This Restaurant's Main Showstopper is Indian Fried Chicken

Rowdy Rooster (@rowdyroosternyc) has been making major rowdy moves on food Instagram lately. They are an Indian street food inspired fried chicken spot. They are in fact halal and get their chicken from a local halal butcher in Queens. These are the same owners of Dhamaka, Adda, and Semma.

Big Rowdy

Food: 9/10
We got the Big Rowdy, a chicken sandwich in a bun that comes with mint chutney, scallion yogurt and pickled onion. The heat level we chose was rogue (their medium). We loved this sandwich. It was flavorful, the chicken was crispy and juicy, and the toppings were very good. We were really impressed. We also ordered the Smooth Operator, which is 3 pieces of boneless fried chicken. We got this in rogue as well. This was not covered in sauce and had mint chutney on the side that we appreciated. So you really get to enjoy the flavor of the seasonings on the chicken without any sauce. We had to try their Chili Cauliflower which consisted of chili garlic sauce, green chili, and onions. This was also super delicious. For a side we tried Masala Corn. This wasn’t our favorite. The spices were really watered down. For drinks we tried their Mango Lassi that was amazing - it was thick, sweet, and tart.

Price: 8/10
Prices are reasonable. Mains range from $7-$12. Sides are $4.

Atmosphere: 6/10
This rating is really due to the fact that it’s small and super cramped. While the inside decor and ambiance is nice, it sits up to 10 people.

Service: 8/10
You line up and order at the front cashier and then wait until your name is called. Takes around 10 minutes. We do wish the food could be more neatly packaged. The containers were a bit messy.

Rowdy Rooster
149 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10003

Smooth Operator

Chili Cauliflower

Masala Corn