There’s a new fried chicken spot in town that has food bloggers from Boston to the North Shore buzzing.
Dubbed Yas Chicken, the asian-fusion spot is looking to establish itself as the king of fried chicken in Lynn. However, if you’ve gone in for crispy tenders or its classic sandwiches in the past two months since it opened, you’d see that it has already been crowned.
Yas Chicken held a soft launch at its 111 Western Ave. location — where John’s Roast Beef used to be — in December, but has been so busy after taking off on social media that it hasn’t had the chance to host a grand opening.
Owned by an Asian family from the Swansea-Somerset area, the idea for Yas Chicken has been in the works for a couple of years.
Though its most popular meals consist of a variety of chicken sandwiches, tenders and wings, the establishment also has truffle mac and cheese, tater tots, fries, wonton mozzarella sticks, fried gyozas, shrimp pops, waffles and chicken, and munchkins.
“We really wanted to incorporate some Asian flavors to chicken sandwiches and add our own spin on the sandwiches as well as the tenders and the wings,” one of the owners, Jun Zhang, said. “The support from the Lynn community has been overwhelming. We didn’t think it was going to have this kind of reaction. We are still in our soft-opening phase because it’s been tough to keep up.”
Initially, the owners didn’t expect the fried-chicken craze to come to their doors when opening because they weren’t very well known, but it has been nonstop ever since. Although this isn’t their first business, they said they have never experienced a sense of community and this kind of support before.
The Zhangs chose to open Yas Chicken in Lynn because they have family and friends in the city and since they sell Asian-inspired food, they wanted to be in a community with strong Asian demographics.
“We thought since Lynn is kind of like the capital of fried chicken around the area and there is a large Asian community, why (not) make our mark here?” Zhang said.
When establishing Yas Chicken, the Zhangs said not many people knew that they serve Korean fried chicken, or what that even is, so they wanted to open this in a community where there is Asian influence so they can get the word out.
When coming up with a name, they looked for something that was not only recognizable but also emphasizes what they are selling. They wanted chicken in the title.
“Yas chicken is catchy and flows,” said Zhang. “It’s a play on the whole ‘Yas Queen’ to ‘Yas Chicken.'”
After hearing of all the craze and hype surrounding Yas Chicken, Item Photographer Jakob Menendez decided to pay them a visit to try their mouth-watering chicken for himself, and as the headline suggests, he was not disappointed.
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A healthy sign that the food you’re about to get is going to knock you off your chair is by the amount of UberEats/GrubHub drivers waiting outside to pick up their delivery orders. I counted at least 10 of these cars pulled over with their blinkers on when visiting Monday night.
After debating with Zhang as to what I needed to try, he decided to throw the whole kitchen sink my way: An order of wings, truffle fries, tenders, a sandwich topped with their new truffle mac and cheese, and their signature fried waffles.
It would be too simple for me to say that everything was stellar, so dive in with me here as I take your imaginary taste buds on a flavor journey.
The Sandwich
This behemoth was the first thing that I grabbed out of my tower of a paper bag. A glistening brioche bun that I could nearly see my reflection in topped a pile of creamy truffle mac and cheese, which sat upon the perfectly crispy and juicy chicken. I have a bit of a rule when it comes to putting mac and cheese on just about anything, and that rule is that the mac needs to be able to stand on its own to justify the addition, or it is simply all show.
Needless to say, the few noodles that fell off my sandwich proved all I needed to know about why it was there. They use a thick shell which craters all of that earthy and garlicky cheese sauce and which lends to a very fulfilling bite. This, paired with the crispy crunchy-ness of their fried chicken left me looking at my empty container wondering how it seemingly disappeared before my eyes.
There’s a variety of different flavored sandwiches, including, but not limited to, a cheese-stuffed version, and one labeled Sweet Death with a sauce that I can only assume lives up to its name, but if you’re looking for a full meal in between a bun, the Mac Zaddy is the way to go.
The Tenders and Waffles
Next up on my plate were the tenders, which were reminiscent of the tail of a dinosaur: Huge, thick, and covered with crispy little bits of fried breading. They’re served with a healthy cup of the signature Yas Sauce, which is their take on a spicy-mayo blend. I have a similar rule when it comes to tenders as I do mac-and-cheese creations, in that the tenders should have enough flavor to be eaten plain, and not drowned in sauce to be edible (sorry Raising Cane’s).
These tenders are of the A-plus variety on my scale, needing no sauce to thoroughly enjoy them. The blend of spices carry enough flavor for you to sit down and eat an ungodly amount of them; however their Yas Sauce is a slam dunk and worthy of drizzling all over practically everything on their menu.
Now let’s talk about the waffles. I’m from North Carolina, and have a very firm grip on what good chicken and waffles tastes like, so naturally I was extremely hesitant to try their offering, but nothing could have prepared my mouth for what was to come.
The only word that came to mind after that first bite was ineffable. It felt like I was in a trance of sorts, under the influence of this sweet, sticky sensation that was enveloping me. Is this a dramatic description for waffles? Sure, but once you try them you’ll understand what I mean.
For the best experience, take your tender and waffle it (see what I did there) between your waffle, forming a taco-like shell and dunk that in the side of syrup that comes with the order. You can thank me later.
Before leaving, I needed to ask Zhang a lingering question that cropped up after I finished wolfing them down: “Are the waffles fried?”
He looked at me and said four words with a smile, “Everything is fried here.”
The Wings
Even though I had just eaten waffles, somehow the wings felt kind of like the dessert portion of this savory meal. Almost golden, the wings were sticky and sweet with just a hint of spice, and a very satisfying crunch to them that comes with them being fried. Normally, I’m more of a baked-wing kind of guy, as I’m not a huge fan of the texture that battered wings have, but paired with their tangy sauce, it was just right.
For a pro tip, and this may sound crazy, dunk your wings in whatever leftover syrup you can manage to save from your waffles. It takes the sweet and spicy concept to a whole new height.
The Fries
The fries are a knockout by every standard. Double fried, as they should be, with a satisfying snap, coated with that beautiful truffle-y goodness taste you’d come to expect from a famous steakhouse, rather than a fried-chicken spot.
They serve other options too, with plain being the standard and a parmesan-cheese-dusted variety as well. Liberally slam these into the Yas Sauce if you’re looking for a spicy kick to accompany your spuds.
Verdict
This is hands down the best fried-chicken place that I’ve been to in all of Greater Boston, and believe me, I’ve been to a ton. Their flavors are unique, their staff is incredible, and their passion for creating bold new flavors in a seemingly copy-and-paste industry is refreshing.
Essentially, If you’re looking for me come lunch or dinnertime, you know where to find me.
