Friday, August 9, 2019

Chickening out at Rojo's Hot Chicken


Rojo's Pop Up at McFadden Public Market
515 North Main Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701

Hot chicken is something I have not really embraced, and I'm not entirely sure why. I love chicken sandwiches, as it's probably my favorite way to eat chicken. I'm also very partial to spicy things. I've had several hot chicken sandwich places on my restaurant wishlist forever. So, it's a little perplexing why I haven't jumped on the latest trend of the last few years.

Maybe it's a geographic thing. My restaurant wishlist includes Howlin Ray's, Dave's Hot Chicken, and Firebird Nashville Hot Chicken, all of which are located in LA County. At my two favorite OC chicken sandwich spots, Crack Shack and Two Birds, they both offer hot chicken sandwiches, but I usually end up getting something else while I'm at these chicken restaurants that you definitely need to try.

Recently, thanks to my good friend Anne Marie of the OC Weekly, Saute Magazine, and everything else food related going on in OC, she messaged me about Rojo's Hot Chicken. Rojo's is brought to us from her good friend Chef Roland Rubalcava. His resume s pretty impressive. He started out in the food business at his family's Rubalcava's Bakery in Placentia and then he did a sous chef stint at the multi-award-winning Taco Maria, before landing at Playa Mesa as their Executive Chef.

From what I can gather, Rojo's Hot Chicken is Chef Roland's side hustle which he does as frequently as he can. This pop-up event was early in July at McFadden Public Market. He subsequently held other pop-ups at Irena in Santa Ana and one in Fallbrook. This was our first visit to McFadden Public Market, which has a pretty good vibe going for it. There's Mission Control, a cool 80's arcade on the second floor, a ramen restaurant, vegan diner, and tiki bar inhabiting the first floor. It appears that Rojo's was taking over the abandoned Rooster Republic space, which seemed poetic since they used to sling chicken sandwiches from there up until last year.

We arrived at just before 6pm on a Saturday, and the place was packed with people already enjoying their chicken sandwiches at picnic tables in front of the Rojo's booth. The menu was pretty simple, with three chicken sandwiches of varying hotness offered, a dirty version which meant that it was topped with queso, mac and cheese and coleslaw for sides, and three kinds of fries, regular, spicy, and topped with queso. Also, for those in the know, there was a secret menu item that was offered that you will find out about as you scroll downward. There was also a red velvet cupcake for dessert but we were planning on picking up something sweet at nearby 4th Street Market after this, so we skipped it. Our food took about ten minutes to come out, and here how everything turned out for us.


Starting things off was the Naked Chicken Sandwich ($12) that Katie wanted. This sandwich contained no spiciness, which is not really a surprise since Katie is a wimp when it comes to spicy things. It definitely runs in her family, as regular black pepper can make her sisters run for a glass of milk to cool down their mouths. Ugh. Back to this sandwich though, it came with coleslaw and a grilled nopal. The chicken was nice and crunchy while being tender and juicy on the inside. This comes with cheese usually, but Katie opted to have it without. The torta-like roll was a solid choice for this sandwich, as it holds everything together perfectly. Katie gave this sandwich a thumbs up.




I went a little spicier than Katie by getting the Rojo Chicken Sandwich ($12). This was listed on the menu as medium-hot and I'd say that was a fair description of the heat level here, according to my palette. I could have probably gone up a heat level, but this medium-hot allowed me to enjoy this sandwich a bit more. Again, the breading had a nice crunch to it and underneath was a tender and good-sized chicken. My sandwich came with coleslaw, pickles, a grilled nopal, and a slice of what appeared to be American cheese. I did take the pickles off and ate them by themselves, something that I do with all of my sandwiches and burgers. The nopal was not slimy like they could sometimes be, and added a great textural element. I'd definitely ditch the American cheese next time, as it added nothing here. The bread was nice and soft and kept everything together structurally. This is right up there with some of the best chicken sandwiches we've experienced in OC.


Remember a few paragraphs ago when I had mentioned that they had a special hidden item on their menu? For fans of their Instagram account, they usually add a special item, and on this evening it was a Pork Cutlet Sandwich ($12). I admit I liked this better than the chicken sandwich. The pork came breaded using the same breading as the chicken, so it had the same great crunch, but pork has a richness that chicken just can not match. This also differed in the marinade. It kind of tasted like a very good chili verde. For sure the best thing I ate on this evening and one of the better sandwiches I've had in 2019.



We rounded out our meal at Rojo's with their Mac and Cheese ($6) and the Coleslaw ($4). I'm still kind of stuck as to which one ended up being better. The mac and cheese was made up of a combination of parmesan, jack cheese, and scallions. The result was creamy, but not in your face with cheese overload. The coleslaw was elevated to a bit more than your usual humdrum coleslaw. The base was a chipotle mayo, which added a tinge of spice, while the cabbage, carrots, onions, and crushed up tortilla chips added some nice crunch. Katie was a big fan of this one.

We both left this special pop up pretty pleased with everything we had on this evening. The chicken sandwiches here are probably number three on my list of OC chicken sandwiches I have had, with only Crack Shack and Two Birds being better so far. If the pork sandwich is available when you are here, you definitely need to ask for it. Keep an eye on their Instagram. Service was very friendly, as this was staffed by many of Chef Roland's family members, and you can sense the pride that they share in his food. This visit has gotten me psyched up to visit those LA hot chicken spots that have been sitting on my restaurant wishlist forever. Stay tuned.

Out of five pinball machines, (because after eating we went upstairs and played some pinball in the Mission Control Arcade), five being best to zero being worst, Rojo's Hot Chicken gets 3 pinball machines.

For more information about upcoming pop-ups, and other things Rojo's, it's probably best to follow their Instagram feed here: @rojoshotchicken

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