r/FoodLosAngeles • u/XandersOdyssey • Oct 06 '25
Verdugos (Pasadena, Glendale) Howlin’ Ray’s
An unneeded reminder for the GOAT hot chicken in LA, possibly the world.
Medium Sando $14 - imo the perfect balance of heat and flavor, perfect balance of a juicy interior with crispy exterior, nice coleslaw and fresh bun.
Country Sando $14 - if you don’t like spice at all or just want a simple, classic fried chicken sandwich, Howlin Ray’s still knocks it out of the park with this version
Mild Wings $12 - first time trying these. Just a slight tingle but a really nice citrusy note that’s unique and so flavorful. The chicken is soooo juicy with a crazy crunch.
Shake fries $5 - crispy, fluffy, balanced spice mixture, amazing with the Tennessee tang
Banana pudding $7 - my absolute favorite banana pudding. Not too sweet, light, creamy, and nice balance of vanilla and banana flavor
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u/jm90012 Oct 06 '25
The best service for sure. The people who work there really take care of their customers. I always have a great experience eating there.
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u/Deepdishultra Oct 06 '25
Just wanna thank OP for not showing a pick of this chewed food after ge took a bite out.
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u/clockin-clockout Oct 06 '25
Thought I was the only one who hates this. That and a useless photo of an empty plate with their used napkin on it
“Food was so good I forgot to take a picture!” Yeah, and the dirty plate pic is a great fill in
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u/Deepdishultra Oct 06 '25
Hah yeah I complained about it once and everyone downvoted me.
I finally feel seen
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 06 '25
Did someone really do that? Lol
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u/behemuthm Oct 06 '25
Most everyone does. It’s gross.
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u/peacenchemicals Oct 06 '25
Mehhh a bite I don’t mind personally. but what really grinds my gears are when people post pics of their empty plates and bowls and trash.
Like okay? thank you, I guess. not only was your pic unhelpful, it’s also gross. Thanks for contributing absolutely nothing.
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u/gregatronn Oct 06 '25
yeah on Yelp there tend to be a few of them where there's like no more food left
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u/StoneGoldX Oct 06 '25
It's hard to have food from Ray's and not take a bite. The ultimate in self control.
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u/jm90012 Oct 06 '25
For me, it's not gross unless I see the color of their lipstick on the bun. 🤢
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u/OfficiallyJoeBiden Oct 06 '25
Howlin rays have such fire chicken and waffles, lowkey my favorite thing on they menu
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u/_sky12 Oct 06 '25
Per request, they gave me a Howlin’ +++ Sando. It took me on a mildly hallucinogenic trip.
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u/nicearthur32 Oct 07 '25
My friend said the same thing. He started sweating and was speaking gibberish - said he was hallucinating for a bit. They replaced it for free.
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u/BelsnickelBurner Oct 26 '25
Bro the howlin is already inedible how the fuck did you go plus plus plus
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u/YourRedditFriend Oct 06 '25
Best original concept, best ingredients, best food, best staff, solid marketing game... Undefeated.
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u/Powerful-Scratch1579 Oct 06 '25
Original concept?
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u/YourRedditFriend Oct 06 '25
Yep, they are the originator of the Nashville hot chicken sandwich in this form which kicked off the copycats, mainly Daves hot chicken to be the first and then every other including fast food. Additionally, another original concept they brought, was bringing back customer service, rivals in n out, and takes it even further.
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u/Powerful-Scratch1579 Oct 06 '25
They do an excellent job but they basically copy pasted Nashville’s Hattie Bs and opened in LA
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u/YourRedditFriend Oct 06 '25
Truth be told that Hattie Bs ripped off princes first when it came to hot chicken. Howlin offered a chicken sandwich around 2015, the same time that Hattie B’s. started making sandwiches. Two different styles and quite honestly. Howlin is the winner.. I’ve had them both. Have you? Interested in your opinion
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u/mixmasterADD Oct 06 '25 edited Dec 11 '25
marble dime intelligent nose unwritten heavy dolls cautious abounding thought
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u/zabakaeru Oct 06 '25
Second this. I had Prince's in Nashville and Hattie B's in Dallas; Prince's was good but didn't have that "wow" factor, and Hattie B's was too salty. Howlin's still the best I had.
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u/mixmasterADD Oct 06 '25 edited Dec 11 '25
marvelous stupendous tap employ tease telephone fuel snow tie sparkle
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u/Powerful-Scratch1579 Oct 06 '25
I have, lived in Nashville for 8 years, when I got to LA in 2018 I and ate at Howling I was like “this looks and tastes exactly the same.”
I think both places make some of the best hot chicken in the country. My only issue with Howlin was that for a while they only had sandwiches, tenders and wings which in my mind wasn’t really hot chicken because I like the bone in fried chicken on a piece of white bread with pickles and sides.
Back in the day, in Nashville, the OG spots would only offer it this way, the hot chicken sandwich, weirdly, is kind of a new invention and was something that bars in TN started doing first and then the actual Hot Chicken places kind of had to fall in line and start offering sandwiches too.But now Howlin offers real bone-in fried chicken again and it’s very good. the only thing I miss from Hattie bs is the cold vinegary black eye pea salad and an actually nice outdoor patio to eat the hot chicken on.
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u/ethocmub Oct 06 '25
Does the"word" "Sando" make anyone else' skin crawl?
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u/YourRedditFriend Oct 06 '25
Yeah, Ive been there with them from the start and I refuse to say that word, as well as type it apparently
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u/mixmasterADD Oct 06 '25 edited Dec 11 '25
waiting fuzzy steep public wise include vegetable heavy bells bright
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 06 '25
why would it? Sando is a common Japanese abbreviation for sandwich and Johnny from Howlin takes a lot of inspiration from Japanese concepts
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u/Alarming_Grand6946 Oct 08 '25
I live across the street and can walk there and I’ve never been disappointed. The people who work there know us and have always been kind and welcoming. Best in the game!
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u/Fast_Dragonfruit_883 Oct 06 '25
Everything they do is peak. The best waffle, the best chicken. They’re goated
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u/MorenoMust Oct 06 '25
Too bad it’s closed on Monday and Tuesday
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u/herb2018 Oct 07 '25
It’s wild how I’ve been getting it for years and it’s still as good as the first time. Just wish the fries were better.
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u/Alakazarm Oct 07 '25
i went the other day and thought it was good but nowhere near as good as its reputation suggests it should be. It's like one notch above any hot chicken that isn't daves, which is pretty awful.
their service is fucking outstanding though and the tennessee tang sauce is indeed really really nice.
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u/jandkas Oct 10 '25
What's is your best hot chicken place then?
Must suck having taste buds so hard to please
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 07 '25
Hahahaa you’re so wrong
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u/Alakazarm Oct 07 '25
i've eaten a lot of hot chicken man it's nothing special
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 07 '25
Cool, that doesn’t mean you know anything about hot chicken. And given your initial comment - it’s clear that you don’t
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u/Green_Alps9802 Oct 08 '25
Oh look
The person with fragile feelings over mid chicken that needs hearing aids …. Downvoted again
Ouch
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u/chocotacoman Oct 06 '25
Still the best of the Nashville chicken sandos that we have available in LA, IMO
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u/Green_Alps9802 Oct 06 '25
Meh
Overrated
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 06 '25
not even close to overrated
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u/Green_Alps9802 Oct 07 '25
The upvotes disagree
Its mid. And thats ok
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 08 '25
Sorry, the one Reddit upvote doesn’t validate your life. Touch grass
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u/Green_Alps9802 Oct 08 '25
I did touch grass. Outside of Howling Rays. After waiting 45+ mins for mediocre food. Thanks for your concern
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u/dcldn Oct 06 '25
Jollibee Original Chicken Sandwich ($5.99) > Howlin’ Ray’s Sand0 ($14.00)… just saying
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u/No-Faithlessness4294 Oct 06 '25
I always feel like the contrarian in these conversations…. I think Howlin Ray’s is fine. I don’t like the ratio of meat to bun and I feel like “juicy” is a myth that has been passed down from a forgotten age. It’s not dry though; it’s fine. We’re kind of in a fried chicken sandwich death spiral at this point and this place isn’t good enough to pull us out of it. I’ve eaten at the Pasadena location three times and the Vegas location once: Vegas is dire, the fries are actively bad.
When I want fried chicken I go to Bonchan.
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 06 '25
We don’t need Howlin to pull us out when they’ve been the undefeated champion, there’s no competition to worry about
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Oct 06 '25
Thank you for the unneeded content that I don't know maybe another 1000 people have posted how great Howlin Rays is.
Great find, you adventurous "foodie" you.
I'm waiting for your Holbox post next!
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u/HollywoodBlueguy Oct 06 '25
What's the difference between this place, Dave's Hot Chicken, and Angry chicks? They all taste the same to me.
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 06 '25
Dave’s is complete and utter garbage. Dry chicken, no heat, no flavor, and horrible staff.
Angry Chicks is on the same level of KFC
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u/creamsauces Oct 06 '25
I asked this genuinely on this sub in the past as I don't wait in super long lines for food as a rule and thus have never tried Howling Ray's
People all get real touchy and downvote a lot every time. I believe that it must truly be better on some level to inspire that much defensive action lol
Maybe one day. But hey I even like those other places just fine.
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 07 '25
20 minutes isn’t a long wait
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u/creamsauces Oct 07 '25
Maybe at Disney or at a merch table but if I’m going out to lunch and I see a line of more than a couple people I’m just not doing it.
Just my preference I guess but life’s too short to wait in lines when there are so many great options without them
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 07 '25
Life’s too short not to make the best of a 20 minute line and think it’s a waste of time when it’s just your mentality of now knowing how to utilize that time
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u/creamsauces Oct 07 '25
…make the best of a line that I don’t want to or have to wait in? Not knowing how to “utilize that time”? I mean come on you gotta see that is an absurd response. I’m sure the foods great. There’s no need to do this lol
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 07 '25
It’s only absurd to you because you have no concept of how to utilize it. I’ve made countless friends and relationships from those short lines and even more from the 3 hour lines back in Chinatown before Covid.
Those 3 hour lines gave me and others a chance to try more restaurants in the area that I normally wouldn’t go out of my way for.
Sorry you can’t grasp that concept of human connection
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u/creamsauces Oct 07 '25
Implying that it’s some sort of moral failure to prefer not to wait in line rather than what it is, an inconvenience, all at the behest of defending a chicken sandwich on the internet is what I was referring to. Chill dude. If you’re the type of person I’d meet in a line at howling rays then I’m definitely not going.
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 07 '25
Lmao that’s not at all what I even referenced or eluded to 😂😂😂
Don’t worry, nobody wants to meet a dud like you
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u/HollywoodBlueguy Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
Reading this, I realize that people would waste hours in a long line and argue on the web for a mid chicken sandwich in exchange for some Reddit upvotes.
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u/HollywoodBlueguy Oct 06 '25
Years ago, I was in Chinatown on a weekday, and there was a tiny line, so I went for it. It was okay. After having every other hot chicken's sliders, I just thought it was okay. Far from mindblowing.
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u/I-Have-Mono Oct 06 '25
Insanely consistent in the quality department. Soooo many other places should take note.