Ricky's Hot Chicken — Restaurant in Plano

I have been looking forward to trying this place for a few months now. My cousin and her daughter mentioned this place to me and hyped it so much. I set it in my mind the next time I was in the area I was going to try this place. So yesterday was my day off to get my kids doctor's appointments and pre back to school tasks taken care of. We had an appointment in Frisco and arrived 45 minutes early. We went to Ricky's in Plano and waited patiently until the place opened. At exactly 11am I called to place our order but was told by a young lady she would not be able to take my order unless it was at least 6 orders or more. No big deal, I wish the takeout stipulations were somewhere noted on the website, but that is so minor. My daughters went in and placed our family's orders. The customer service was good, and I will admit the service was a lot faster than I expected. When my daughters brought the food back, I was so eager and excited to finally try this place my cousin has hyped up for months. The food smelled and looked so good. The portion sizes were good as well. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. The fries, drinks, and the comeback sauce was the only decent part of the meal. My daughters had the chicken nuggets, my son had the chicken sandwich, and I had the quarter chicken for a total of $42.76. The $2 extra was for sauces. I was not aware sauces were not included as again this was my first time there. I will say the cost is not bad for 4 meals and the portion sizes. My son's chicken sandwich was very bland, and he stated the taste was odd. While holding his sandwich to take a bite, the chicken breast fell out of the batter casing and into his to go box. My son said the macaroni tasted like the box kind, which just so happened to be a good thing since he likes that. My chicken was so perfect in appearance, the heat would have been a perfect complement had the flavor of seasoning been present. My daughter stated her nuggets were bland, and extremely oily. My other daughter stated her nuggets were bland, but the sauce was good. The fries were very hot, fresh and crispy. I spoke to my cousin and her daughter after my experience, and she shared with me she frequents the Richardson location, and she has ALWAYS had great experiences with them and was actually going to be going tomorrow since I put it on her mind. She stated that she has never had any of the issues that we experienced and highly encouraged us to try the Richardson location before writing the establishment completely off. I come from a long line of cooks, my sister owns her own catering company, and opened a restaurant a few years ago. So, I give grace, I understand sometimes restaurants and employees may have some off days and mistakes happen. I will maybe try the Richardson location solo to compare, but it will definitely not be to go next time. My daughter had to have an MRI and our appointments were back-to-back otherwise I would have gone back in and requested to speak with a manager. I hope and pray that what I experienced with the food yesterday was just an "off day", and I will get to experience the amazing flavors of taste my cousin has bragged about, only time will tell. I will definitely provide an update once I give this place...

We were up in Plano because the boy-child broke his leg. We asked the fine fellow putting his cast on for some lunch suggestions and he specifically recommended Ricky's Hot Chicken, so we decided to give it a try. We were not disappointed!

It was recommended that we order spicy level one below what we think we want, so I went XHot instead of Atomic. Even still, the guy at the counter seemed skeptical, especially after we told him we'd never been there before. I assured him I was a heat freak. I get it, man. Don't want to put the basic white dudes who visit on a bad footing so they never come back. I am no basic white dude. Well, I mean, technically, yes I am, but metaphorically I'm in a whole other level. And let me tell you: that spice level was ON POINT. My favorite combination of solid heat and great flavor. I lifted the lid and you know how some spicy foods will tingle your nose hairs? Yeah, it be like that. The chicken itself was perfectly crispy and deliciously juicy. I got the Bird's Nest and it was fantastic. The slaw has a great flavor and crunch, and the fries are outstanding. The sauce was pretty good too.

My injured, weakling son and my delicate, feminine wife both opted for mild (Sando and Nest, respectively) and were pleased to report that both were wonderful as well. I have to endure the spicy food alone on their behalves. Here I stand; I can do no other. We...

UPDATE: After the owner Ricky saw my review, he personally reached out and refunded us for our meal and gave us a coupon to try them out again for free. He sincerely apologized for the dry chicken and said they recently had a supplier issue that caused the problem but are working to resolve it quickly. We will happily give this place another go because everything else about the meal was amazing! Fantastic customer service ✨

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

No, I am not a negative nelly or Karen… I love trying new food places and was excited to give this place a try, especially considering the high ratings!!

The prices were good for a chicken place (side and drink with sandwich for $12). Everything about the meal was delicious…..EXCEPT the chicken itself 😭 unfortunately my husband and I both had the driest, hardest pieces of fried chicken breast in our sandwiches. The first bite and both of us were disappointed. I continued to nibble on the sandwich (the bun, slaw, sauce and pickles were great) and my hockey puck chicken ended up just falling out of the breading 🤦🏼‍♀️

We may have just gotten a bad batch or something… because it seems everyone else had a great experience! Everything else about the food was great (especially fries and fireballs, which are fried cheese curds). However I do wish they would at least give you one cup of sauce for the fries and fireballs but you have to pay extra...