Asad’s Hot Chicken

As a Holy Family student, one thing that has made me jealous of other universities is that they have food trucks nearby or fast-food restaurants on campus. Instead, we are stuck with the cafeteria. The name speaks for itself, where other schools have the food court, we have the cafeteria, officially called a dining hall. It even sounds bleak! To the school’s credit, there are typically many options from wraps to hot meals, to salads. However, while these things are good occasionally, they get repetitive, and I have found myself wanting something new and refreshing, this is when I made it my mission to report back to HFU students with an amazing place to eat.

 Tired of the ice cream machine being broken at our local Mcdonald’s? Allergic to the peanut oil Chick-fil-a uses on its Chicken? Perhaps you are like me, just tired of the standard fast food and looking for something to spice up your life as well as your taste buds. This journey for something special led me to stumble across an immaculate hot chicken place: Asad’s Hot Chicken, located at 7300 Roosevelt Blvd next to Philly Gas. For those of you who live on campus, this is only a 10-minute drive! Do not hesitate to carpool with friends and give this location a try!

Asad’s Hot Chicken is a halal hot chicken restaurant. From the looks of it, it takes heavy inspiration from the classic hot chicken sandwich found in Nashville, Tennessee. But the chicken is not all! At Asad’s, you can also find yourself some delicious fries that are topped with old bay seasoning to add to not only the flavor of the fries, but also to continue the theme of spice. Also, there are smoothies! This was something I did not know about until I arrived at the place, but it was a pleasant one. A little ice to battle the fire of the hot chicken.

Afraid you cannot handle the heat? Not to worry, Asad’s hot chicken comes with four different options of spice: no spice, mild, hot, extra hot. I was not brave enough to face the scorching heat of the extra hot sandwich. That can be a fun challenge between you and your friends!

Now let us get into the honest review! While I was at Asad’s I decided to try two of the four spices: that is hot and mild. I also got myself a mango smoothie to combat some of the spice.

First thing first, let us get to talking about chicken! I got the taste of both the hot and mild chicken, but I prefer the mild personally. When I bit into the slider as immediately swarmed with a slap of flavor that danced along my taste buds. My entire mouth felt as if it had scored the game-winning touchdown in the Eagles Superbowl. Each bite was better than the last. With every bite was a crunch from the crispiness of the chicken that would leave chick-fil-a embarrassed. The meat of the chicken was pure white aside from the delicate Asad’s special sauce that adds to the stunning flavor. Each piece of chicken, from my experience, remains a consistent size, meaning that there is zero chance that your chicken will feel like you have skimped out. This is an issue I have faced with Chick-fil-a sometimes the chicken just feels like a bite or two before its gone! It is sad!

The presentation of the sandwiches is also mouthwatering! Not only is the chicken extremely good but it is photogenic as well; you can tell that the employees at Asad’s Hot Chicken take pride in their craft and do not toss the food into the travel container with disregard like a massive food chain would. This is a point that I admired about Asad’s Hot Chicken, with it being a new small business growing rapidly in popularity the product stays consistent. As the past few years have told us, it is crucial to give small businesses the time of day and at Asad’s, they make you want to return in the morning, afternoon, or even in the evening.

In terms of pricing, the ‘slider meal’ (chicken sandwich) sits at just $9.99 and it includes fries. This does not include the drink which I recommend going for a smoothie to combat the heat. A medium-sized smoothie costs $7; thus, bringing your total to somewhere around $17. For a classic chicken sandwich meal at chick-fil-at $7.55 which includes a drink and waffle fries. Now, you may notice with the smoothie the price is about double at Asad’s Hot Chicken. But do not be discouraged! These crispy and monstrous sandwiches dwarf the meal of that Chick-Fil-a. a. A bonus is that you do not have to wait long at a drive-through or stand in line at Asad’s. But listen! I understand that some $17 dollars on a meal may be too much of a stretch on your wallet. As college students, you and I have that mutual understanding. My secret trick is bringing a bottled coke or water with me which knocks about $5 off that total and puts it close to CFA. Using that strategy, the meal beats out CFA any day of the week, especially on Sunday when CFA is closed.

While we are on this topic Asad’s Hot Chicken is not merely limited to slides and tenders. They also sell a ton of sides. Below is a photo of Asad’s Hot Chicken’s full menu for you to view at your own pleasure if you are not feeling a chicken sandwich! It includes all the pricing information as well.

While my experience at Asad’s is mostly positive there is one drawback. The biggest drawback of Asad’s Hot Chicken is that being such a small place there is no room for seating nor any benches to eat the meal. Therefore, I would not recommend it to students who like a place to talk and dine with friends and family.

Great news is that Asad’s Hot Chicken is also available through Uber Eats which means that you do not need to wait in an annoying line, nor do you need to leave your studies to pick up food. It can be brought to you, therefore also making it the perfect option for on campus residents as well as students deeply engaged in their studies and working hard! Nursing majors, that is you!

In overall, out of 5 stars, I would give the hot chicken sandwich a 3.5, with the spice being just a bit too much for me. However, the mild chicken sandwich was a solid 4.5 and even rivals the classic hot Chick-fil-a sandwich! The smoothie was also good! I am a huge fan of mango water ice, therefore the smoothie had to live up to elevated expectations and to my surprise it did. For the smoothie it was also a 4.5 out of 5.

I highly recommend Asad’s Hot Chicken for all Holy Family Students and faculty. The chicken is astonishing and is a good change of pace from typical fast food.

Nicholas Graff is a 22-year-old student at Holy Family University, pursuing an English major/Criminal justice minor in his fourth year. He is considering a career in journalism, but he has been leaning heavily toward the idea of serving in a federal law enforcement branch, be it DEA or FBI.