2.5 out of 5
Address: 
13376 Research Blvd. #400| Large map
Austin, TX 78750
Note: Only the Northwest location has fried chicken, and it’s only served on Sunday
Phone: 512- 335-0300
Fax: 512-335-0306
Hours:
Monday -Thursday, 11am-9pm
Friday, 11am-10pm
Saturday, 8am-10pm
Sunday, 8am-9pm
Price range: $8 - $16
Check out its to go menu for more prices
Location: East Austin (Manor Rd.) and North Austin (Research Blvd.)
Type of restaurant: Sit down
Payment accepted: Cash, Cards
Good for: Southern food with an American atmosphere, families
Meals served: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Anna and I heard about this place by searching the web for southern food, which is a daily activity for us. So we were pretty excited as we drove up north to see what the chicken gods had in store for us. What we saw when we arrived appeared to be an old Shoney’s building. For those who don’t know Shoney’s serves below average food to families.
Hoover’s, sadly, continues this tradition.
We got to Hoover’s about 7 p.m., and we were sat at a table by a teenager, and then we were greeted by a teenager who became our server. He told us the chicken we came for was served all day until they ran out on Sunday only at this location on Research Blvd. The chicken special was a 3-piece meal that came with 2 sides. It cost $9.99. It cost $2 less if you didn’t get sides, and if you wanted to split the special with someone, they would tag on an extra $3.
We each ordered the special and a margarita with no salt, which was an expensive $6. Yes, $6 dollars for a margarita from a place on Research Blvd. that serves fried chicken. I will acknowledge that we should have skipped the rita for a more southern drink, but for me, Austin is a city where margaritas should be consumed everywhere. Oh and they forgot to not put salt on the drinks.
While we waited for the chicken we were treated to jalapeno corn bread and sweet potato biscuits. They were the best thing to distract us from the incredibly boring decor of the restuarant. It looked like a funeral home mixed with an antique store mixed with several houses occupied by grandmothers.
Our chicken came out fast. It wasn’t made to order. But that is alright. A lot of restaurants do that and get away with it. However, it clearly makes the chicken taste worse. Overall, the chicken was decent. It tasted like the basic fried chicken you would get at a grocery store or gas station, expect that it had a little more black pepper in it — and it kind of tasted like sausage. I altered the waiter to this, and he said it must have something to do with the kitchen serving more sausage than fried chicken.
The chicken was also very greasy, which is fine. But when you serve fried chicken on paper, people are going to notice it and maybe have second thoughts as to why they are eating it. We did not.
We don’t plan to go back to Hoover’s Cooking. The atmosphere is so so, and the food is worse. I mean, the fried chicken wasn’t terrible. I’d eat it again, I just can’t recommend a $10 plate of chicken that doesn’t kick ass.
Behold KFC’s newest menu item: Bacon, pepper jack and Swiss cheese and Colonel’s sauce, all sandwiched between two Original Recipe fillets.
“1000% Honduras” reads the bold, blue text on this little mid-Riverside trailer. Honduras offers a uniquely Central American version of fried chicken: covered in a creamy sauce of mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar and various other condiments, the two-piece chicken dish comes with green bananas and a heaping salad of cilantro, onion and other vibrant vegetables that we had a hard time identifying. After the first bite, our taste buds were jumping with surprise and delight.
