Harold’s Chicken Shack

This is a fun Chicago place, the food is average and for fried chicken consistent. Service is okay and friendly.
Value for the volume is great. Onion rings tasty.
Make sure to get the sauce with your chicken. The hot is not really hot but very tasty.
Over all nice lunch or dinner spot for a family or anyone.

Its always nice to have my beloved Harold’s Chicken nearby my residence as I just moved to the area a couple of months ago and walked by and noticed its presence… hell yes!
I came in on a Saturday night around 9pm which is exactly when they close… they were nice enough to still allow me to order. I noticed they had a television playing the Golden State vs OKC playoff game which was awesome. I couldnt stay and watch as they told me since it was past 9 they allow carry out only which was cool as I literally live a couple blocks away so I would not miss much from the game. This particular Harold’s is bigger than most I have been inside of (and I have been in quite a few of them since I was a child). I got my usual 5 piece mild and was a happy man and skipped out the door.
SInce this place is close to so many colleges (Roosevelt, Columbia, Depaul & East West) I would imagine thye would stay open later as college students tend to get hammered and need fried foods later at night, but then again maybe they dont want those drunken idiots in their establishment puking and tearing up the place and for that I can understand closing @ 9pm daily

Everyone needs a little fried chicken now and then. When I’m in Chicago, Harold’s is the go-​to place for me.
The old location down the street was tired, and on this visit I discovered they had moved half a block north. The new location is bright, clean, and has better seating than previously.
The chicken is terrific, as is the fried fish. I like the perch (a lake fish) for a change from seafood. The hot sauce is hot — better to have «on the side» instead of drenched on the cooked chicken.
For those down with chicken and waffles, the waffles are fluffy and tasty.
Service can be slow, but this guarantees the chicken is hot and fresh.

I am from Los Angeles and are in Chicago on business — staying at the Hilton and excited to try Harold’s. I went to the location downtown on Wabash. My immediate thoughts were Wow! This place is modern, clean, and nice. I noticed the guy who ordered before me received his food — sat down, took a bite, pushed his bag away and walked out — I was shocked that he paid, waited, and didn’t like it that much that he just left it.
When my time came to order the cashier wasn’t friendly (she looked as if she hated her job). I ordered the 2+2 combo…1^st strike was when she told me I had to pay for sauces… not extra, just one… weird because I thought restaurants offer at least one serving of sauce to compliment your meal. Strike 2 was when she said I had to pay $ 2.00 extra for fish without bones… which I had never heard of. Strike 3 was when she told me Harold’s didn’t accept American Express.
Nonetheless, I received my plate and the sauce I paid for was not in my bag. my order was wrong… and when I finally sat down to eat — I was disappointed!!! Although hot, crispy, and fresh — the catfish was bland (no seasoning in the batter or fish). The chicken was dry and bland as well. The best thing on my plate were the fries. The hot sauce I paid for was nothing more than extra sweet ketchup — not good. I tossed my plate after spending $ 13.00…what a waste. Now I understand what the customer in front of me felt.
I heard all Harold’s don’t taste the same, but at this point I do not want to experiment with this place anymore. Thanks for the let down, Harold’s. Popeyes and Louisiana are seasoned to perfection compared to this place. Hope this review helps an out of towner save money. Back to LA I go!

I haven’t been to Harold’s Chicken in a while, but once that piece of meat hit my mouth, I was out.
I woke up in Heaven.
Their sauce is straight-​up delicious, their 4-​wings are fantastic and the white bread is always a must. I generally don’t care for fries from any fried chicken/​fish restaurant, because by the time I’m done eating the main entrée, the fries are a complete struggle. Otherwise, I place them on my bread, throw hot sauce on it, roll it up and eat it just like that.
… I think I revealed too much right there in that last bit, but I hope that you can stil take that tidbit into consideration. Harold’s anywhere is good, unless otherwise spoken.

I love the food, but I refuse to eat at a place that houses cockroaches. After my girlfriend, and I had paid for our food she mentioned that I was about to step on a bug. Turns out it is a cockroach. It crawled under a crack in the counter and disappeared. This is absolutely disgusting and I lost all appetite for the food I ordered. I will never be returning to this establishment. I highly recommend eating at a more sanitary location.

No free refills first of all. Overpriced wings that is mostly made up of flour. Wings are nothing to brag about. Buffalo Wild Wings/​Wingstop is a million times better with way more options.

Ordered through Unilocal.When the delivery did not come in the hour quoted, I called. I was told that they quoted 2 hours to GrubHub (??? I ordered through Unilocal/​eat24). All around unhelpful service.

The fried chicken is really good (on the bone), but it a little hit-​or-​miss, varying from alright to great

Came in for something to eat fast when working around the corner. It’s nice and clean inside. So much so that a local said this Harold’s is like a 4 star hotel compared to the rest.
Inside is clean and has a variety of tables avaliable. In my opinion could have had a little more seating with the layout.
Ordering food was pretty simple, chicken, chicken and more chicken. They do have shrimp and a variety of fish. That’s a good thing since most chickens places have well just chicken. There is also a good selection of side and sauces.
Ordered my food and it felt like it took forever. I’m a patient person but it was well over 10 mins for my order. The food wasn’t bad. Had chicken strips. Without sauce has a good flavor but lacks a little bite or spice. Definitely needs some type of sauce. Also the strips were huge. I got a 6 piece and couldn’t finish it each strip was almost have a chicken breast. Fries were good but nothing to rave about.
In short I was hungry and needed some quick and easy. Harold’s fit the bill but I probably won’t be coming back. I’m from Florida and miss Guthrie’s so maybe I’m spoiled a little

WTH? That is what I left here asking myself. This place is SO overrated. In fact, I’ve never experienced a more overrated place in all of my life. First things first: the atmosphere was mad cafeteria at a school in the ghetto like. There were goons and homeless persons in every corner of the dining area. I stood at the counter debating about whether my curiosity about this so-​called delicious chicken was worth my life. More goons entered as I stood there contemplating. I was surrounded. The tension in the air was mad thick as each goon visually inspected the other for any familiarity or past transgressions. I got the chills. I was steady debating and simultaneously shaking. I gave up and placed an order; life’s too short and I’m the quintessential foodie. I ordered a 5 wings dinner and a bottled water. It came out to about $ 8.65 +\-. I ordered the mild sauce everyone keeps posting about. People have raved about the sauce being this or that. Many have went on and on talking about «wonder what’s in that secret sauce…» Hey wise guy! From what I can tell, that «secret sauce» was nothing more than ketchup with hot sauce in it. Wtf?! Worse: The wings were not fresh at all and were fried over and over and over again. The fries were average and nothing to get excited about. Overall, I left feeling tricked; hoodwinked; and just played. Never again! This place is BEYOND overrated and I will not be returning.

Terrible. It was like punch to the gut. I had shrimp there and it was okay. I think the hot sauce did me in my insides felt bloated after I left.
Strange ambiance and I couldnt help but notice the couple making out In the booth… wow was that.ridiculous.
The serving of cole slaw. was hilarious. It was served in a tartar sauce container but that turned out to be okay with me because it tasted horrible.

This is old school goodness. This place is not fancy, just great food. I got ours to go, it was fast, the people friendly, if you are in the neighborhood, stop by, simply amazing

From 2007 to now, my very first Harold’s Chicken Shack has acquired new brown vinyl seating and taken down their barn house red wooden booth dividers and yet the chicken is even better than my rose-​colored recollection. Having learned from years of eating Harold’s down in Hyde Park that dark meat is best, my friend and I ordered an 8-​piece dark bucket and discovered that this Harold’s uses smaller, but higher quality chickens than its Hyde Park cousin. The chicken came out very hot and very tasty and the wait time seemed shorter than expected. It’s good to return to where my fried-​chicken love began.
PS — If you’re looking for the magical, layered combination of white bread on top of sauced chicken on top of fries, then you should get one of the dinners instead of the bucket.

Great deal and tasty food. We got the Two pieces fried chicken with onion rings for $ 6.99 & three pieces Cod Fish with fries for $ 5.99. The fried chicken with hot sauce… very tasty. The cod fish was not all the way cook but still really good. Good choice for Fast, quick, and tasty!

I am completely baffled by the negative reviews of Harold’s. Being a true southerner now living in Chicago, I know chicken. I KNOW the chicken.
Fried chicken is very easy to screw up. And being cognizant of that, I am super picky when it comes to trying new chicken joints. Harold’s was recommended to me by all of my associates and so I finally tried. Usually I just resort to Popeye’s and call it a night.
This Saturday night I decided to finally test the grease at Harold’s and boy I’m glad I did. The only reason why this review isn’t 5 stars is because of the subpar team of workers.
I ordered 5 wings and a piece of white fish. I had the hot sauce ordered on the side. I was so pleased with the made to order nature of the place! The chicken was piping hot when I sat down.
The seasoning brought back so many memories growing up in the country of North Carolina. My wings were juicy and tangy/​spicy from the hot sauce. The fries were on point too! What I could do without is the toast. Hello, we need biscuits! Not toast Harold!!!
Other than that, I will definitely return.

Get mild sauce on the side, everything is drenched in sauce otherwise.
We got a 30 piece bucket of chicken and 20 piece chicken nuggets with a side of fries, had the sauce been on the side, we would have enjoyed the food a lot more

I heard about Harold’s Chicken Shack from watching an interview between Nardwuar and Common and if Common is plugging this place then it is a must try. I ordered the 5 piece wing dinner with hot sauce on the side. There was a slice of bread in my order which I am assuming they threw it in there to absorb the moisture so the chicken stays crispy. Overall the chicken was light and crispy and the hot sauce was above average. I recommend getting the sauce on the side so your chicken remains crispy.

You order at the counter, you get a number, and you wait for your order. I am country, so I ordered the chicken gizzards!!! They’re hard to find in Phoenix! The gizzards were fantastic!
I sat inside to eat. An asker of coins came in and made a beeline to my table. He inquired about my ability to spare coins so that he could get a bite to eat. I invited him to take half my order as I couldn’t eat it all. He declined. Imagine that…
Reasonably priced, pleasant staff, fast service.

There’s a chain in Houston called Frenchy’s, where the only acceptable answer is to visit the O.G. in the third ward. Other franchises need not apply. However, if you do happen to stumble upon the originator, you’re treated to some of the greatest fried chicken that walked the G’s green earth.
Chicago’s finest, or at least most-​well known, Harold’s Chicken Shack, has been far more prolific than Frenchy’s, but perhaps it falls under the same purview. I’m not even sure where the original Harold’s sits, but it’s most assuredly not this South Loop location (one of two in the Sloop, in fact).
As such, the fried chicken at Harold’s on Wabash is decidedly average. The chicken, particularly the thigh, runs on the small side, and the crisp decidedly lacks flavor. A chicken dinner comes standard with fries, seasoned decently, and a very delicious hot sauce. If taking to go, hot sauce is most definitely recommended on the side, as it quickly permeates the chicken skin and will render it soggy. A small side of cole slaw and some white bread recalls a fun visit to Raising Cane’s.
All in all, I just really miss Frenchy’s. Or, y’know, maybe the Memphis mafia can bring me a Gus’ Fried Chicken location in Chi-​town. I mean, they opened one in Austin and all…