Crimson Coward — Restaurant in Downey

Ordered a Crimson Medium, Crimson Country, Crimson fries, and potato salad.

First the bad. I paid $4 each for an order of fries, and an order of potato salad. Before I ordered the potato salad I specifically asked if it was made in house or store bought. I was told it was made in house, but as soon as I tasted the potato salad my first thought was Smart & Final potato salad. Don't get me wrong that's perfectly fine if a restaurant wants to serve store bought potato salad, but don't tell your customers it's made in house just because you sprinkle some paprika on top.

My second issue with the sides ordered was that they packaged the potato salad and fries together. Two issues with this, one is that half the fries that are next to the potato salad are cold. The other issue is that at $4 a side you shouldn't try and be frugal with the fries, which I'm guessing is the reason they packaged the sides together. The potato salad is already a small serving, and is the cost of a pound of store bought salad.

Finally the good. The Crimson Medium was delicious, the chicken was juicy, and had the perfect amount of heat to enjoy all the flavors of the sauce, the slaw, and the pickles, which complimented each other perfectly. The few fries that were warm, were seasoned well, and tasted fine. My son had the Crimson Country plain with Crimson sauce only, and he said he enjoyed it.

My final thoughts, grab a sandwich and fries to go. The restaurant is too small and crowded to eat in...

I tried the Hot Chicken Sandwich (HOT level) and the Blooming Onion, spending around $24. While I appreciate that everything is made to order, and the food came out hot, the overall experience didn’t quite meet my expectations.

The sandwich had the right level of heat based on their scale, but the flavor beyond the spice was pretty mild. The chicken patty could’ve used more seasoning, and for $13, it felt a bit small. It came with a light amount of coleslaw, and adding cheese was an extra charge (possibly $1 or $3, I may be misremembering).

The Blooming Onion was unfortunately undercooked in the middle. It likely needed to be cut a bit deeper and fried longer to ensure everything was fully cooked and crispy throughout. More seasoning would’ve helped as well.

On the positive side, the food is made fresh, which I do appreciate, even if the wait was a little longer than expected. The seating was basic, but on par with what you’d find at most casual spots.

Service was minimal since I ordered at the kiosk, and there wasn’t much staff interaction. It wasn’t unfriendly, just more of a self-serve vibe.

I usually like to try a place twice before making a final call, but with so many great chicken sandwich spots around at more affordable prices, I’m not sure I’d return. Still, if you’re curious and like trying new hot chicken places, it may be worth checking out once to see how it lines up with...

This was my first and LAST experience ordering from Crimson Coward. I saw it had good reviews, so I decided to order online for pick up, especially since there was a rewards program sign up special. The order for my family cost just as much as it would at a fine-dining restaurant for fast food quality food. The rewards program sign up special didn’t even work, and when I brought that up to an employee he told me to go back and wait in line and talk to the cashier.

After waiting in line, I heard an employee begin screaming. I looked up and saw that he was screaming at me to fix my mask. The way he was screaming at me made me think that I had forgotten to put on my mask, but I realized he was berating me because my mask had fallen slightly below my nose. I understand we are living through a tough time; however, I have never had an employee ever yell at me like this at any store I’ve ever been to my whole life. I left without being given my sign up reward after being completely disrespected. COVID protocols are no excuses to scream at and embarrass a customer.

If you would like a chicken sandwich, just go to Chik-Fil-A. They have a reward program that works, their chicken sandwiches are better for a fraction of the cost, and their employees actually value their customers and treat them with dignity...