Lucky J's

I have no frame of reference by which to judge this cuisine. But I liked it. And it was inexpensive (1/2 chicken and 2 waffles for $7.99--I split it with a friend). My waffle seemed a slightly rubbery, but I rather suspect that's the nature of a waffle after grease saturates it. The chicken was well seasoned and fried up nice and crispy. The live band and dancing guy in a chicken suit definitely enhanced my experience.

Now I need a nap.

"Serious drunk food."

The husband says.

There is nothing here for me, the annoying vegan.

Took a trip here, and he ordered the Brady taco and the Ms M taco. No one was in the place at 8pm on saturday. Small dining area, nice guys working there, added a photo of the decor. Maybe a bit cheesy?

So, he likes the food. After a bottle and a half of wine, he loves it.

Not Me-Friendly, but it's a good place, according to the meat eater.

Any business that's cool enough to have a painting of a woman with a plateful of waffles riding a rooster on the outside of its building is cool enough to be the recipient of my business. The painting on the side of the building was equally as cool...a painting of a gal eating a drumstick giving a waffle eating rooster some love (no worries, I've shared pics of both).

I saw the word "dive" in one of the reviews I read before arriving. Not sure what that was referring to. This place was clean, nicely decorated and had one of the largest collections of Shep Fairey prints on the walls I've ever seen.

As for the food, I opted to order the Ms. M Taco (a boneless fried chicken strip, bacon and Swiss cheese wrapped in a waffle). I was pleasantly surprised at how nicely the flavors worked together and one didn't overwhelm the other, The chicken was cooked perfectly and juicier than a ripe melon. The bacon and swiss complimented, but didn't fight the sweetness of the waffle. I took it easy on the syrup, which was probably the best idea I had all afternoon.

I will be returning, Luck J's!

Fellow fried chicken lovers,

I have to sadly give this place 3 stars, even though I had arrived there with high expectations thanks to the Yelp reviewers below me. Surely, I have a soft spot for fried chicken, even from humble places like KFC and Popeye's and Church's. If I was rating this place on the waffles alone, I will give it a 5. The waffles were moist and crunchy at the same time, and oh so delicious. Perfect waffles.

If I was to rate the chicken based on the meat alone, it too would score highly, probably a 4 or 5. The meat was moist and juicy and warm and happy in your mouth.

However... and this is a big however, the chicken skin was too chewy! It was over-cooked and gummy and had very little flavor aside from over-saltiness. It is possible that they served me older chicken, and just reheated it. I think that's probably what happened. But I so love chicken skin, and I want it to be nice and crispy and light, not like rubber.

So get there when it's really busy or when they just make the chicken. I'll give it another shot.. and hope for light and crispy chicken skin next time.

If you have a group of friends, you can get a heaping amount of waffles and chicken on the cheap. Ordering individually though, gets quite pricey for a 1 x 1 or 2 x 2.

Some people got the Ms. M? It's an interesting taco and that chicken tender is pretty big, but most people said the taste was from the cheese and bacon. I got a 1 x 1 and its a pretty huge chicken thigh, but it tasted a bit burnt and the waffle wasn't very crisp. Didn't impress me much. I tried someone's less burnt chicken and I feel all I got was a mouthful of sodium laden breading. Sure its fresh I guess but I've had better chicken and better waffles. While it might be a novel concept, this type of place wouldn't be the first place I would come for a dinner and I think after coming here that pre-conception will remain.

At first I was worried because it was dead inside when my girlfriend and I showed up. These worries were quickly dispelled when the food arrived. We got a Baller with extra waffles and mac & cheese. The waffles were large, soft, and delicious. They almost had a spiced or vanilla-ish taste to them. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the coating was so good that you'd swear it double fried. The inside is small but cozy. There are pictures of Bill Murray on the walls and varied pieces of art.

Only downside: waffles are not served with butter and they don't have country gravy. Also they seem to serve an odd ratio of chicken to waffle, instead of having equal amounts of each.

I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love.

This place says take all the evil food groups, wrap a waffle around it, add syrup as necessary, eat.

And you can wrap a waffle around a lot more than fried chicken.

The most recent visit involved their chili cheese fries waffle.

The perfect fusion of sugar, fat, salt, meat and fire.

The five basic food groups - all covered.

Their fried pickles are also outstanding.

Lucky J's knows totally how to work a fryer.

And my fundamental right as an American is to get my sugar fix with my main course.

my ancestors fought for the right to eat sweet and sour pork, ham with pineapple slices, and cranberry sauce on my roast turkey.

tacos served in a sweet waffle?

sign me up forever!

i hear their chicken is okay too.

If I had the metabolism of Michael Phelps I'd eat here all the time, but since I'm a mere mortal, I'll only go once in a while.

The combination of chicken and waffles may seem strange, but it's really good. I've had chicken and waffles from several places, some places have either soft or crunchy waffles and some have thickly breaded chicken or chicken lightly tossed in flour then fried. This place has soft waffles and thickly breaded chicken. (If you're in Houston, try The Breakfast Klub)

The breading on the chicken has a little bit of kick and a lot of flavor. I'm pretty sure there's a lot more than Tony Chachere's going on in there. The chicken and waffles comes with pieces of chicken with the bone in them. I recommend the waffle tacos because they use chicken tenders instead. I enjoy mine with syrup and that Valentina hot sauce (I wouldn't mind trying it with Tapatio). If you're afraid of trying it with syrup and hot sauce, you all ready made it this far, at least try it on one bite!

I like Chicken. I also like Waffles. Yet I have never had the combo of the two. I can now say with confidence that I enjoy both together with a little hot sauce and some maple syrup.

Don't go here looking for heath food for it does not exist in this location. Also, do not go here looking for ambiance of any kind, or space of any kind. The interior is enough to hold about 15 people comfortably, or 10 fat guys sitting elbow-to-elbow.

Do go here looking for a gut busting, and pretty tasty, savory morsel. Also go here for a relatively inexpensive lunch. It's about $9 for a "Waffle Taco" (as I like to call it), a side of creamy Mac & Cheese, and a bottle of water. Which was way more than enough to fill me up.

Just look for the painting on the wall of the girl riding a giant Cock and swing in for a bite. You really can't miss it.

First, a disclaimer: We are not in L.A. or Phoenix.

Austin is not geographically planted in the epicenter of the chix/waffles heartland. Therefore, Lucky J's is rated on its own merit, apart from being compared to Roscoe's or LoLo's, or any other interpretation of the cuisine. Besides, Lucky J's does not have a competitor -- other than several other Burnett diners who are competing for your breakfast dollar. And in this economic cash-grab, Lucky J's should win your spare change and loose bills easily.

Now lets get to business.

The Waffle: Cinnamon-ny and sweet, with just the right amount of delicateness. Thin-style, large, and dense enough to soak up syrup and runoff chicken grease, but not so dense that it becomes a bready mess. I know I said I wouldn't compare, but I've had a bastardization of chix/waffles before, where the the chicken was accompanied by a Belgian waffle. WTF? Wrong! Lucky J nails this portion of the tandem.

The Chicken: crispy and well fried. Lacked a little bit of savoriness, which I'm positive will get worked out after some trial and feedback. They utilized the K.I.S.S. method for sure -- there needn't be a windstorm of spices and herbs for chicken (when accompanied by its buddy, the waffle), but the savoriness is crucial to balance the the saccharine sweetness of the dish, IMO. Srsly, though, frying chicken is as much of an art as we Texans believe that smoking brisket is. We all have our preferences of style and taste, which is the stance that chicken experts take. Thus, I have to say that Lucky J's nails the art of deep frying something as precarious as chicken. Very, very well made!

Overall: Inexpensive and quality food. For "The Short Stack" -- a breast and waffle -- $5.99, "The Deal" -- half a fried chicken and two waffles -- $7.99. Outstanding.

The Lucky J's people are as pleasant as can be and shared some exciting information about the future of their operation. I don't want to add pressure to the business by divulging until Jason himself is ready to do it on his restaurant's website, but the important message here, is GO! Go support this unique restaurant concept. Its f'ing good stuff and -- ok fine I'll just do it -- very similar in quality compared to the BIG DOGS of chix/waffles, Roscoe's of L.A. and LoLo's of PHX.