There’s simply no talking about Howlin’ Ray’s, the insanely famous Chinatown hot chicken shack, without talking about its line. But for a restaurant that routinely rocks multi-hour waits during regular weekdays, even this holiday season is stressing the boundaries of just how long anyone could be willing to wait for chicken.
As of midday today, the wait for Howlin’ Ray’s stands at a not-so-brisk five hours. Those are early Cronut® line levels, the sort of wait usually reserved only for places like Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas. And yet here is a photo of the line in action, stretching well out of the Far East Plaza shopping center that Howlin’ Ray’s occupies, and down the block.
Major alert! We’re going as fast as we can but the line is currently about 4.5-5 hours pic.twitter.com/lhpkt1SBVw
— HOWLIN' RAY'S (@howlinrays) December 27, 2017
That’s not to say the chicken isn’t worth it, or that anyone deciding to tackle the line is wasting their time. If anything, a five-hour Howlin’ line is an indicator of just how delicious most folks find the chicken to be, and the cult status that Johnny Ray Zone and his team now have.
Thankfully the line isn’t always that bad; most of the time waits are a much more manageable 90 minutes or so, thanks to a more efficient workflow recently implemented in the kitchen. Add in the upcoming next door expansion to their Chinatown space, plus a jump to a new location in Culver City next year, and soon enough these holiday season lines could be a thing of the past.