Roost Carolina Kitchen – Craveable Southern Eats in Windy City
By Torie Gehrig
From its early days in 2012 as a brass and bones food truck, to its first brick and mortar on Irving Park in Lakeview, and now onto its second location in River West, Roost Carolina Kitchen continues to serve up classic, perfect southern fried chicken here in Chicago.
I was pleased to be invited to the soft opening of Roost’s new space at 455 North Milwaukee. (Shout out to Ashley Gleason of the Clean Plate Club Chicago for the extended invite). Roost’s unique location in River West adds to its charm. Just south of the Grand Blue Line, it’s on a sort isolated corner, which is nice. The ambiance is further augmented by the proximity of a chocolate factory, the smell of which permeates the air with wafts of heavenly sweetness. Roost’s small, corner hutch of a storefront is a modern take on the classic southern chicken shack. The interior is sleek, with aluminum countertops minimal clutter. When I walked in southern blues rock was playing from the speakers, establishing a low key but cool atmosphere. It made you feel as if you were actually in the South.
Come wintertime, Roost Carolina will definitely be a great grab and go spot, as there are only a few counter seats and little standing room. During the summer they do have a lovely street side patio with some extra seating. All the same however, the lines are likely to be out the door, because the food here is, well…amazing.
Roost’s founder, Joe Scroggs, is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and stresses simplicity in his culinary exploits. This is the main thing that sets his chicken apart from his Chicago competitors. There aren’t a whole bunch of things going on with it and nor should there be. The golden crust is fried to flaky perfection and its buttery enough to have you licking your fingers. The flesh of the chicken is juicy and extremely tender. This is the kind of flesh that has steam coming out of it when you pull it apart. Roost brines their chicken in buttermilk, which is the likely culprit for its deliciousness.
I ordered the One-Quarter Bone-In Fried Chicken Meal, which comes with two pieces of light or dark meat. I opted for both which were equal in excellence. You have the choice of either seasoned, spicy, or Nashville hot. I ordered the spicy, which was excellent but I love a decent amount of fire so next time I’ll definitely go with the Nashville hot. You get the option of two sides with your meal. I, of course, immediately went for the buttermilk biscuit. This is a sizable biscuit of the classic buttermilk variety. Talk about melt in your mouth. Warm and buttery, it has a crisp, flaky outside and plush inside. Combined with honey, it’s a pretty luxurious experience as far as eating a biscuit goes. To balance out my carbo-load, I ordered the Cucumber Coleslaw. Now this was different from your traditional creamy slaw you see so often at barbeques and deli counters. Roost’s minus the mayo slaw was actually a surprisingly fresh side dish.
Now of course, if I was by myself I wouldn’t have been able to sample everything I wanted. The human stomach can only take so much. Luckily, I had a hungry pal with me to share meals. She ordered the Hillbilly Tacos. These were probably my favorite item of the night. A lot of places do a southern variation taco, but this is the best one I’ve had yet. The chicken here is prepared the same as the bone-in, and tossed in the Spicy batter. The taco is topped with the cucumber coleslaw and finished off with some unbelievable chipotle ranch. All of it is wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. This thing presents a riot of flavor and textures and hits every part of the taste buds you’d want it to.
The Hillbilly Tacos meal also come with two sides. I am extremely grateful my friend ordered the Mac and Cheese. Red pepper adds some flare to the creamy sauce and the noodles were just under al dente, which is perfect for mac and cheese. I literally could not stop eating this stuff. She also ordered the Bread Pudding, which was rich, dense and syrupy at the bottom.
Roost Carolina is BYOB but they offer a number of bottles sodas. Amongst the regulars I spotted a rarity that I had never seen before, Cheerwine. When I asked about it, I was told that is was a kind of like a southern version of Dr. Pepper. It was, in fact, very similar to Dr. Pepper but perhaps a bit more mild. Regardless, it tasted great and its crimson hue looked fantastic in that perspiring glass bottle. It really makes you feel like you’re in the South. On another note, my friend and I brought a bottle of red wine. If you are a fan or poor man’s sangria (traditionally Coke and red wine), Cheerwine works even better.
There are so many other things on the Roost Carolina menu that I definitely want to try when I go back. Roost offers hand cut potato chips, which I saw on some other people’s plates and looked upon enviously. They also have Peach Cobbler, which is personal favorite of mine, so I look forward to trying Roost’s take on it. There were also some decadent looking chicken sandwiches that I’ll be ordering when I go back.
All in all, Roost Carolina Kitchen is a great experience presenting great food. Going here almost feels like a tiny vacation because it transports you somewhere else, somewhere warmer where you can almost hear the cicadas buzzing. Safe to say, Roost’s vibe and traditional comfort food will be a welcome respite during Chicago’s freezing winters.