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This is the best fried chicken restaurant in California, according to Yelp

Sam Bryant eats a Nashville hot chicken sandwich during his lunch break at Music City Hot Chicken on March 8, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

A Southern California restaurant was recently named the best fried chicken restaurant in the state, according to a Yelp report.

Howlin’ Rays, best known for The Sando, a chicken sandwich served with a boneless breast, comeback sauce, pickles and a butter bun, took the No. 1 spot.


The rankings were created based on reviews from Yelp’s Elite Squad, a group of reviewers who are most active and “role models on and off the Yelp site,” according to the review website.

Chef Johnny Ray Zone and his wife, Amanda Chapman, run the chicken restaurant. They decided to open it after a trip to Nashville.  

The couple first started serving Nashville hot chicken from a food truck and eventually opened two brick-and-mortar locations in downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena.

Customers have plenty of hot chicken-centric dishes to choose from, including quarter or half of the bird, wings and tenders.

Each meal can also be customized to each person’s spice tolerance level, which ranges from “country” to “howlin.”