Houston TX Hot Chicken — Restaurant in Murray

Food 0/5 Service 5/5

My first and last visit here was on Sunday 9/9/24 and it was one of the most disappointing experiences I’ve ever had at a restaurant.

I ordered the chicken sandwich/tender combo, with the sandwich “liftoff” and the tender “Houston, we have a problem.” I started by eating half of the sandwich, which was just okay. The piece of chicken was slightly too small for the bun, which was annoying, but not a dealbreaker. The pickles were good. The slaw was average. The breading was good, if a bit under-seasoned. Definitely not 600,000 Scoville as advertised, though.

The “Houston, we have a problem” tender was a completely different story. They make you sign a waiver, which is silly, and they bring out a glove for you to use while handling the chicken, which is a good idea. My reaction to the first bite was disappointment at the complete lack of flavor. I could immediately tell it was going to be hot, but there was NO salt or seasoning of any kind on it. After chewing and swallowing the first bite, I felt the burn, but I still couldn’t taste any flavor. I dipped it in sauce and took a second bite, which was no better than the first. After just two bites of the tender, I took a sip of water and finished my sandwich & fries.

Carolina reaper peppers typically have a sweet, fruity flavor followed by intense heat. This chicken tender had none of that. Just a dry, unpleasant heat without any flavor. Not even any salt! It’s almost like they designed this to be unpleasant—not for people who like spicy food. I was seriously confused as to who would actually want to eat this.

Everything is overly sweet here. The coleslaw is ordinary, but sticky sweet from the dressing. The sauce for the sandwich is like thousand island dressing but extra sweet. The fries, although nicely crunchy, are seasoned with a sweet dry seasoning by default. I’m sure you could ask for them with salt only, but it’s just bizarre that the default option is covered in sugar.

I talked to the person who originally took my order after eating to ask if most people enjoy the “Houston, we have a problem” flavor. Without missing a beat, they responded “no” and said that most people order it “as a challenge.” Well, mystery solved. This restaurant is a social media gimmick more than anything else.

I have to mention: although my experience was poor overall and I definitely won’t be back, all the staff were friendly and helpful. In a world of haughty and irritated servicepeople, the folks here surprised me and if it wasn’t for the crummy food, I wouldn’t...

GENERAL IMPRESSION UPON WALKING IN: I visited this place about a week or two weeks ago. The place had a modern and relaxed vibe to it. The staff was nice, if a little skittish. Considering how this place is new, I bet its just new staff with this being many of the workers' first jobs. The workers did a great job, though. No complaints on that end.

HOW THE FOOD TASTED: The food came out quickly enough and tasted pretty good. The fries in particular were excellent. I always have to drench my fries in some kind of sauce, but these ones were damn near perfect on their own. They were seasoned quite effectively and Im normally not the biggest fan of crinkle cut fries, but, again, these ones were very tasty. The sauce I got (I believe it was their signature sauce) was quite tasty as well. Sweet and Tangy, great for fry dipping or as additional sauce to the sandwich. The chicken sandwich was also quite good. Had great flavor, the chicken was crispy, the heat level was good (I got the medium), and the sauce on the sandwich was also good.

ISSUES: The biggest gripe I have is portion sizes. I feel like you dont get very many fries in the basic combo and the size of the chicken on my sandwich was abysmal. About half of the entire sandwich had no chicken. So I basically just ate a bread sandwich until I got to the middle. For the price of the food, that definitely made it feel like a bad deal. It may have been a once-off issue, but from other reviews ive seen it may be a commonality at this place. The biggest sin a restaurant can do is leave you feeling hungry after spending around $25 for it. For that, I have to really lowball my rating, even though the food was actually quite good.

GENERAL THOUGHTS: So, for now, I dont think I can recommend the spot to any of my friends. Especially considering how this place replaced the Crack Shack, which was a favorite for a lot of people I know. I'll likely go again sometime this week to give it another shot. If the portion for the chicken/fries feels more in line with the price and the flavors are as good as they were last time, I'll definitely amend my review. This could easily be a 5 star...

I didnt expect this from this location. I enjoyed the riverton location and expected the same in this location while i found on my way back to home. The front desk assistant manager was nice. Ordered the food i want. I really wana have their chicken tortilla soup. The soup was served by a male waiter .. it was less warm and there werent much tortilla on it... When we asked about the warmth he told this is probably the last soup on their kitchen and then went to check for it. Asked him to add a little spice on it.... He returned back with a to go box of soup.... And said he made the changes and this is it... I asked about the soup that was served earlier and it was on a bowl he insisted saying that this is the new one mentioning the one on the to go box... I asked him how can he expect us to have it on a to go box and he went mad on me for no reason saying that i need to mention him that i need in a bowl. No where i was rude during this conversation. He need to learn how to treat a fine dine customer. There is seriously some ego/ attitude issue with that person. The assistant manager claim this to be a miscommunication but i dont think so. We felt bad for not treating us as a regular customer. I didnt want to create more fuss over there and chose to walk way asking them to refund for my order... I drove to the riverton location and had the same soup over there.. definitely there is a lot of difference in the warmth, quantity and the number of tortillas... This location needs to learn.. hope this reaches the manager who wasnt available on...