Roaming Rooster: fried chicken you feel good about

Isa Thompson, Multimedia Editor

Roaming Rooster’s Fried Chicken Sandwich and myself: a love story. The restaurant’s safety precautions will leave you just as impressed as their mouth-watering food. 

As soon as you step into RR’s doors, you can both see and feel the cleanliness of this poultry-based restaurant. With accurately placed social distancing circles for customers to stand on, you have the choice to order there, have it delivered, or pick up an online order. For the customers ordering in person, there is plexiglass placed between the cashier and customer, providing a perfect view of their remarkable menu, filled with their different options of chicken sandwiches and some sides to go along with them.

Roaming Rooster didn’t start off like most restaurants, “it actually started as food trucks in 2015,” employee Ariel, who has been working there since they opened this past February, says. Their food trucks started in DC and social media spread news of their business like wildfire, leading to their cascading openings of store locations in Tenleytown, U-Street, and Woodridge. The restaurant strives to serve “fried chicken that you could feel good about eating,” using free-range, grain-fed chicken.

Ariel said her favorite item is, by far, the Honey Butter Fried Chicken Sandwich, one of the most popular sandwiches on the menu. I ordered the Fried Chicken Sandwich with mild heat ($9), which with buttermilk fried chicken, and was hesitant to keep on the house-made vinaigrette slaw but I’m happy I did. After the first bite, I was already ready to give this restaurant a solid five stars. The chicken, cooked to perfection, was just the right amount of juicy.  The slaw added a great touchーwith a hint of spice, but nothing too hot. I also couldn’t help but notice how it wasn’t too greasy or filling and didn’t feel like a typical fried chicken sandwich.  If you haven’t already, I most definitely recommend checking Roaming Rooster out—you’ll probably see me there with a sandwich in hand!