Renton Cheap Eats : Heaven Sent Fried Chicken

        At Heaven Sent Fried Chicken in Renton you can meet the man who makes the world's best fried chicken. Just ask Oprah.
     "Oh yeah man!" says Ezell Stephens. "She had my chicken two night in a row... and once she got back to Chicago, she wanted it again for her birthday so she flew me out. And it's been Oprah's fried chicken ever since.

   The chicken may be Oprah's but the recipe belongs to Ezell Stephens. And even though he's been frying chicken for 40 years, Ezell is still having fun.

  "When you're the best at what you do, it's never boring. Never."

The past few years have actually been anything but boring.

 After legal battles with his former business partners and his ex-wife, Ezell had to give up the name of his famed Seattle chicken chain: Ezell's. So this high priest of poultry came up with a new name.

"It's a true name." says Ezell, who is wearing his "God is Good All the Time" t-shirt and a cross around his neck.. "It's not a made up name."

The name is Heaven Sent.

" Did you notice it's just got baptized?" Ezell says as we watch him soaking the chicken."Just baptized that chicken man. Heaven Sent: you gotta baptize it" Ezell laughs. ( And it's an infectious laugh).

The name has changed. The recipe has not. That's what draws regular customers like James Pryor who knows all about what went down between Ezell the chicken chain and Ezell the man.

"Since the whole thing went down I kinda picked a side and came here for the original." Pryor says.
"And any regrets?" I ask
 "Absolutely not. That's why I'm here today."

  We were kind of surprised Ezell let us into the kitchen where we could see him seasoning the spicy chicken with flour and what was probably cayenne. Wasn't he worried somebody who knows a lot about food would be able to figure out what his ingredients were?

"Some of the people will know WHAT it is,  but not what it IS." Ezell laughs.

I don't know if this is a secret but Ezell deep fries dark meat for 19 minutes and white meat for just 16. I would have thought it was the other way around.

"Everyone comes in here saying 'Wow your white meat is not dry like everywhere else where it's dry."

 So here's what the world's best fried chicken looks like. It's incredibly crunchy on the outside but when you peel away the top what you get is  succulent on the inside. If it's not the best chicken in the world, it's at least the best chicken in MY world. Bread rolls are light and tasty. The Sweet Potato Pie is another Oprah favorite. You can also get the award winning Faygo soda here. You'll probably want your order to go but there's a nice park across the street.


Extra hint: You want a fresh batch if possible. Check to see what Ezell's doing in the kitchen.

Heaven Sent Fried Chicken
509 S 3rd St Renton, WA 98057
(425) 917-3000
7 days a week, 10 AM to 9 PM

There are also locations in the Lake City neighborhood of Seattle, Rainier Avenue in Columbia City and in Everett but every time I visit the Renton eatery Ezell is there.

Heaven Sent Fried Chicken.com
Evening Magazine story

Tacoma Cheap Eats : MSM Deli

On the outside MSM deli looks like just another one of Tacoma's Sixth Avenue convenience store. That's because it is a convenience store. But on the inside, you'll find the fast and frenetic hands of the talented sandwich artists who give MSM its name.

"MSM stands for Magical Sandwich Makers", says owner Jamal Muthala .
"So if I eat a sandwich here," I ask. " I'll magically turn into what?"
"You turn into a happy customer. That's for sure."

I haven't come alone. This food blogging business is a tough one to learn so I've asked Adrienne Vernon of Tacoma Foodie fame to show me around.

"The sandwiches are huge." Adrienne says." I can only eat half so my husband and I usually split one. And the quality of the ingredients is really second to none."

You really do get a lot for your money. The sandwich above is considered a half order and costs just $3.67.
That's the kind of price that will make you believe in magic.

"These sandwiches are so magical, it's like elves made them" quips Adrienne.

  This is a Mike's Deluxe. It's piled high with everything imaginable on a nine inch roll and costs $6.99. No wonder lines usually run out the door. That's why Jamal gave us his magical tip:

"Call ahead! I can't stress that enough!" says Jamal. " Sometimes we'll have a half hour wait if you just walk through the door."

Postscript: From the man himself I hear KING 5's Jesse Jones was one of MSM's best customers when he lived in Tacoma.

Extra hint: MSM deli offers a great selection of beer. Also, if you're a pickle guy ( I'm not), you're in for a treat!

MSM Deli
2260 Sixth Avenue
Tacoma WA (map)
(253) 272-4812

MSMDeli.com
Evening Magazine story

Olympia Cheap Eats: Eastside Big Tom

You may think everybody in the Washington State capital , Olympia,  just likes to throw money around. Well, not at lunchtime. When it comes to their own money, people around here like to get their dollar's worth.

Eastside Big Tom, the state's oldest drive through restaurant, has been around since the mid 1940's. The original building was an old barber shop. Somehow they've figured out how to shoehorn seven employees into the space of a one car garage.

And it's a busy garage.

"Michael's in the way!" Someone is yelling. " Michael's in the way!"

It's Michael Fritsch, Big Tom's owner, who compulsively plays with all menu items not considered classics.

"Everything I look at I ask myself: can it go into the deep fryer? Can it go into a milkshake?" Michael says . His dad bought the place in 1969 and still runs the grill every now and then.

They make all kinds of shakes here. On my first visit, the shake of the month was made with Captain Crunch's Crunch Berries.

"It's one of the few shakes we actually have to serve with a spoon as well as a straw." Michael says.

My 10 year old daughter says her root beer shake was "the best thing in the world". I'd argue the blackberry shake was even better. A small shake runs $3.77 but will fill you up. The classic burger is the Big Tom, which consists of two patties, two slices of cheese, goop, pickle, onion, lettuce and tomato is $5.82. Strange prices, right? Michael says his dad comes up with the prices based on a special calculus only he understands.

"We're not the cheapest place on the planet, " says Michael. " But people come here knowing if they came here in the 40's, 50's , 60's all the way up to now, the food tastes the same. Year after year after year."

Something else that hasn't changed: the goop. You get a splash of the stuff with every burger. It's messy but it's a good messy.

"Goop is mayonnaise, salad dressing, sweet pickle relish and mustard."

Wait! Did Michael just give me the secret recipe?

"It's not a secret. It used to be a secret."

In Olympia, nothing stays secret for long.

Eastside Big Tom
2023 East 4th Avenue, Olympia, WA 98506 (at Frederick St SE, ) map
360-357-4852
 Seven days, 10:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.

eastsidebigtom.com
Evening Magazine story