Cousins Tasty Chicken — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

I've driven past Cousin's Tasty Chicken hundreds of times in the past two years, but never bothered to step inside. Sola Cepa is both a passion and a calling, as well as an excuse to wander into random restaurants near my house and eat onion rings. Each venture is yet another opportunity of wonder and discovery, or one for a ruinous defeat. It's naught but a spin of the dice, or a gamble between the red and the black. But either way, one always gets to eat onion rings.

As might be expected, the presentation of these onion rings is basic and no-frills. Resting atop a small cardboard tub, within a larger styrofoam box, they are heaped haphazardly into a pile. When I opened the box, a couple of rings had slid out of the box into the (delicious) spicy chicken tenders, but that could have been my own lack of care in transporting the goods. There was no paper lining covering the cardboard, which is a bit outside the norm, but I didn't miss it.

The appearance of the onion rings is, similarly, nothing special, nothing awful. The batter is reasonably consistent, but a close examination reveals some minor splotches and gaps in the batter, and some extra crumbles mixed around. While this always speaks well to the quality of the onion rings (in terms of a clearer sign of hand-battered and home made), it does cause some problems in the appearance.

I should preface this by saying my onion rings weren't piping hot, as I'd ordered them for pick-up some time in advance of my coming, but I can hardly fault Cousin's Tasty Chicken for that.

The onion rings weren't overly greasy, and indeed, were hardly greasy at all. My first tentative bite revealed a vivid and surprising amount of juicy, strong onion flavor. The onions may well have been seasoned before they were fried, or else the fry time was just sufficient to give them a good burst of flavor with each bite. They were tasty, without being overwhelming.

The batter, likewise, was well seasoned. It wasn't mind-blowing, but it did add a pleasant layer of flavor on-top of the already present juicy onions. The accompanying ranch sauce was fairly overpowering, and any dips completely overshadowed the more subtle flavors of the onion rings, and was not especially complementary.

While the onions had a wonderfully juicy taste, it came at the expense of the occasionally mushy, overdone onion within. While they weren't the norm, even a few in a small batch of onion rings can be detrimental to the experience. The same applies to slippage. Although it was only two or three times, proportionally, it's extreme.

Besides the bouts of slippage, however, the batter had an excellent texture. The integrity of the ring remained even when manipulated or squeezed for consumption, with the exception the dreaded slippage alluded to above. It was soft, with more of a subtle pop than a loud crunch, as my teeth split into the pocket of air between the onion and the batter.

For a reasonably sized portion of good tasting, well-textured onion rings, I only paid $1.99, which is practically a steal. While they weren't perfect, and I could almost always use more onion rings, I'd be hard pressed to say they're anything but a...

This quaint little place is a must try!! Everytime I go in there me and my son are greeted kindly by the employees and taken care of. The prices are great and lots of food for the value . I ate a few before this picture below, but this is the 3 piece chicken tenders meal combo. Absolutely delicious and well as the chicken dinners flavor all the way around. The tenders only come in spicey- which I personally love- or their original recipe which is the best chicken I've ever tasted. One time a young man named Alex helped us and he was very attentive and polite. Great customer service at this place always from all employees. There also is an older lady that helps us alot , to which I'll have to ask her name because they dont wear name badges lol but shes also an absolute delight to have wait on us for our ordering. These people care about their customers and are extremely fast . Hardly any wait time here even of they are busy. I hope the owner or Mgr of this place recognizes that he has exceptional employees with great attitudes and happy to help employees working there. I go here at least 2 times a week . Sometimes 3. It's good to have great food and great loyal customer service from these people. I value them and thought I'd share a word of praise as well as a kudos for a job well done!! I ate some of the fries also but got a 3 piece tender ( which are huge pieces of sliced chicken breast) a fry and small drink for only $5.29. More than enough to fill you up and save money in your wallet :) cant give this place enough words or praise, that's why we continue as a family (and friends I've told about this place) to go back to them. Several different side dishes also to try and Liver!! And gizzards for those of you that like those...

5 star rating turned into a 2, one star left for good service, one left for a semi-decent meal.. Test your food, if it's takeout. You'll be jipped otherwise. The cashiers were very kind both trips. The cook staff is kind as well. The first time, was dine in, we went it was great, juicy, seasoned fried chicken and not overly greasy. The second time around was take out, and the food was given much faster than the other time. It took about 20 minutes to get food the other time, and this time it took 7 minutes. That should've been my first red flag in retrospect. I have learned my lesson to inspect my food by taking a bite to eat before leaving. My 4 pc dark meat was fine. Crunchy, but it was underseasoned. The fact it was juicy and good quality meat saved it. The worst part game with my GF's meal. The tenders were not crunchy, they were stale. Yes a hot meal was put in styrofoam, it does get soggy. We drove 5 minutes away to eat immediately, and the crust would have been soggy, not STALE and RUBBERY. Simply, it tasted old, super dry as well. This was because the tenders were sitting around awhile or refried because it was someone else's meal. Worst part, it was not seasoned well and tasted like super fishy chicken. None of our fries were seasoned. They were seasoned well last time. Mac N Cheese was standard box mac, tasted like velveeta. Biscuit was very dense, not flaky or crumbly, seasoned...