Brown's Chicken and Pasta

3.0 star rating
7 reviews Rating Details

Category: American (Traditional)  [Edit]

5601 W Lawrence Ave
(between Central Ave & Major Ave)
Chicago, IL 60630
Neighborhood: Portage Park
(773) 685-7326
Nearest Transit:

Jefferson Park (Blue Line)

Hours:

Mon-Sun 10:30 am - 9 pm

Good for Groups:
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards:
Yes
Attire:
Casual
Price Range:
$
Good for Kids:
Yes
Takes Reservations:
No
Delivery:
No
Take-out:
Yes
Waiter Service:
No
Outdoor Seating:
No
Wi-Fi:
No
Good For:
Dinner
Alcohol:
No
Noise Level:
Average
Has TV:
Yes
Caters:
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible:
Yes
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7 reviews in English

  • Review from Mandi M.

    • 9 friends
    • 32 reviews

    Park Ridge, IL

    4.0 star rating
    3/5/2012

    LOVE LOVE LOVE Brown's chicken!! KFC doesn't come close!!!!!
    This is the closest one near me... A little out of the way, but it's worth it. I havn't had it in YEARS, because the one by me in des plaines closed down years ago. I usually get the 2 piece(breast and wing, even though I hate dark meat, i give the wing to my dad, he loves his dark meat!) with 2 sides, coleslaw is good, and fries are portillos like, which are excellent! Sadly they don't have corn on the cob anymore, which used to be the best part!
    I have tried the chicken strips too, and they were very light in color, and not very crispy, maybe a little undercooked? I think I will always stick with the breast, yum!
    My dad has had the italian beef sandwich, and he said it was pretty good... but let's be honest here, this is a chicken place!
    I think this weekend, since i'm a daddy's girl, I will ask him to pick it up for me again :)

  • Review from Jacob G.

    • 4 friends
    • 36 reviews

    Chicago, IL

    1.0 star rating
    2/2/2012

    I went to this Brown's back on August 25, 2010. I ordered a leg and a thigh, a biscuit, and a couple corn frittters. I ate there and then I got on the nearby Blue Line train in Jefferson Park. The food apparently didn't sit right because by the time the train got to Logan Square, I felt sick. My stomach was rumbling and I had the cold sweats. I live near the Racine Blue Line stop and my plan was to get off there, go home, and go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold it for that long and I had to get off at the Washington stop. I wanted to find the nearest bathroom, so I went to the now closed Borders store at State and Randolph. Unfortunately, there was very little toilet paper in their bathroom, so I left Borders and went next door to Argo Tea. Luckily, their bathroom was cleaner, quieter, and there was plenty of toilet paper.

    Needless to say, I haven't eaten at a Brown's Chicken since that terrible day. However, I'm thinking about giving Brown's another chance eventually. I liked their chicken when I was younger, but it's not quite as good now as it was back then. If I eat from Brown's again, I'll go to a different location than this one and take the food to go.

  • Review from Theresa M.

    • 25 friends
    • 96 reviews

    Chicago, IL

    3.0 star rating
    1/9/2009

    Growing up my family used to go to Brown's Chicken over KFC or Popeyes. It's good. At least that is what I remembered.

    I've catered from them a couple times, and I thought it was a good deal, and good food. No complaints.

    My husband and I were talking about going here to try it out. It's seriously been "Many a Moon" since we went into one and ate. (besides catering once or twice from there).

    Mehhh...wasn't to impressed. I got a 2 piece chicken dinner with mashed and pasta (yeah, I was in the mood for both). Potato's not as good as I remember. Still like KFC's better. Past is good though, so I enjoyed that. Hubby and daughter had sandwiches which looked good and they said were decent. We really liked the crispy fries...onion ring puffs or whatever they were...are gross!

    I think it's nice that they have a BIG array of other food like beef, sausage, hot dogs etc...BUT, because of this, I think the quality of their chicken has gone down. I wasn't as thrilled with it as I once was.

    I would go back for the pasta and beef and fries, but chicken would probably be lower on my favorites from here. I haven't had MOST of what is on their extensive menu. (although the big menu was enticing).

    Interior dining area was kinda cold, and multiple tables were not wiped off and looked sticky and crummy. Kinda turned me off. Wasn't to thrilled with the lack luster help behind the desk either. They all looked like they hated their job and this one older lady who worked back there...kept looked at us while we ordered and wouldn't take her eyes off us. She looked like in her head she was thinking all sorts of weird things about us or something..cause she wouldn't stop staring. kinda weirded me out.

  • Review from James S.

    • 0 friends
    • 8 reviews

    Newark, CA

    1.0 star rating
    9/8/2010

    Smells like urine when you first enter the restaurant, yet strangely the bathroom does not smell bad. Meat was really bad and I suspect expired. I'm sure they must be violating some health code!

  • Review from Ralph P.

    • 0 friends
    • 11 reviews

    Chicago, IL

    4.0 star rating
    4/11/2011

    Ordered 100 pieces of chicken for a weekend party. The chicken was ready at exactly on time as agreed. Brought home the hot chicken. The smell is great. Everyone was ready to eat. The chicken was great, the flavor is very good. Chicken skin tastes like buttermilk and goodness. Big pieces of chicken. Very happy. People even had second and third helpings. Good job Brown's.

  • Review from Jonathan C.

    • 144 friends
    • 358 reviews

    Chicago, IL

    5.0 star rating
    4/9/2008 1 photo

    This is my favorite fried chicken.  Surprised?  I'll tell you why.  The chicken is always very large, they use the nicest biggest chickens compared to the other chains.  The crust is a buttermilk batter, crispy, this is the absolute best cold eating chicken I have tried.  The flavoring is very mild, it has just enough salt but no pepper or other flavoring, just chicken.  It is usually not that greasy tasting because of the type of vegetable oil they use (I believe it is cottonseed oil).  This is my reference chicken, its definitely deep fried not pan fried, but because of its mild unseasoned flavor and lack of crunch softening grease, its the chicken you can keep on eating without getting tired of.  Sure cola drinks don't stand out as much as say a Bloody Mary or fancy cocktails, but what do you end up drinking more often?  That plus delicious fried mushrooms rank this place as number one on the chicken list.  

    This review goes for all Browns Chickens everywhere.  This is one of the few locations located in the Chicago.  Most Brown's Chickens are franchised, so they have their own little quirks, overall the chicken is usually the same, although there is variation on the fried mushroom recipe sometimes.  The biscuits and mashed potato's and plain light gravy are not standouts (the Colonal still rules the side dish dept.).  The pasta is ok, if only for catering purposes, Browns does big big catering business in Chicago.  The Italian beef is surprisingly good, and the Chicago inspired street foods are decent but average.

    There is a Brown's Chicken Express in Chicago on Pulaski and Montrose, I have a seperate review for that location, I did not want to put it on the chicken rankings since Brown's would have a double entry.

  • Review from Mandelbrot Q.

    • 1 friend
    • 29 reviews

    Chicago, IL

    2.0 star rating
    9/25/2009

    Decent fast food with apathetic staff, oily floors, and dirty tables.

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