refreshing, but wished it was fresh watermelon juice rather than a pre-​mixed. I understand tho, it was mass produced. Overall great for the hot hot weather. Glad there was water, but wished they had ice for the water.
AYCE! Check out my photos! The dishes are labeled with their corresponding descriptions and company/​chef creations. I was so stuffed with all the samplings that were offered. There were some dishes that were super generous!!! Like ChickaPea, there were too many sweet dishes versus savory ones. It made me sad, because at times the sweetness overpowered the taste of the chicken.
Desserts — there was a miso berry cobbler (see pix). It was hot, tasty, but just needed some ice cream. However, the ice cream people ran out around 6:15 (cries!!!) I wanted to try the home-​made ice cream.
Über was there giving out $ 20 credits for new sign ups. If you signed up on the spot, they gave you a free pair of sunglasses. Why not?
And being the classy folks we were, we took home leftovers. C’mon, the lovely peeps at David LeFevre had boxes and boxes of leftover fried chicken without the honey truffle sauce (which was AWEsome *falsetto tone*). They encouraged us to take the sauce too, but it would have rendered our crispy chicken soggy.
Thanks so much!!! Will return and can’t wait for 2014!

We attended the 2013 edition in the arts district and it was worth the cost! The only bummer is that since we only got general admission we were not allowed to taste the three speciality cocktails in the VIP area which seemed so amazing!!! The beer was kinda gross (Firestone– all 3 flavors were horrible) but the tequila cocktails were amazing. My other complaint is that most of the chicken was sweet– using honey or sugar bases vs. spicy! Only one truly spicy chicken offered (by plan check) everything else had either a soy sauce taste or a sweet taste. Lastly, sorry to say but chicken balls DO NOT equate to fried chicken people!
On other notes, the bierkast SODA was amazing (more flavor offerings please) and the McConnells ice cream was welcomed during the 80+ temp day. Lastly, please offer iCED water not just chilled water next time ;) fun fun event I will go in the future if they mix up the offering a bit. I will say that the arts district location was spacious but not nearly as lush looking at the 2012 location (per youtube) so I did feel a tad bit gipped on scenery.
If you go It pays to arrive early, we got there 30 mins before general admission and there was no line and we were allowed in 10 minutes early so there was plenty of chicken and drinks flowing. It was VERY warm outside and there were not very many fans nor was there indoor seating (unless vip) so dress accordingly and perhaps drink ice cold water before you arrive! Parking was not an issue since we arrived early. Worth the money paid, especially knowing that some of it went to charity.

ayce fried chicken & aycd beer! Fried chicken and sides from 11 of LA’s best chefs! Beer by Firestone! Love this festival!
VIP was definitely worth it!
For about $ 30 more… you get an hour early entrance, specialty cocktails made by this renown bartender… and an AREA TO SIT! The area to sit was very crucial. I mean… who wants to stand around in the heat all day right?
The variety… the chicken… the side dishes were all amazing. The AYCD beer from FIRESTONE was awesome as well too. Oh yes… the ALEHOUSE in the back that sampled THAI ICE TEA SODA and GINGER ALE SODA was awesome, cooling, and refreshing at the same time. Perfect place to go to for a refreshed palate.
Overall…very happy with the festival!
Highly Recommended
P. S. if you go early… street parking is a breeze to find!
UNTIL THEN! ^-^