Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Lots of Work at Crown Fried Chicken

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I walked past Crown Fried Chicken (716 H Street) last night & noticed that they are in the midst of some pretty serious construction inside. A source tells me that Crown Fried Chicken they is simply renovating (no change in management as far as I know), and will reopen. I'm also told that they donated their bulletproof glass to the J.O. Wilson Elementary garden to help protect the plants from cool weather.

Crown Fried Chicken has served up some pretty tasty fried chicken, & I have known a couple of people who picked it up for 4th of July parties/picnics. Apparently, you can get Crown Fried Chicken clothing & memorabilia online. They even have Crown Fried Chicken thong underwear.

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38 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never stepped inside of Crown Fried Chicken -- there's always so many people loitering outside.

former 8th and H alley dweller said...

i used to live along the alley on the backside of crown fc. their chicken and mashed potatoes are quite good.

MJ said...

Wonder if they'll add a Kebab House like the Fort Washington location.

Alex said...

How old is that picture?

inked said...

Top two from last night. 3Rd from 2008.

Tim from H said...

Off topic but I was wondering if you knew anything about the opening of Foundry. I'd heard it was going to happen last month but haven't seen anything since...

inked said...

Tim,
According to a 11/29 FB post, they hope to open soon.

Anonymous said...

This is great news. I love their chicken but really hated going in there.

Anonymous said...

Never tried the chicken but the police have told me that if Crown Fried Chicken and Family Liquors were gone, it would eliminate half of the calls they get to the street. Loitering is definitely a problem. It might also eliminate a good portion of the trash people leave on the street and at the bus stop. Hopefully this signals a new start for the business.

Doug said...

They've got decent food, might get a lot more customers if it didn't look like such a two bit operation.

Look forward to seeing how it turns out.

Anonymous said...

The people who hang out in front are definitely *scary* and this prevents me from going inside.

Anonymous said...

good. stay outside. I eat your chicken. I EAT IT ALL UP!

jolly rancher said...

There's nothing scary about the people in front of Crown Fried Chicken unless you're scared of poor black people.

Great improvement on the interior.

As for closing Crown and Family Liquor to reduce 911 calls, who's doing the calling? Probably Nervous Nellies like Anon10:46 who see a crowd of low income black people and start calling the police just because they feel nervous. SMH.

Tom said...

Jolly Rancher; there is nothing wrong being nervous around a particular demographic that has above average rates of crime and violence. In DC that happens to be African Americans. In Iowa, where u are probably from, it is low income white trail or trash. I'm glad you are no longer scared of black people, but don't call people racist because they observe common sense in their particular environment.

pat said...

when businesses remove their bulletproof glass, and the burglar rollup doors, it's a big deal.
same as when people start taking down the
bars on their windows.

It's a real signal they trust the locality.

It's a pity, because those places are great to ride out the zombie apocalpypse, but, until that day,
it's nice.

jolly rancher said...

@Tom

White males are disproportionately represented amongst the rate of serial killers. I don't worry about being strangled and kidnapped when I encounter a lone white male at night, however. Use your brain, not your phobias. I bet you've never been assaulted in your life by a poor black person. The vast majority of white people in this city haven't. The odds that you will be assaulted by a random poor black person in front of Crown Chicken are about the same as my odds that I'll be shot by a police officer. It could happen, conceivably, but I'm not worried about it. Obviously if I see a police officer reach for a pistol, that might change. Ditto for if you see someone reaching in their waistband as you past them at midnight. Be sensible, but don't be nuerotic.

Anonymous said...

Any place that sells a thong with their logo on it can count on my business...not! That said, happy to see bullet proof glass coming down. It would be great if they could change the signage outside to look a little nicer. Rather than a thong, maybe they could use the logo on a new sign. Seems it would look better than what is currently outside.

Anonymous said...

I love Crown's fried chicken! It's made a great late night snack on my way home on more than one occasion. The renovations look great.

Typically I would agree with the commenters calling out others for being racist or nervous nellies when they see low income African Americans, however I've witnessed more than one fight break out at Crown while waiting for so e of their tasty chicken. Hopefully management will address the loitering now that they've updated their look.

Anonymous said...

There's always a lot of people around 8th & H because its the intersection of two major bus lines,the Xs and the 90s, not because of the liquor store or the fried chicken place. Crown Fried Chicken just happens to be right next to the bus stop. You may as well say the the nail salon should address the loitering, or the bank.

I've never felt unsafe walking by there, because there's always a lot of people around. It is a bad corner for getting cat-called tho.

Anonymous said...

@Jolly Rancher:

White males are disproportionately represented amongst the rate of serial killers. I don't worry about being strangled and kidnapped when I encounter a lone white male at night, however. Use your brain, not your phobias. I bet you've never been assaulted in your life by a poor black person. The vast majority of white people in this city haven't. The odds that you will be assaulted by a random poor black person in front of Crown Chicken are about the same as my odds that I'll be shot by a police officer.

Two things: first of all, your chances of being killed by a serial killer are roughly the same as being killed while on a boat by a commercial airliner falling out of the sky. In other words, statistically improbable to the extreme.

You chances of being shot by a police officer are pretty damned remote as well.

Meanwhile, just last night an innocent passerby was hit in the back of the head with a metal pipe by a group of kids he just said "hello" to. (This was at the market at 15th and E. Capitol).

Based on my circle of acquaintances, I would estimate that probably a third of anyone living in DC for more than a decade has been "assaulted by a poor black person".

It doesn't have much to do with race, by the way, and has everything to do with socioeconomic status. But, still, you'd have to be an idiot not to profile a group of loitering poor-looking black men in this town. It sucks (particularly for poor young black men) and you and I might wish it were different, but thats the reality we live in. Fearing serial killers--on the other hand--is like fearing alien abduction.

Anonymous said...

Crown is a cancer on the block, I don't care how tasty their chicken is. Go by there any time of day and it's a bunch of old drunks all over the sidewalk and throwing their food garbage everywhere.

Every aspect of the block would benefit from this place not opening up today.

Anonymous said...

Part of the problem in this city is that people always make excuses for pathetic behavior. Once people expect more out of each other, things will improve. Keep deflecting about race and things will stay the same.

MJ said...

dammit people, I don't care what color or income level the people in front of Crown Fried Chicken are. not to speak for anyone else, but I get a bad vibe walking in front of the place because the people hanging out in front of it are trying to give off a bad vibe. If the fighting, drunken leering, and giving everyone who walks by the stinkeye were the exception and not the rule I wouldn't care, but unfortunately they're not. Plenty of low-income black people waiting in line at Horace & Dickie's but a completely different vibe.

H&H said...

I won't spend one thin dime at anywhere on H Street (Crown included) that attracts patrons who throw their garbage everywhere and harass pretty much anyone walking down the street. I've been harassed in front of Crown. I don't care one bit that gave it a new coat of paint. I hope it goes the way of the dodo and takes it sorry customer base with it.

Anonymous said...

...not to speak for anyone else, but I get a bad vibe walking in front of the place because the people hanging out in front of it are trying to give off a bad vibe. If the fighting, drunken leering, and giving everyone who walks by the stinkeye were the exception and not the rule I wouldn't care, but unfortunately they're not. Plenty of low-income black people waiting in line at Horace & Dickie's but a completely different vibe.

This is spot on. Although I personally don't find these people "frightening", I have a hard time accepting any suggestion that they are innocuous. I go back to my remarks long ago about these people being delusional.

Anonymous said...

Why are people acting like Crown wants to have people loitering outside? I'm sure they'd prefer they werent there

Jolly Rancher said...

Anon@10:22

"Meanwhile, just last night an innocent passerby was hit in the back of the head with a metal pipe by a group of kids he just said "hello" to. "

That's one person out of how many people who walk down East Capitol every day without getting touched? And how do you know the people who hit him were poor? Are you their accountant? Lastly, East Capitol Street is nowhere near Crown Fried Chicken, so what does that have to do with the price of tea in China/this convo? Nothing.

"Based on my circle of acquaintances, I would estimate that probably a third of anyone living in DC for more than a decade has been "assaulted by a poor black person".

How many people are in your circle of acquaintances? And do you realize how many MILLIONS of people have lived in DC for "more than 10 years" at some point in this city's history? Your "circle of acquaintances" isn't much of a control group for such a large varied group. SMH. More anecdotal nonsense that makes zero empirical sense. Of course, racial generalizations often are based on illogical thinking, so there's that.

I've walked past Crown Chicken for more than ten years and never gotten touched. Add me to your magic survey.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 10:21:00 AM not true. The nail salon, from what I can tell, looks closed. The bank does not contribute to the trash and the loitering. Crown Fried Chicken is the direct reason for most of the trash on that corner and beyond. Napkins, Styrofoam containers and sometimes chicken bone litter the sidewalk and street. Simple fact is the combo of Family Liquors and CFC creates problems for the area that would not be there if they were gone.

Anonymous said...

removing bulletproof glass, maybe install some chairs, seems like great steps. sounds like it's got some loyal customers. i generally avoid restaurants with bulletproof glass. they don't trust me, i don't trust them.
[i hear people on loiterers on the Crown block, but by the way there are plenty of people who wait outside Toki and Granville. it's the drunk dudes hanging out with brown bags who make certain blocks unpleasant]

Anonymous said...

To Anon 2:37:00 PM - I dont know if that is true. They certainly do nothing to stop or prevent the loitering. Maybe they will after renovations but their history has been pretty poor. You can look at businesses like Horace and Dickies that do not have the same problem - because they don't allow it.

Anonymous said...

I love the racist card pulled on anyone who so dares to focus on the actual behavior of the drunken loiterers on 8th and H. Many are NOT waiting to connect on a bus. They're just drinking, loitering, pissing on the surrounding sidewalks, fighting, cat calling, and generally being a corrosive element in the community. A refusal to acknowledge that basic reality is a stubborn, ignorant defense of behavior that is indefensible.

So lets be frank: either you're down with these Hood/Thug elements or you are a Klan sympathizer? I've heard so many openly racist comments from Black folks about White or especially Asians on the X2 in 3 years of daily riding that the racist card is not coming one way only. On my block I adore my neighbors who I've come to know well over three years and they are all Black and kind hearted and the furthest thing from the racist Aholes that I also hear and observe in this area with alarming regularity.

So lets skip the BS and get real if we're gonna have some real talk.

Anonymous said...

@jolly rancher:

That's one person out of how many people who walk down East Capitol every day without getting touched? And how do you know the people who hit him were poor? Are you their accountant? Lastly, East Capitol Street is nowhere near Crown Fried Chicken, so what does that have to do with the price of tea in China/this convo? Nothing.

Perhaps it was a gang of wealthy african american serial killers. Also, given that you seem incapable of extrapolating violent attacks within the same 10 block radius, I'm not surprised you don't seem capable of rationally evaluating threats in the urban environment--unlike every other adult black or white, young or old.

Anonymous said...

Wonder if the loitering problem is the same at any of the following locations. Im willing to bet its not

Crown Fried Chicken
135 street and amsterdam
New York, NY 10031

Crown Fried Chicken
818 Franklin Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11225

Crown Fried Chicken
17 Macdougal Street
Brooklyn, NY 11233

Crown Fried Chicken
108 Wyckoff Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11237

Crown Fried Chicken
1890 Adam Clayton Powell
New York, NY 10026

Crown Fried Chicken
507 Pennsylvania Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11207

Crown Fried Chicken
504 Clarkson Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11203

Crown Fried Chicken
319 Nassau Road
Roosevelt , NY 11575

Crown Fried Chicken
& Pizza
3545 3rd Avenue
Bronx , NY 10456

Crown Fried Chicken
372 North Avenue
New Rochelle , NY 10801

Crown Fried Chicken
2214 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11233

Crown Fried Chicken
701 Saint Nicholas Avenue
New York, NY 10031

Crown Fried Chicken
10302 Springfield Boulevard
Queens Village , NY 11429

Crown Fried Chicken
292 Broadway
Monticello , NY 12701

Crown Fried Chicken
824 Nostrand Av
Brooklyn, NY 11216

Crown Fried Chicken
884 Dekalb Av
Brooklyn, NY 11221

Crown Fried Chicken
92-12 Rockaway Beach Boulevard
Far Rockaway, NY 11693

Crown Fried Chicken
109-20 Merrick Blvd
Jamaica, NY 11433

Crown Fried Chicken
1643 St Johns Pl
Brooklyn, NY 11233

Anonymous said...

"Why are people acting like Crown wants to have people loitering outside? I'm sure they'd prefer they werent there"

That's the problem when you have busineses owned by persons that don't live in the neighborhood -- as long as the customers are paying, it doesn't matter what is happening outside.

inked said...

6:38,
That's not remotely what the comment you quoted suggests.

Anonymous said...

IMO the problem is not Crown so much as it is the Chinese carryout place next door. Yes, much of the trash comes from Crown, but really *any* restaurant in that spot would become a garbage vortex.

What I am more concerned about is the drug dealing. I have never seen anyone dealing in or immediately outside of the Crown, but just the other day I saw two of those older loitering guys walk into the Chinese place while I was waiting. One hands the other a big wad of bills, who then boldly and without even a modicum of sublety passes the guy a few dime bags. He holds them up, looks at them, and walks out, having bought nothing.

Jolly Rancher said...

" Also, given that you seem incapable of extrapolating violent attacks within the same 10 block radius"

15th & East Capitol is NOT 10 blocks from 8th & H St NE. Where did you learn how to count?


and as for the person listing other Crown Fried Chicken locations:

"Crown Fried Chicken
135 street and amsterdam
New York, NY 10031 "

Of course there's no loitering in Harlem. Never that. What planet do you people live on?

Jolly Rancher said...

"Perhaps it was a gang of wealthy african american serial killers."

So, if we don't leap to the presumption that someone who hit someone randomly is poor, we have to assume they're rich AND a serial killer? Who taught you logic, a crackhead?

I love conversations about crime. Rationality becomes a complete afterthought as people rave like lunatics. I get it. You're scared of the dark people and you won't let anyone talk you out of it.