Chicken Charlie's FryBQ: some daily specials

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Kirk is just too busy to write a post right now and Ed (from Yuma) is finishing up a post which you will enjoy soon, so Cathy will be writing today. 

This location of Chicken Charlie's has closed.  There is a new location in Rancho Bernardo.

A few people noticed that I barely mentioned one particular booth at the San Diego County Fair this year.     Chicken Charlie's has been a staple at the San Diego County Fair for 20 years.  When someone asks 'what's the new food at the Fair this year?', Chicken Charlie and whatever his new concoction  is is brought up.  Always something interesting and fried perfectly, quick service. The stop at the Chicken Charlie's trio of booths makes your trip to the Fair is closer to being complete.  

Almost two years ago, Charlie Boghosian opened a storefront in San Diego at the corner of Balboa at Genesee. Kirk wrote a post about it . The Mister and I stopped in a few times and after a while, realized the food there wasn't all 'Fair Food'. 

  In addition, there are almost daily 'specials', mentioned on Facebook...crazy prices on regular items and sometimes a not on the menu board item. The specials have a limit of four and I've found myself walking in just to find out with the special is (because, believe it or not, I am not always on Facebook daily) and staying to try an item. Most of the specials are between $5 and $10.

What is on that regular menu? Most of these items... 

 Chicken and waffles, two pieces, $6.49 (regular price).  I must say that Charlie knows how to fry chicken properly.  It's never greasy, always crisp and filled with flavor.  The waffles are an added bonus. 

The shrimp filled pineapple/Maui Chicken ($9.95, special price, about every two weeks, is $6).

 Also about every two weeks, the chicken or shrimp salad is $5.  This is a great meal, plus a savings off the regular prices of $6.95 and $7.95.

  There are times when we just want a different or additional side dish (if we share a special) and the onion rings ($2.95) and fried zucchini ($3.95) just hits the spot.  

One day there was a 5 fried shrimp and 5 wings basket with fries (but I substituted the cucumber tomato salad, which I really like)($8).  You can see the large shrimp, which are lightly dusted with seasoned flour and fried.   

 There was a $12 special not long ago.  It was three pieces of  fried chicken,  five shrimp and three meaty ribs, along with a side of fries (and you can see I substituted cole slaw).  So very good and enough to share. This was a 3-4-5, for $6.  Three shrimp, four riblets and five onion rings.  The ribs here are fried then covered in a very nice sauce. Always meaty.   This wasn't a special, just a half rotisserie chicken with one side ($7.95) which is also prepared so well. Charlie knows his chicken.

The only special we did not like was mashed potatoes, topped with chili and bacon, topped with two fried chicken pieces and all of it covered in a cheese sauce, topped with green onion. It was $6. Each item, individually, was good. The combination was insipid. Too much going on, unnecessarily.
 The lobster slipper tail basket ($11.95) has never been on special.  There were at least ten (I think 12) lightly battered and fried slipper lobster tails-meaty with a thin shell- served with melted butter (and the included side, this time we chose fried zucchini). Really good, again, shared.   A couple of weekends ago, the special was...a fried Twinkie topped with chocolate and bacon...$1.  Ever so lightly batter dipped, it was like biting through a delicate potato chip to get to the warmed Twinkie filling.  Chocolate and bacon on top-bonus!

Chicken Charlie's FryBQ 5407 Balboa Ave San Diego, CA 92111  (858) 279-1111 Sunday-Thursday 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10:30-10:30 website

 

Comments

[nhbilly]

A side of coronary delight, 😋

[Jessica]

All right. Finally I have to ask. How exactly do you eat chicken and waffles? I tried looking this up and found everything from "You can use a fork if you want" to "Don't you dare use a fork" to "Form a sandwich with the waffle," which seems rather difficult if you have bone-in pieces. So when a plate of that fried goodness is in front of you, what do you do?

[[email protected]]

Mmm... I gotta check the facebook specials more often. So bummed I missed the bacon wrapped Twinkie.

[Caninecologne]

The specials price for the chicken in a pineapple is a steal! It was more than twice that for the SD Fair. I'm interested in trying those lobster slipper tails too. Great post on the deals here.

[Cathy]

We know our consumption of fried foods has decreased over the years, Bill, but on those days when we are craving, seem to be satisfied much easier. For the most part, we share a special and a salad. Also this post is showing many months worth of visits...

Good question, Jessica. We are both adept at cutting whole chickens and not eating with our hands, so we clean the chicken off the bones then its a fork with a piece of chicken, piece of waffle and dip that in bit of syrup- all flavors in one bite. I've seen others cover their piece of chicken in syrup and hold onto it while eating it whole and then eating the waffle separately and only one time, saw a person make the half sandwich with the waffle...I don't think there are rules.

Check that Facebook page for today, Soo -it's the two year anniversary!!!- and the chicken baked into a waffle (easy eating!) topped with sausage gravy and bacon is $5 and a free fried Twinkie with any purchase-no bacon though.

Same price for naked shrimp in a pineapple, too, cc. Even the regular prices are a bit less than at the Fair, and you can eat while having a nice seating area. The Mister kept hoping the slipper tails would go on special but they never were; still a good regular price. We just happened to look at the Facebook page one day and saw these 'daily specials', which I don't think were running as much during the Fair.

[Soo @ hungryones]

Thanks for the heads up! I gonna get a free strawberry twinkie! :-)

[Jessica]

Thanks, Cathy!

[nhb]

I wasn't judging you but teasing you. If it was me I would have finished all that in a single day. ;-)

[Cathy]

I hope you enjoyed it, Soo!

Anytime, Jessica. I did understand why you asked when I thought about the first time a plate of chicken and waffles was placed in front of me...things most don't think about beforehand...

Oh, I didn't think you were judging, Bill. There are more than ten years of my food consumption habits outlined on this blog and things have changed-writing style, photography and food cravings. It's kind of interesting in an anthropologic sense.