# Quick, somewhat inane question about chicken and waffles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437 "2009-07-27T15:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/1 "2009-07-27T15:59:54Z")
Should the maple syrup be hot or cold? (I warned you) ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/2 "2009-07-27T16:03:44Z")
Although I’ve never had it, chicken and waffles is usually eaten with a chicken based gravy dumped over it all, so no, maple syrup is not used. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/3 "2009-07-27T16:04:38Z")
The chicken and waffles restaurant here serves warmed syrup (no gravy). ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/4 "2009-07-27T16:09:01Z")
Mmm…chicken gravy… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/5 "2009-07-27T16:20:02Z")
This combination has always baffled me. Someday I’ll try it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/6 "2009-07-27T16:51:42Z")
Yeah, it baffles me, too. Everyone knows it’s supposed to be _turkey_ and waffles. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/7 "2009-07-27T16:52:51Z")
This is getting more complicated by the minute! Turkey and waffles?! ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/8 "2009-07-27T17:08:19Z")
Never heard of the combo. It it regional? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/9 "2009-07-27T17:20:14Z")
There’s a famous\* chicken-and-waffles joint (Roscoe’s House of… ) in Los Angeles. Its [Web site](http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/) claims that the founders brought the dish from Harlem. I hate dining out alone and everyone I’ve talked to about it turns their noses up at the combination. I honestly can’t see why it strikes so many people as repugnant. (And no, smart guys, it’s not because of my company, because we usually end up eating somewhere else.) Roscoe’s definitely uses syrup, although I don’t know if it’s hot or cold. Pouring chicken gravy on waffles seems like kind of a waste to me - might as well be eating biscuits. - For certain values of fame. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/10 "2009-07-27T17:34:19Z")
That web site says the owner founded the restaurant in the mid-'70s. However, in the 1941 book \*Mildred Pierce \*by James M. Cain (later made into a movie with Joan Crawford), Mildred makes her fortune by opening a chicken-and-waffle restaurant in Southern California (Pasadena, I think). So Roscoe’s proprietary recipe might have been brought from Harlem, but the dish was local before (and I’m sure Cain doesn’t get credit for inventing it). ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/11 "2009-07-27T17:39:40Z")
The combination sounds good to me, but definitely without the maple syrup. I grew up eating turkey and toast with gravy, so putting the turkey and gravy over waffles isn’t that much of a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/12 "2009-07-27T17:40:47Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > There’s a famous\* chicken-and-waffles joint (Roscoe’s House of… ) in Los Angeles. Its [Web site](http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/) > > …Roscoe’s definitely uses syrup, although I don’t know if it’s hot or cold. Pouring chicken gravy on waffles seems like kind of a waste to me - might as well be eating biscuits… Thank you for fighting ignorance. According to the menu Roscoe’s _does_ serve gravy…but those combos includes biscuits. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/13 "2009-07-27T18:41:57Z")
I grew up on the stuff. Back in the 60s, our local church ran an annual fair with food, rides, games, and whatnot. The big highlight every year was the chicken and waffles dinner. I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, so I don’t really know if it was a regional thing, or spread over from Harlem or what. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/14 "2009-07-27T18:47:38Z")
Just a note that maple syrup doesn’t pour all that well when it’s cold. Well, _chilled_. Conceivably, the syrup should be at least room temperature. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-somewhat-inane-question-about-chicken-and-waffles/504437/15 "2009-07-27T18:57:13Z")
\*\*Roadfood \*\*lists chicken-and-waffles restaurants in Texas, too. So maybe somebody went to a restaurant on a road trip, thought it was a great idea, and opened his own at home. You’d have to do the research to see which came first. We could ask Jane and Michael Stern to do the work for us . . .