Los Angeles: Howlin' Ray's
When we told KC that we wanted to go to Howlin' Ray's, she warned us that the line could be two hours long. (She also mentioned that you could order online...but you would have to do it a month in advance. A MONTH.) We figured that we would just get there a bit before they opened at 11:00am and it wouldn't be too bad.
We were wrong. We arrived at 10:20am to find the most monstrous of lines:
There was a second where we contemplated turning away, but then we collectively agreed that no, we're here to stay. Once committed, we patiently stood in line. Eventually we were able to see the storefront:
Around two hours later, exactly as KC had predicted, we made it inside:
The original plan was to share a chicken sandwich at Howlin' Ray's between each pair of us and then continue our LA food adventure extravaganza elsewhere. The sando ($12), which we asked for mild, came with fried boneless chicken breast, pickles, and comeback sauce on a butter bun:
And we did stick to that plan. Kinda.
The entire time we stood in line, we watched as person after person walked away with giant bags. We joked that they probably didn't intend to order that much when they first got in line and that the long wait got to them. Abby warned me not to let that happen to us.
I swore we would stick to our plan, but it all went sideways the moment I touched the doorframe. I mean, how could we justify two hours of waiting for just a sandwich? After a lot of eye-rolling and groaning, Abby let me tack on an order of a quarter bird ($9), also mild:
As good Asians do, we chose to get a leg and thigh rather than a breast and wing. Every good Asian knows that dark meat is the way to go. It came on a bed of white bread with pickles.
CV and T didn't fare much better. They got their sando, yes, but they also deviated from the plan and added on an order of wings ($9).
If it had ended there, we could have recovered and continued on with our food itinerary. But alas, Howlin' Ray's was merciless. Placing our order wasn't the problem. Picking it up was.
The Howlin' Ray's staff was boisterous and friendly and super chatty. When my number was called, I went up to the counter and started some small talk with the guy finalizing the orders. I mentioned that we were visiting from the Bay and all of a sudden he was stuffing a box of fries into my bag. As if that wasn't enough, he also threw in a quarter bird (not spicy):
Wut. That's $9 for the bird and $3.50 for the fries!
T picked up her order right after me. She mentioned that we were traveling together and that we planned on eating immediately afterwards somewhere else. The guy huffed and exclaimed loudly that we thought Howlin' Ray's couldn't fill us up.
He then proceeded to stuff a box of waffles ($5) into T's bag:
And another box of fries for good measure:
And that, my friends, is how Howlin' Ray's gets people to return despite the crazy long wait. Maybe all the freebies were pre-made and in danger of getting stale. Maybe it's all a gimmick and they do this for everyone. But who cares? As a business strategy, it's brilliant. Getting free stuff miraculously makes you forget the two hours you just spent in line and you walk out smiling, feeling special.
But even free stuff wouldn't get people to return if the food itself wasn't good. And the food at Howlin' Ray's is pretty darn spectacular. We wanted to hate it, we really did. But damn. That fried chicken tho.
Everyone knows I'm weaksauce when it comes to spicy things and Howlin' Ray's can make their chicken HOT. As in eat with gloves hot. Abby and I stuck with the mild and even that made me breathe through my teeth. Even so, the not spicy chicken wasn't nearly as delicious. Skip that and get as spicy as you can handle.
An unexpected discovery turned out to be the waffles. It was light and crispy and just delightful. It's only available on weekends, so definitely take advantage if you're there on a Saturday or Sunday.
Alright, Howlin' Ray's. You got me.
You got me.
Howlin' Ray's
727 N Broadway, Ste 128
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 935-8399
http://www.howlinrays.com/
We were wrong. We arrived at 10:20am to find the most monstrous of lines:
There was a second where we contemplated turning away, but then we collectively agreed that no, we're here to stay. Once committed, we patiently stood in line. Eventually we were able to see the storefront:
Around two hours later, exactly as KC had predicted, we made it inside:
The original plan was to share a chicken sandwich at Howlin' Ray's between each pair of us and then continue our LA food adventure extravaganza elsewhere. The sando ($12), which we asked for mild, came with fried boneless chicken breast, pickles, and comeback sauce on a butter bun:
And we did stick to that plan. Kinda.
The entire time we stood in line, we watched as person after person walked away with giant bags. We joked that they probably didn't intend to order that much when they first got in line and that the long wait got to them. Abby warned me not to let that happen to us.
I swore we would stick to our plan, but it all went sideways the moment I touched the doorframe. I mean, how could we justify two hours of waiting for just a sandwich? After a lot of eye-rolling and groaning, Abby let me tack on an order of a quarter bird ($9), also mild:
As good Asians do, we chose to get a leg and thigh rather than a breast and wing. Every good Asian knows that dark meat is the way to go. It came on a bed of white bread with pickles.
CV and T didn't fare much better. They got their sando, yes, but they also deviated from the plan and added on an order of wings ($9).
If it had ended there, we could have recovered and continued on with our food itinerary. But alas, Howlin' Ray's was merciless. Placing our order wasn't the problem. Picking it up was.
The Howlin' Ray's staff was boisterous and friendly and super chatty. When my number was called, I went up to the counter and started some small talk with the guy finalizing the orders. I mentioned that we were visiting from the Bay and all of a sudden he was stuffing a box of fries into my bag. As if that wasn't enough, he also threw in a quarter bird (not spicy):
Wut. That's $9 for the bird and $3.50 for the fries!
T picked up her order right after me. She mentioned that we were traveling together and that we planned on eating immediately afterwards somewhere else. The guy huffed and exclaimed loudly that we thought Howlin' Ray's couldn't fill us up.
He then proceeded to stuff a box of waffles ($5) into T's bag:
And another box of fries for good measure:
And that, my friends, is how Howlin' Ray's gets people to return despite the crazy long wait. Maybe all the freebies were pre-made and in danger of getting stale. Maybe it's all a gimmick and they do this for everyone. But who cares? As a business strategy, it's brilliant. Getting free stuff miraculously makes you forget the two hours you just spent in line and you walk out smiling, feeling special.
But even free stuff wouldn't get people to return if the food itself wasn't good. And the food at Howlin' Ray's is pretty darn spectacular. We wanted to hate it, we really did. But damn. That fried chicken tho.
Everyone knows I'm weaksauce when it comes to spicy things and Howlin' Ray's can make their chicken HOT. As in eat with gloves hot. Abby and I stuck with the mild and even that made me breathe through my teeth. Even so, the not spicy chicken wasn't nearly as delicious. Skip that and get as spicy as you can handle.
An unexpected discovery turned out to be the waffles. It was light and crispy and just delightful. It's only available on weekends, so definitely take advantage if you're there on a Saturday or Sunday.
Alright, Howlin' Ray's. You got me.
You got me.
Howlin' Ray's
727 N Broadway, Ste 128
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 935-8399
http://www.howlinrays.com/
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