University Perfected Korean Fried Chicken? We Test It.

When we read on bb.q Chicken‘s website that its exceptional fried chicken came as a result of “research and development from our very own chicken university,” we thought they were joking.

Well, it turns out bb.q Chicken really does have its own fowl-focused institute of higher learning. Fittingly named Chicken University (based in Seoul, South Korea), it’s where one enrolls to achieve mastery of all things poultry, from preparing it in every conceivable way imaginable to role-playing the many business scenarios one encounters in the chicken restaurant business.

Perhaps KFC should consider enrolling in some refresher courses?

This Seoul-based chicken franchise has a dozen or so restaurants in North Texas with over 3,500 locations spread across a staggering 57 countries. Full disclosure: We favor locally based restaurants, and bb.q Chicken is anything but. But good food is good food. And at b.bq Chicken (the “b.bq” stands for “best of the best quality,” by the way), the chicken is damn near flawless. The batter-to-chicken ratio is thoroughly on point and fried to perfection, and the chicken itself is as juicy as it gets.

A Menu Breakdown

The Grand Prairie location (next to the Hong Kong Market) is where we landed. You can order whole ($31; 12 pieces) or half chickens ($16; six pieces), boneless wings, or traditional wings. There are also rice bowls and a myriad of sides to choose from (such as waffle fries, kimchi, cheese sticks, shrimp tempura and fried dumplings). And if you make a rookie mistake and order wings that exceed your spice tolerance, you can restore order to your vitals with a frosty beer tower of Kirin Ichiban or Tsing Tao from the bar.

Some of the flavors you’ll find at b.bq Chicken include (but are not limited to): Golden Original, Secret Sauce, Honey Garlic, Soy Garlic, Spicy Galbi, Gangjeong (a soy-based sauce with a cinnamon blend and chili garnish), and Gangam-Style (b.bq Chicken’s black pepper sauce). There are also the Cheesling sauced wings dusted in a medley of sweet cheeses and the Wings of Fire, which are the spiciest on the menu. Do we even need to say it? Proceed with caution.

With a Side of K-Pop

We ordered the half-and-half whole chicken ($31), which nets you a dozen pieces and easily feeds three. You get to pick two flavors – we tried the Golden Original and Secret Sauce. The secret sauce is tangy and subtly sweet. Beyond that, we can’t tell you much (it is a secret sauce, after all). Whatever it was, it was good enough to consider licking the leftover sauce from the bottom of the basket (we refrained to preserve the little dignity we still have left). The Golden Original is sauceless – it’s just good old-fashioned fried chicken – perfect in its simplicity, and it will rival any of your favorite fried chicken spots.

For sides, we tried the kimchi and corn salad. Both were fine, but we were too focused on the chicken to pay the sides much mind.

The chicken is fully legit here, so if you’re looking for a new fried chicken spot, put b.bq Chicken on your radar. And if you’re into K-pop, we heard through the grapevine that this location will be hosting K-pop nights in the near future.

bb.q Chicken, 2615 W Pioneer Pkwy, Ste. 104, Grand Prairie. Sunday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.