Harolds Chicken Shack

I am not impressed at all with this Harold’s Chicken. The chicken nor the french fries had any flavor. Growing up around Harold’s most of my life, this Harold’s does not do the other restaurants justice. I’m sorry but they need to step up their game.

I decided to give them another chance… shame on me! Why do I have to learn my lesson the hard way? I placed my order and picked up my food. When I opened the bag there were 4 pieces of piping hot chicken on top that smelled awesome (reason for 2 stars). Take the chicken and off and I got a batch of the oldest, redipped, burnt fries you could imagine. These fries had to be two days old. They were hard and burnt. I ate one and spit it out. So now I am officially done. I will just have visit Harolds on my visits to the city because Aurora has lost me forever!

I did not like the funky smell the chicken had. It smell like a morgue. The restaurant has no tables. Is just for take out. I drove with the chicken and the smell really got to me. The prices are just a little bit too pricey. The chicken wings came with fries and two pieces of bread and sauce to your liking. Spicy, mild or plain.
I think that was it for me never having or buying this chicken again. I was so disappointed I was expecting it to be like Buffalo Wild Wings. The comparison is way too insulting fir B.W.W. I guess the saying is true stick to the choice you know and like and be happy.
Not coming back horrible chicken!

Don’t see Harold’s in the Chicago burbs very often (outside of the south side). I went to this location when it first opened but my memory has faded. Just ordered a 6 wing dinner w/​fries, mild sauce, coleslaw. It was just OK. It did not seem to have the seasoning that you get at Harold’s at the city locations. (I usually go to the one on Clark if I am north or Stony Island if I am south). The mild sauce is what saved the review to a 3, plus I don’t have the heart to pop Harold’s w/​a 2 rating. Fries and Sauce were a 3, Mild Sauce and Coleslaw was a 5, and the chicken was probably a 2.5 if I am being honest… of course I will be back but maybe not go out of my way to go to this location because popeye’s was close too!

The worst service ever, I ordered my 6 piece wing and asked for the wings to be made fresh because the last time my wings were dried out, watched the big guy make my order, he never dropped fresh wings just grabbed the wings that he already had up. When they gave me my order I check the wings and they were warm, I then asked to have wings remade and the big guy said I will just give you a refund. I told him I don’t want a refund, I just want what I ordered, he said it will take 30 to 35 minutes my wife said we will wait. He grab the glizzards that I ordered and told his the other lady behind the counter to give us a full refund and walk away. All the while she was refunding our credit card she was just looking down. I told her is this how you treat your customers and I will just go to Popeyes to spend my money. Please avoid this restaurant or go at your own risk.

I think I went to wrong location to try Harolds. Chicken had potential but obviously wasn’t cooked at the right temperature. The fries were some of the worst I’ve ever had, cold, soggy and greasy. I’ll give them another shot sometime when I can but considering the hype this was one of the most disappointing meals of my life.

The people at work RAVE about Harolds chicken, will it stand up to the HYPE?
I told my wife about this place so are expectations are high for some tasty chicken, as a side note i was a little apprehensive on meeting these people from all the horrible reviews, but as always i have to make my own thoughts NOT others for me. So i told my wife i would go in she waited in the car as we were going to waiting on this experince, crossing my fingers the cook and the lady would be in a good mood…
Fist of all i walked in the place and the place smelled very good… like home, and the MUSIC… ohhh the JAZZ it was so right… i met the big colored gentelman, very nice guy, i thought it was a bit weird to have to talk to them through a bullet proof glass, but so it goes.
i stumbled with my order not at all familiar with the menu while i felt a bit uncomfortable, he made lite talk with me, he explain the wings were «good size» after i asked him… I would have to disagree these wings were SMALL…
so i order 6 wings and he said hey fellow i threw in a extra wing for you, very nice of him, maybe it was because i told him i was going to be reviewing on Unilocal,either way a nice gesture indeed. I was hoping my experince in the ordering would go well, from all the reviews on here it sounded like the soup nazi on jerry sneinfield. I gave the gentelman my order, he said cash or charge i said charge. he said ill need you to have your credit card ALONG with your ID and stepp over to the next window, ((which was about 4 steps to the right .I had to back in the car, and get cash, as i carry a passport and it was at home. I meet the older colder lady as surprisingly she was very nice, i pd cash and were taking it home…
the unboxing.: so i wasnt aware but harolds includes 2 slices of white bread and fries and 1 small coleslaw…2 slices of bread were almost saugy, half toasted, the fries were saugy, and bland tasting, and the coleslaw 1 TINY cup, was soaking through the cup it was already in, horrible presentation…
the chicen was ok, i used to hang in the south side of chicago back in the day, that is what this reminded of this is greasy half wway decent tasting fried chicken, its was small portioned and overpriced…
I would say yes for fried chicken but NO to dinner… in others words is you have the taste for chicken this COULD be the place for you… however the extras almost hurt them to add, rather if they had upgraded to a better presentation, and ultimately better score…
i think well go elsewhere next time…

I’ve been raised on Harold’s chicken, and this is NOT it. The best thing about walking into a Harold’s chicken shack is that smell of the chicken in the air. Once leaving with your order, the mix of the sauce and chicken aroma coming from that bag sitting in the car leaves your mouth watering and anxious to bust that boy open! Never get that from here. I truly believe they are not using the proper tallow oil Harold’s traditionally use.
The costumer service used to be very bad, but appears to recently improved. The prices are astronomically high for what they are giving. My trips here are a far with few between because they never satisfy that «Harold’s» crave I get. But there are not many options for this type of comfort food in this neck of the woods, and that’s obviously what they are banking on with these inflated prices and renowned poor service.
Fortunately I still have reasons to head south to get my Harold’s chicken fix when out there, but it’s disappointing to have one so close that is not worthy of the name. However, It’s probably a blessing in disguise for the sake of my arteries and heart health that it doesn’t live up to its namesake.

These itty bitty wings are a disgrace. The bread is dry and hard. The coleslaw is slimey and tastless. The fries taste like they were fried with recycled grease. The prices are too high to not even get full off of a wing dinner. I didn’t have an issue with service like others but the quality of the cooking is poor. The location that used to be in Bolingbrook was incredible. I was sad to see them go.

Pretty good place to eat. Sometimes it’s fresh and really good, sometimes I get the bad batch. Prices are without a doubt, outrageous! Customer service isn’t that nice as well. Don’t like giving them my money but I do from time to time shrugs.

Honest review: out of every fast food fried chicken place this is my favorite. Be Careful though sometimes a harold chicken place can be bad only certain ones are good and when their good they really are. If u come in and smell a funky smell dont order that day lol
Food: i always order the the 9 piece wings with mild hot sauce on top and hot sauce on the side. The reason i order it like that is because the mild is sweet so then it combines with the saltiness of the chicken and the spiciness of the hot sauce makes for the perfect bite ever. The skin is always crispy not really thick or thing in between its never greasy or never soggy. The seasoning is perfect they are always delicious never disappoints. Its always really tender never dry.
Coleslaw: its good not the best ever but not so bad its really liquidy like in the container its in its usually seeping out liquid. Its not vinegary which i like but it is heavily seasoned with mayonnaise.
Fries: not my favorite there always soggy no flavor really bland old but they come free so i still eat them. I wouldnt recommend buying them
Service: its a place where u just say what u want pay and then they give u it nothing special i read alot of reviews where they say the service is bad well there are no waiters i never had a bad experience with the staff.
Ambiance: if ur expecting some beutiful restaurant ur at the wrong place u cant sit down and eat either u just pick it up and eat it where ever u want

Chicken is decent. My problem with them is they are rude as hell!!! I have been here several times over the years and I haven’t been in about 2 years because of the lady at the front desk. She is rude as hell. I asked for extra mild sauce because they are stingy with it. So then my order came out to about 2 dollars more. I asked why and she gave me this big tub of mild sauce when clearly i only had a 3 piece meal. This tub was more for catering when people order large amounts of chicken. She was rude about it and said if you didn’t want it then you should not have asked for it. Just rude. I wouldn’t put another dime in their pocket. The chicken isn’t even that great for that type of attitude.

I will never spend my money where it isn’t appreciated. The service in this establishment is the absolute worst. The female cashier that works there is consistently rude, and the «gentleman» condones her behavior. I’d much rather drive to the Southside of Chicago, where Harold’s Chicken Shack originated, at least I know that my hard earned dollar is appreciated. I will never return here, and Thomas’ BBQ in Aurora on New York St. Is the absolute best!!!

So I went to Harold’s today for the first time, and I was far from impressed. The store makes me feel like I need to lock my car, as I am in a pawn shop on the south side of Chicago. The woman working behind the glass windows was very short and rude, and didn’t appreciate not getting a tip when I picked up my food.
The food itself was mediocre at best, and I am being generous. The BBQ sauce was good, but the wings were ALL bones, and the tenders I got were slightly under-​cooked, causing me to be scared to eat the rest of them.
All in all, I will not be going there again. This place needs a makeover to make the entire Harold’s experience more welcoming for the customer.

Every time I come back to Chicago I have to get some Harold’s! I love em! I get my sauce on top (mild and hot). The hot isn’t too hot. You kinda have to know what you want cause the staff won’t help you decide. There is a menu on the wall… No pics! It’s like a «walk up» window but inside the building.

Mood: Fried chicken
Quick Tips:
–Call ahead so you don’t have to wait 20 minutes for your food
–Get the sauce on the side so the chicken is not soggy
–A mix of the hot and mild sauce is just right. But if i had to pick one, I’d pick the mild sauce because it’s delicious. The hot is kinda like Tabasco. If you want extra sauce, it’ll cost $ 1 extra.
–They are closed on Sundays
I like the ½ Dark Chicken Dinner $ 8 — It comes with 4 pieces total (2 legs + 2 thighs), a shot of coleslaw, fries, a piece of bread and a side of sauce. The chicken is crispy with light breading that doesn’t taste too greasy.
**Restaurant Hours**
Mon-​Thurs: 11am-​9pm
Fri– Sat: 11am-​10pm
Sun: Closed

Don’t waste your money buying the catfish fillets. They take one fillet and cut it in half and that’s considered 2 pieces. A huge rip off!!! I won’t waste my money there again.

Fantastic chicken, delicious gizzards and polite service… All from behind bulletproof glass! A winning combination apparently!
The crispy and very flavorful batter covering the chicken is amazing, and the sauce they serve on the side is like icing on the cake, if it were made of fried chicken.
I would recommend visiting if you are in the mood for some really good fried chicken at a reasonable price.

I just carried out on Friday, my usual order, but I finally decided to try the perch, which I’ve been meaning to try. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t that great. The fish was still moist and the breading was light and crispy, but it was fishy, and please don’t say that fish is fish – so it’s fishy; that’s not true. Fresh fish isn’t fishy. If they had used fresh, beautiful filets of perch, it would have been awesome, but they don’t. That said, they’re still not terrible, and they aren’t so fishy that the smell camps out in your nose and blocks all taste. If you don’t mind, or kind of even like, slightly fishy fish, then you’d probably really enjoy it. Still, though, great chicken shack
One last comment/​warning: I like to phone-​in my order, and I’ve noticed that – being a fairly punctual person – the quoted time they give is never accurate. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten my order in the time-​frame provided, but usually five to sometimes even ten minutes longer. I keep that in mind now, so I would suggest that you add five to ten minutes to whatever time they quote.

I was excited to try out Harold’s as they are known for their fried chicken in the Chicagoland area. The chicken itself was breaded and fried, and it wasn’t as juicy as I thought it would be. It was decent with the hot sauce, and the meal comes with fries. It’s better to eat it right away as the steam could make your fries soggy.
+less-​than-​juicy chicken