Harry’s Chicken Joint

Bruce and his wife whip up some good grub! We ate here for the first time and highly recommend it. We ordered a whole chicken, 3 slaw, and 3 biscuit and gravy. The only thing left over was 4 pieces of chicken which will be devoured for lunch. Everything was spiced right and the chicken was cooked to perfection. Two thumbs up!

The best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten!
I loved the biscuits and gravy.
The flavors were amazing.
They’ve earned customers for life :]

The chicken and waffles are fantastic; the breading on the home-​fried chicken breast strips is the exact blend of peppery/​salty to taste heavenly with maple syrup. My husband and I keep saying that we’ll branch out and try something else, but we never do… the C&W is just that good.
The place is pretty small, so eating in can be a challenge at random times, but the service has always been friendly, helpful, and prompt. There’s a real small-​town family feel to Harry’s, and that usually makes up for any temporary inconvenience.

Harry’s is awesome. The end.
Family favorite for fried chicken. My favorites are actually the sides — collared greens, potatoes, & slaw. Beans available in the warmer months. The chicken is amazing (so flavorful & crispy) but the waffles are even better. Eat there if you can. There’s a really small dining space but so well worth it. Order everything! You’ll thank me later.
The family is super nice.
Street parking. Closed Mondays.

We’ve enjoyed Harry’s a couple times now. It’s great to call in and grab some fried chicken and gravy to go.

This is a great little place on the quieter side of California Ave SW, and it’s run by the nicest family ever. The breading on the chicken is nice and peppery with just the right amount of crunch, and has been very soft and tender the two times I’ve eaten here.
Since they are such a small operation, they often run out of certain sides and cuts by the end of the night on weekends. I’m pretty much here just for chicken and waffles, though, and even after a busy Friday they will still probably have some of those two things for you. I am not a cole slaw eater, but I liked their take on it – fresh cold cabbage with a nice crunch and what seemed to be a non-​mayo, sweetish poppy-​seed (I think) dressing.

Everything was great — EXCEPT the chicken, and the gravy.
Biscuits were great
Slaw really good
Greens yummy
Waffles ok
The chicken is rubbery and hard. A weird type of meat or cut of chicken or cheap meat. They would be great if they fixed this. I see other reviews on here saying the same thing. Almost tastes like McDonald’s chicken in the meat.
Harry’s do not cut corners on your name sake!

This place looks like a hole in the wall but it’s way lore than that. Bruce the gentleman who you get to watch fry the chicken in from of you is a graduate of the South Seattle college culinary program. The menu is small and simple whole chicken, half chicken, biscuits and lamb gravy with fried Chicken and chicken and waffles. You also have a few sides to choose from coleslaw, mashed potatoes, and collard greens.
The chicken is fried is small batches in cast iron pots right in front of you. It’s delicious you get 12 pieces for 24 bucks that’s great pricing. He informed me that they just made the change to a local chicken farm and stopped using draped valley chicken. And that my chicken and been alive yesterday. Thanx Bruce you and your wife made my night.

Oh my word. By far the best chicken and waffles I’ve had. The way the chicken is seasoned and cooked superb. It is ridiculously good and juicy and the waffles. Let me tell you about the waffles, they compliment the chicken as it should. It has its own flavor and a nice crust around the edges. The syrup they make is a subtle sweet and savory. I’m a first timer when it comes to collard greens, so don’t take my word for it when I say they are good. I like greens in general but my eating partner said they should have been a lot saltier. I didn’t mind the lack of salt.
The environment itself is cute, small, cozy, and quaint. There is memorabilia that I’m sure is personal to the owner. I like that it’s smaller because it’s more intimate and the service is great. I’m sure the owner was the man cooking my chicken and he was just a gem. I felt like I was a guest in his home. He also gets an A+ for sharing his pickled peppers with me that just sent shit through the roof. One last thing, it’s a coffee shop and a chicken joint. Thank you whoever you are Harry for blessing us with such a fucking great combination.

Some two years ago I wrote a review about Harry’s Chicken Joint. I commented about the taste and the fact that the chicken was not cooked completely. It has been 2 years since the last time that I have had his chicken. During that time, he has received accolades from many of the local magazines. I have had a week to think about this and I have come to the conclusion that it is the preparation of his chicken the gives him the ratings that he has enjoyed. His prep is as follows: a 24-​hour buttermilk brine, the flouring, the smoking, and taking the time to cook it in a cast-​iron skillet. The day I visited, I has ½ chicken, a biscuit, gravy, and mashed potatoes. The Mashed potatoes have the skin and are fantastic — would have ordered seconds. No overly creamy or lumpy and no other place does this. The biscuit is heavenly and would love to have that recipe. Fluffy, crunchy and big — true biscuits. The gravy is the most tasteless that I have ever had and it is worth dumping or working with someone to find a good flavor. Biscuits and gravy are a mainstay and should be memorable or don’t make it.
Chicken: While the prep of the chicken is unique, here is where it falls apart for me. The cast-​iron skillet is a nice touch but the chick texture is rubbery and a bit salty. The smoked flavor is unique but unsure if necessary, but it is what makes his chicken different than all the rest. He tests to see if the chicken is done by using a thermometer. This is the problem. Those of us that have been frying chicken all of our loves never use this and the chicken is never rubbery and is always done. His chicken remains pink and slightly bloody at the center– this is a big turnoff for me. I recommend trying Ezell’s, popeyes and Mary’s Chicken, and Jackson“s catfish corner. It is not that I think that these places are the best ever, but the prep and cooking of the chicken is what you should compare. I believe you can be creative in how you prepare your fried chicken, but you have to cook it thoroughly. Until this happen, this place will not get a: Must have this chicken” from me.

We WERE long-​time fans of Thriftway Deli chicken strips, mashed potatoes and gravy as a quickie no-​cooking-​required supper. Thriftway’s recent unfortunate change in chicken strip size and style made us look elsewhere.
Harry’s tenders are very tasty without being over-​spiced, the spuds are real, and the lamb /​rosemary gravy is an unexpected ally for fried chicken. So, having beat Thriftway on all counts — simply by offering recently and locally cooked food instead of warmed-​over packaged goods, Harry topped himself with amazing collard greens. Our Thriftway deli visits are now history. Harry’s chicken rules!

I have been to Harry’s twice now. The second time was even better. I’m actually not a big chicken person, but this chicken was perfectly moist and the breading was tasty without being too much. And the lamb gravy is amazing! As others have said, we love the welcoming ambience in here. I love all of the unique local sodas they carry, too.
I also can’t wait to try «Harry’s Coffee Joint» in the same restaurant as they’ve added that since our first time being there.

Harry’s Fried Chicken Joint is a dying breed. A genuine mom & pop shop right in West Seattle. Grab a stool and watch Harry cook up chicken that’s smoked, buttermilk battered then fried. Seriously.
We got the chicken & waffles, one with syrup and the other with gravy and everything was was served up quick and absolutely delicious. They add plum to the maple syrup, and make their gravy with lamb… it blew us away, and the slaw complimented everything perfectly.
Would definitely recommend stopping by here for a quick bite to eat or grabbing one of their whole chickens for a weeknight meal.

Star 1: How was the service and atmosphere?
Really welcoming staff and nice diner style atmosphere. One star.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
2 orders of chicken and waffles and a side of biscuits for $ 24. One star.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
Really good flavor to the fried chicken. The waffles and biscuits weren’t special, however the gravy and syrup were really interesting. One and a half stars.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
I’d go back a few times, but maybe when the weather is cooler as the restaurant gets really warm inside. Half star.

Really good chicken, juicy and slightly smoky, fried to order in these huge cast iron cauldrons. We ordered a whole chicken (12 pieces), biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, and slaw. More than enough for the three us so we have lunch tomorrow too.
The duck fat biscuits are tall and fluffy, the potatoes are mashed with skins on, the lamb gravy was thin with a spicy kick, and the vinegary slaw had thin slices of red onion throughout-​yum!
The staff was super friendly, chatting with me while my chicken simmered –just 12 minutes.
This place is just blocks from my house, so I don’t know why we waited so long to try it. I love that they have kept the old Jade West sign up-​a tribute to that old hole in the wall. We will be back for sure!

Decided to check out Harry’s after hearing about this place a few times as the place to go for fried chicken. So, I let the navigation send me over to West Seattle and of course this place is on California Ave pretty close to Beveridge Place Pub.
We came late in the afternoon on a Monday so had the entire place to ourselves. This is a laid back cozy unpretentious diner where you can see the chicken being fried in these large cast iron buckets. There’s some nice jazz music in the background coming from a vintage amplifier with a warm analog feel.
The menu is quite simple, you have chicken, sometimes pork belly and a few staples like mashed potatoes, greens, cole slaw, etc… Almost exactly what you’d take to a picnic. I really like the personal touch and we felt like sharing the kitchen with some family friends as we talked it up with the owners. I really like giving money to family businesses.
The chicken was freshly fried and pretty tasty. Not anything that blew me away, but was good and had to order some more as ½ chicken wasn’t enough. I really liked the vinegar based cole slaw as you never see this very often.
Didn’t get the pork belly, but we’ll be back for it next time. Hint, call ahead if you’re looking for the pork belly to make sure it’s there. Also, I can see picking up the chicken here and heading over to Beveridge Pub as they have no beer.

I had chicken on the brain but just went to Heaven Sent in Lake City, didn’t want to venture to Big Chickie’s in Hillman City, Nate’s in Rainier Beach, nor did I plan ahead to try Ma’ono’s.
Traffic karma despite the random road projects this weekend, plus a Mariners game, me and the family decided to head over to Harry’s Chicken Joint in West Seattle for the first time. We arrived just as they opened at 4pm and got seated in a window booth adorned with rooster and hen curtains. Clean, homey, and incredible smells coming from the cooking line.
Incredible customer service with actual personable interaction and conversation with the owner and wife team. Same thing observed at the table next to us also.
Hydrated with ice water, kiddo had an orange soda ($ 2, from Port Angeles and bottled in Mukilteo, a liquefied creamsicle!), while we perused the menu.
Here’s the run down pretty much eating family style and sharing bites all around:
2 Chicken Tenders and Biscuit with Lamb Gravy ($ 6)
Half a Draper Valley Chicken (6 pieces, $ 13)
Mashed Potatoes and Lamb Gravy ($ 2)
Collard Greens ($ 3)
2 Chicken Tenders and 2 Waffles with Syrup ($ 8)
The chicken tenders and waffles definitely edged out Nate’s Chicken and Waffles over in Rainier Beach.
The fried chicken was tender, not greasy, and had a complex seasoned dredging. The drumstick was slightly underdone, but I just ate around it. (BTW — hours later, I’m AOK) It’s cool to see the prep done in cast iron skillets!
The lamb gravy is tasty, but probably for future visits to ask for it on the side. I’d like to also be able to sample ‘naked’ biscuits since there was a honey bear on the table. Their biscuits are delicious, but I’d like to taste them either plain or with honey. The husband noted they reminded him of former Sammie Sue’s on Capitol Hill. More of the traditional baking powder/​buttermilk variety, different than the crunchy sconey texture found at Morsel, or the monstrous ones at Biscuit Bitch.
Today they were out of Pork Belly, so the kiddo was treated to a work-​in-​progress inspired by a sous-​vide prep and chef/owner’s visit to Canlis. No name for it yet, but here I’ll just call them Tender Pork Tots. A trio were brought out with Thai chili sauce and a garnish of their North Carolina style cole slaw. The pork was extremely tender and flavorful. Quality control checked by the kiddo deemed them ‘epic’. Hopefully, it’ll make a future special or menu item.
Worth the trek from Shoreline!

I really dug this place.
We got there and ordered around 7:15pm but this is not a fast food place and we ended up rushing against the clock to eat before they closed. That was really only negative part of this experience.
The chicken was effing delicious! It was juicy without being greasy and the seasoning was great and complex. I also got the chicken and biscuit and it was great. The lamb gravy tasted great but it did get to be a little much, though, because it was pretty heavy.
The menu is simple and dishes other than the whole and half chicken are very reasonable and it is fun and easy to mix and match with a friend.
Be warned, there is a lot of take out activity at this restaurant so even if they don’t look busy you might still have to be patient as the cook prepares several orders before yours.

Harry’s chicken is unique and delicious. It tasted like home made style food. Their chicken soup was pretty tasty! Their chicken and waffle, chicken tenders were great. I wish they had honey instead of syrup though. Their lamb gravy tasted so so, we will order the collard greens instead next time.
Service was wonderful! Harry’s is so relaxing and cozy. They had amazing jazz music which we enjoyed very much!

Smoked Fried Chicken?! I’ve never heard of it, but it is tasty! The location is very tiny and feels like you walked into someone’s kitchen counter and are seated in their living room. I think this adds to the charm! The menu is simple with about 10 things on it tops.
Things sampled:
half fried chicken ($ 12) 6pieces. All the chicken is skillet fried (not deep fried) which gives a nice crust. The breading is a bit unconventional, more bready and herby than most. The chicken’s are sourced from Draper Valley (cruelty free) and are of good quality. I wouldn’t call this your mama’s southern fried chicken but I thought it was very yummy! A full chicken is 12 pieces for $ 24.
Chicken and Waffles ($ 8) breakfast and chicken! what can be better?
biscuits with gravy ($ 2) biscuits were good. Gravy kind of tangy
Staff was extremely friendly and really made you feel at home.
All in all a great experience and my kind of place!