Phatz (Vero Beach) — Restaurant in Vero Beach

Phatz Chick N Shack- Vero Beach- 5-Stars

Hidden Gem BEST CHICKEN IN FLORIDA

While the outside may have left much to be desired, the inside was clean, warm, cozy, albeit Spartanly decorated and permeated with smells of fried chicken and...maple syrup? Met by an exquisitely kind server by the name of Kaye, I was immediately sat and handed a menu. Casting my eyeballs hurriedly down to the end, I found what I thought I smelled...the vaulted Chicken and Waffle combo. Ripping my eyes away from that listing, I turned to the food listed above and placed an order for one Chicken and Shrimp combo, one unsweetened ice tea and the aforementioned Chicken and Waffle combo.

Kaye placed our order with the cook, Antoine, and he jumped on it. While he was preparing our meals hand cutting and frying to order, Kaye returned with a ginormous unsweetened tea, this was certainly a value if I have ever drunk one. Before getting to the jewel on the table, I started with a side of Dirty Rice. This is made in house and is utterly unreal. The depth and complexity of flavor is something you just don't expect to find in a "Chicken Shack", but rather from a gourmet kitchen in New Awlins. The chicken wings came with their self proclaimed "World famous" sauce. While I don't know if a couple in say, New South Wales is aware of it, I know they would be talking about it if they ever had it. This sauce is the real deal. I don't know if it's Antoine's recipe or from Robert and Tessa Adams (the owners) or someone's Great Grandpappy, but it is savory, sweet and has this lingering kick I found to be extremely pleasant on the palate. The wings were indeed hand cut and breaded then fried to perfect doneness. They were juicy, tender and farm fresh. The Shrimp is of such high quality that if Antoine told me he had just taken it out of a tank, ripped the head off and peeled, deveined, dredged and fried, I wouldn't have doubted him in the least. They were big, succulent, tasty and top of the line.

With that combo out of the way and with a slight lingering kick on my tongue (man, I love that sauce), I greedily began devouring the Chicken and Waffle combo in front of me. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the homemade dredge used by Antoine. It is more than salt, pepper and flour that is for sure. I am leaning towards a Col. Sanders type of secret recipe here as it is like something I have never tasted. The Chicken was absolutely delicious. The flavors from the coating literally partied on my tongue, dancing to and fro from savory to sweet, to spicy. If I concentrated long enough, I was sure it would make me dizzy trying to keep up with the complexity of flavors to be found in this breading. The Waffles. What else can I say about the food here?? Homemade batter, hand dropped, griddled to a supreme golden brown, fresh and springy on the inside with just the right amount of give on the outside these were some of the best waffles I have had and that includes several places that "specialize" in breakfast foods. One bite of glorious chicken mixed with one bite of wonderful waffles and I was in foodie Shangri-La.

This is truly a hidden gem, but I don't think it will remain hidden much longer. After 8 years they have expanded to two locations and a food truck. With that in mind, you now have no excuse whatsoever not to try this place.

The Big Boy says, "For ginormous drinks, scrumptious sides, hand cut and hand dredged fried goodies along with fantabulous waffles, stop in Phatz Chick-N-Shack or hit up their food truck. You can thank me later." #iamthebigboy...

UPDATE: UPDATE: Roscoe (Robert) Adams reached out to me after I posted a Google Review and explained the issue with his POS system. He agreed that he should have trained his staff on what to do if someone came in with a gift card. The resolution is that I am giving the gift card to my dear friend, Debbi Goodman Venturina, as she and her family have eaten there in the past. I texted her name to him so that when she presents the gift card, the staff will know they can accept it. After what we went through, my husband doesn't want to eat there but is happy that the gift card will be accepted. If there is a problem, Debbi and I will issue another post.

I won a Phatz gift card from a social media contest back in April. I picked up the $50 gift card in May. Phatz even liked the 4/28 post. We tried to use the card on 6/14 for dinner at the Vero location and the server said only the Fort Pierce location accepts the card, even though both locations are on the back of the gift card. We tried using the card on 7/7 at the Fort Pierce restaurant. Our server was new, so she asked for help processing the card at the register. One of her coworkers looked at the card and rudely said, "We don't take those" and walked away. Another coworker told us that "her boss hasn't bought the machine to process the card". And we had to pay the bill ourselves. How can they sell gift cards and then not honor them?! I went to the company who gave me the card to let them know. Phatz has been selling these cards and even liked the post on 4/28 and we didn't try to use it until June. There was enough time for them to buy the machine to accept the cards. Do not spend your own money at this restaurant if this is what they do to people. Except for the server that helped us, the others were rude and dismissive. They didn't say they would call the owner or anything. They...

That’s Phatz Chick n Shack – not Fat Chicks as you might be thinking. Located in the Southeast corner of 43rd Avenue and State Road 60 in Vero Beach (behind Young’s Market) I recently stopped in for take-out. My kids wanted chicken wings and I wanted to try Phatz out. New to Vero Beach, they have an existing location in Fort Pierce, along with a food truck that can be seen along the Treasure Coast.

Simple order – 20 Chicken Wings – along with an order of Garbage Fries. Given the opportunity to “mix and match” the wings, I took 10 Finger Lickin and 10 mild. After all, I have three small children that are very picky eaters. If it’s too hot – they won’t eat it. The Garbage Fries were an afterthought while waiting on the wings. Knowing my kids probably wouldn’t eat them – especially with the jalapeno peppers and other “stuff” on them, I figured “what the heck?”

Friendly and polite service, I met several of the staff at Phatz Chick, along with the owner. Clean restaurant with parking in the front. With numerous menu options available, you can find something for everyone in your party. Waffles and chicken maybe? I will try that with the maple syrup next time.

Chicken wings were a decent size, tasty and competitively priced. Ordering 20 and splitting the flavor options is less expensive that making separate orders of 10 chicken wings each. Garbage fries were pretty decent and had plenty of toppings to please.

Next time, I will dine in at Phatz Chick as I have a feeling the experience will be a bit more enjoyable.

William E. Lewis Jr. Vero...