On the search for the best fried chicken in Connecticut brings us to Roosters Chicken & Waffles in Wethersfield (and Manchester and Meriden and New Britain).
Roosters is a local chain of restaurants.
Some know them for their spicy chicken sandwich.
Some know them for their wings and waffles.
But you should know them for their fried chicken.
But first, let’s review some other options.
Spicy chicken sandwich
This is not a spicy chicken sandwich.
This is basically one big chicken tender, with chipotle sauce on it.
The chicken can get a little dry, and the sauce is overly sweet.
Overall, a bad first showing.
The Rating: Spicy Chicken Sandwich
4.5/10
Wings & Waffles
But surely a place called chicken and waffles has to have good…chicken…and waffles…right?
The Waffles
The waffles are odd.
They are extra sweet, and have an odd texture.
Once you think too much about it, they taste like something that wasn’t supposed to be a waffle, that was pressed into a waffle pan and cooked.
The Rating: Waffles
5.5/10
The Wings
These are technically the wing of a bird, yes. But don’t expect something like buffalo wings.
First, the wings have no sauce on them, you have to buy and add it separately.
The wings are huge, however. Very meaty with a good amount of breading.
The coating is well salted but has an odd, almost slimy texture.
The sauces, while good, are very heavy in corn syrup. So anything you think would be ‘sweetened’ (e.g. BBQ, mango habanero, teriyaki, etc.) are going to be overly sweet and sticky.
Overall, good wings, but stay away from sweet sauces.
The Rating: Wings
7/10
I was ready to write off Roosters, but went back one last time to try the fried chicken.
I’m glad I did.
Joys fried chicken
Not really like the wings, this is something different.
It’s real good.
The breading is flavorful with a conflake-like crust.
The chicken is juicy and thick.
This is the kind of fried chicken we’ve been looking for.
Would prefer a little more depth of flavor to the breading, but its so good as it is they should keep it as is.
Definitely among the best fried chicken in Connecticut.
The Rating: Joy’s Fried Chicken
8/10
Original location address: 740 SILAS DEANE HIGHWAY, WETHERSFIELD, CT 06109
Hours: Sunday to Wednesday 11am to 10pm
Thursday to Saturday 11am to 11pm