I know when most people talk about a restaurant it's because they've tried many items on the restaurants menu and have found them all good. I won't lie to you...we've only ordered one item from this place...we've never actually eaten in the restaurant either, we've always taken our one item to go...but we love that one little item. Maybe at some point we'll try other things on the menu, but until then, at 99 Chicken in Santa Clara, we just order the regular fried chicken.
We found this place almost by accident. I used to live near it and pass it on a regular basis but never went in. It wasn't until I saw 99 Chicken a few years ago on a Yelp listing about fried chicken in the area, that I made a stop there and that was only because we were taking our cat to the vet which was only a few blocks away. (Yes, we now make sure that any vet appointment on weekends is timed specifically to 99 Chicken's operating hours).
Let me say that this chicken is not finger licking good. It's not because the chicken isn't tasty, it's that you won't have any of the normal fried chicken greasiness left on your hands once you've downed a whole order of the stuff. Somehow 99 Chicken has come up with a way to deep fry their chicken so that it's crisp on the outside but not full of oil. You can take a piece of the regular chicken they've fried, put it on a paper towel, and basically it doesn't leave grease marks. Once you bite into the chicken though, it's always moist and tender. You only get drumsticks and wings for these chicken orders, but they are always plump and tender (as opposed to the places that sell wings and there is barely enough meat on the wings for one bite of food).
This isn't fast food. When you go in and order, they make the chicken fresh so it will take a good ten minutes or so for your order to be ready. When we get our to go order, it comes with a little container of salt and pepper (really really makes the flavors of the chicken sing...not sure why but don't pass up using this little blend). It also comes with a container of what we assume is some sort of diced pickled radish. The chicken arrives hot. Our to go orders have lasted the drive home with a stop at the bank and were still quite warm.
Ten pieces have cost us around $14. I understand that prices went up recently but I don't know if that was on the regular chicken.
They do offer other versions of their wings with different sauces which some folks say is finger licking good. As this is known as a Korean place they do sell other Korean dishes. They have a salad bar, soups, and rice which I believe come with the chicken if you actually eat there...but we've never made it past their really tasty regular fried chicken. If you're in the area and have a few minutes, I'd give their regular fried chicken a try.
99 CHICKEN
2781 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 244-5599
This chicken is really really good and unique. Its like they suck the oil out but leave the wonderful skin and chicken is moist. If we lived near the place, it would be a monthly event for sure.
Posted by: Mr. L | March 23, 2011 at 05:29 PM
I'll have to check this out since it's so close to my house!
Posted by: Ann | March 25, 2011 at 05:01 PM