A new chain has entered the fast-food fried chicken scene. Bojangles, originally out of Charlotte, North Carolina, has been making its way through the south. The first Houston-area locations are at 19230 West Belfort in Richmond and 6719 Grand Parkway in Spring, and there are plans to expand to Tomball and Webster in the next few months. Houston Food Finder was invited to a preview at the Spring location to sample many of the fast-service restaurant’s offerings, and take a look at the kitchen.

With more than 800 locations, the Southern fried chicken chain can be found in 18 states serving a variety of fried chicken and biscuit dishes, iced tea, lemonade and milkshakes. The Houston-area expansions are not serving the brand’s famous bone-in fried chicken, but instead focusing on chicken strips and sandwiches.

Breakfast is served until 2 p.m. daily and revolves around the brand’s chicken sandwiches. The six varieties include Bo’s Fried Chicken, egg and cheese, sausage, bacon and steak. Additionally, guests can order biscuits with southern gravy and Bo’-tato rounds (tater tot discs similar to Burger King’s). 

The lunch and dinner menu has two options for chicken sandwiches, grilled or fried, and chicken tender baskets. If you’re looking for a lighter, brighter option, Bo’s serves garden and house salads. You can either order a la carte or in combos with a drink, biscuit and choice of “fixin” (side dish) such as fries, dirty rice, coleslaw and macaroni and cheese.

To go alongside the food, Bojangle’s features soft drinks as well as housemade lemonade, iced coffee and brewed tea, both sweet and unsweet. Finally, there are two options for dessert: the Bo-berry biscuit and peach cobbler (using a biscuit as a crust).

The food itself hit all of the good notes. The chicken was well-seasoned and the breading maintained its crispiness, even after a good amount of time steaming in the to-go box. The kitchen has a window specifically to showcase the biscuit making process, and with good reason: the biscuits really are the stars of the menu. The biscuit sandwich with fried chicken was my favorite savory item, and the desserts really stood out. (I’ve had a few more of the Bo-berry biscuits since my first visit.). The specialty beverages all shined as well. The tea and lemonade both get a lot of marketing, but the iced coffee was among the best I’ve had at a fast food restaurant. 

On my subsequent visits, I’ve run into a few issues.  These include there not being enough staff to keep up with the crowds, sold-out items, reduced quality and managers not knowing how to refund the items that had sold out. The shop needs more time to sort out the problems. That said, once Bojangles hits its stride, it could very well be one of the best fast-food fried chicken spots in town.

Bojangles Richmond location is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the Spring location is  open daily at 6:30 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Ryan Kasey Baker