If a chicken crossed South Hastings Way, it most likely went over on that side of the road to go to Chicken Unlimited.
I remember as a freshman driving past Chicken Unlimited thinking, “what the heck is that place?” I’m not kidding when I say I thought initially that it was a grocery store mainly focused on selling chicken.
When you walk inside, though, you can see it’s a fast food restaurant and not a grocery store. There’s a counter in front with a long extending menu at the top. I think the best part of Chicken Unlimited is their interior. Tan and red enhance an untold elegance that is Chicken Unlimited and yes, the vinyl, tan swivel stools are truly divine.
In all seriousness, I was pumped to see the vinyl seats, but I’m special and get excited over the littlest and most ridiculous things.
The menu selection at Chicken Unlimited does include chicken, hence it’s name, but also surprised me with fish, shrimp sandwiches, soups, appetizers and ice cream.
I chose to be true to the chicken and order a three piece chicken dinner, which included the choice of mashed potatoes and gravy or French fries, a dinner roll and coleslaw. This dinner was priced at $6.49 plus tax. Overall the chicken was very tasty – moist and tender, just how I like it. The coleslaw tasted like coleslaw – it’s coleslaw, how good can it really be? The dinner roll was somewhat of a disappointment because it was cold and somewhat hard. It definitely would have been better heated up. I chose mashed potatoes over french fries because the mashed potatoes seem to go along better with the whole fried chicken theme. The potatoes were decent. I was happy to see no lumps.
Sandwiches run from $2.49 to $4.79 and will be made plain unless noted otherwise. The sandwiches that caught my fancy included the 1/3 Western Burger, the Corn Dog and the Grilled Chicken Sandwich with mayo.
Chicken Unlimited also serves a variety of soups and appetizers. And, there’s ice cream! I almost bought some ice cream but it was late and the restaurant was almost ready to close. Malts cost $3.49 and the small cake cone or dish of ice cream costs $1.39. The waffle is $1.89 and the regular cake cone or dish costs $2.19 and the waffle $2.69.
Overall, the retro Chicken Unlimited was a nice experience. The staff was friendly and it was clean. Plus, chicken photos all over the walls . awesome!
– Natalie Saeger