Americans are eating more chicken than ever before and we’re coming up with creative ways of getting our poultry fix. From the still blazing trend of Nashville Hot Chicken to a multitude of chicken finger restaurants popping up everywhere, chicken is standing toe-to-toe with burgers as the most popular fast food item in the country. People have been injured, or worse, over Popeye’s spicy chicken sandwiches and Chick-fil-A’s double drive-thru lines often spill out into the streets.
Recently, a new fast-casual chicken spot opened off the Tomball Parkway called Crispy Burger and Laankee. Based in New York, this is the first outpost outside of the state. While it does sell one beef burger on its menu, the crispy burger is actually a fried chicken sandwich. The sandwich is probably its bestseller, but the menu features chicken in all kinds of forms including tenders, nuggets, popcorn, wings, pieces and whole. Most of it is fried, but there are some grilled options including skewers.
The chicken is Chinese-style, using cornstarch mixed into the flour to keep the coating airy and crispy. The marinated chicken is double-fried, but it still remains juicy, for the most part. Thinking this might be the next big thing since Korean fried chicken swept the country, we had to give it a try.
The menu is quite extensive and is written in both English and Chinese at the restaurant. We ordered online, choosing quite a few items, though bypassing the beef burger since it looked pretty standard. We made the order for pick up, which was convenient, but the menu does not do a great job describing the food.
It was ready within 20 minutes. When we arrived, there was no one inside except two women behind the counter. The interior is clean and looks like a standard fast food restaurant. There are also a few tables outside.
Our order was very well-packaged, so the food was still hot when we arrived home ten minutes later. We don’t usually order sodas with our food very often, but the combo meals at Crispy Burger were the best deal, so we went with three of those. First up was the Crispy Sandwich Combo ($10.50), which I upgraded to white meat for an extra 60 cents. I know many people think thigh meat is where it’s at, but I like chicken breast, even if that makes me basic.
This was an outstanding sandwich and a good-sized one at that. The chicken was juicy, crispy and had a good amount of spice infused into the meat itself. I also added tomato for free, which, along with the crisp lettuce leaves, gave it a bit of freshness. The French fries that came with it were better than the average fries at many fast food eateries and the amount was more, too. An order of fries here is easily shareable.
We also tried the Cod Sandwich Combo ($11). It would not normally be my jam, but my husband, Classic Rock Bob, loves fish sandwiches. I thought the square fish patty was well-cooked, but not anything extraordinary. However, CRB said it could knock his current fave, the Filet O’ Fish, to second place. It’s a good option for pescatarians. He opted for no tomato, though, because he’s a heathen.
The combo meals offer various sides, including, oddly, chicken nuggets. We wanted to sample a variety of items, so we added the nuggets to a combo. They were perfectly fine and quite reminiscent of Mickey D’s nuggets. I don’t know how many come in a regular order for $4.99, but as a side there were six pieces, which is pretty darn good.
CRB loves onion rings so we also tried Crispy Burger’s version ($4.99). They were decent for a fast food ring, but thickly cut and heavy on the coating. Biscuits can be ordered singly for $1.50, but we opted for the order of 3 for $3.50, which was a better deal. The biscuits were fluffy and tasted of buttermilk. I would definitely add these to any future orders.
We also got a Tenders Combo for my daughter. They can be ordered original or spicy. We got both. My daughter preferred the regular, but I liked the spicy. For $10.99, the combo comes with three tenders, a side, a biscuit and a drink. My daughter especially loved dipping the tenders in the pineapple mayo that we chose from the menu of sauces.
We also tried the mac’n cheese for a side, but we can emphatically say “don’t bother”. This was even a step below boxed macaroni. However, another side that we had, sweet potatoes ($4.99) were quite good, if a little soggy from sitting in the box it came in. Still, I would stick to the regular fries for a side dish. My daughter, however, loved dipping the sweet potato fries into the pineapple sauce.
Though we all had sodas with our combo meals, we wanted to try a boba tea. The online ordering at the time did not have any options, so we just checked the box for boba tea. That has now been remedied, so there are plenty of options online. We’re not sure which one we received. It could have been the jasmine or yashi oolong, because it had notes of Earl Grey. It was serviceable, but we’d have to try more flavors to get a real idea of the beverage options.
We also received a free order of popcorn chicken. We don’t know if that was a mistake or an opening gift. CRB and my daughter polished the little bits of fried chicken off the next day. I found it overwhelmingly salty, so I let them have at it.
We don’t know if Chinese fried chicken is the next big thing or not, but it could be. It has been on boba tea menus across the city for over a decade, but Crispy Burger is taking it up a notch with a sandwich that can hold its own against many fast food options, plus it does have whole chicken family packs that might give KFC a run for its money.
And that’s the cluckin’ truth.
Crispy Burger & Laankee
21519 Texas 249
832-379-288