By 
Howlin’ Ray’s caught my attention after I dined at a restaurant also located inside the Far East Plaza in Chinatown. Inspired by the line of people waiting outside, as soon as I got home, I immersed myself in the vast sea of hot chicken places in LA. On all the lists I came across, Howlin’ Ray’s was always included.
Firstly, let’s dive into the backstory of the founder Johnny Ray Zone.
Born and raised in Silverlake, Johnny started his culinary experience in fine dining as an apprentice. He’s worked for some of the most renowned chefs in the world, like Gordon Ramsay, Thomas Keller, Joël Robuchon and Nobu Matsuhisa. Some of his other stints in LA include fish butcher at Nobu in West Hollywood, executive chef at celebrity-frequented restaurant La Poubelle, and garde manger chef at Figaro Bistrot.
In 2014, Johnny briefly worked at Husk, a fine dining restaurant in Nashville under James-Beard award-winning chef Sean Brock. It was during this time when he was first introduced to Nashville-style hot chicken. It was love at first bite. He and his wife Amanda embarked on a hot chicken tour and immersed themselves into Southern culture. They loved it so much that they decided to bring this dish to LA.
Howlin’ Ray’s first started out as a food truck, which was extremely well-received by Angelenos. In the Spring of 2016, Howlin’ Ray’s opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Chinatown. According to some articles from that time, the wait time could be about 3-hours long, and some people even started lining up at 8am.
Intrigued by all the hype, I went back a few days later on a weekday. I really lucked out because there was only one person ahead of me when I got there! I ordered their signature chicken sandwich, The Sando.
For the spice level, I played it safe and chose Country, which has no heat. The first thing I noticed was the tenderness of the chicken. I was also surprised by how incredibly good the rest of the ingredients were: the butter bun, the fresh slaw, the pickles, and the comeback sauce, which was tangy and creamy. All of them encapsulated a magnificent chicken sandwich. The fries I ordered were also really good. Overall, it was definitely worth the hype!
As I was waiting for my food, my jaw dropped when I saw all the people picking up orders for lunch. This location was closed for inside dining, but they had a communal table outside, which is where I sat.
Before writing this review, I went to the Pasadena location at the beginning of January. This location opened in November 2022 and is much bigger, brighter, and includes ample indoor seating and a parking lot. However, I was particularly drawn to the chicken caricatures, the chicken shaped projections on the counter, and the vintage mic to announce the order numbers, a smart nod to Music City (Nashville). There was also a souvenir box with cute mementos that you could grab, like pencils, stickers and pins. Overall, the space was very well thought-out and perfectly executed.
It was pouring in LA that day and it was only 11:15 am on a weekday, which means the place should be empty, right? Wrong! I waited in line outside for an hour and fifteen minutes (I timed it) and the place was bustling inside with people. As I kept getting closer and closer to the entrance, I could see the camaraderie among some of the guests and the employees, who were high-fiving each other. My stomach also started to grumble thanks to the heavenly smell that kept getting more intense as I approached the door.
After what seemed like 5 hours, the employee greeted me with the warmest of smiles and chatted with me like we had known each other for years. My impatience to get there instantly vanished. I had the Sando, but this time I had it Mild, which is a very mild brush of heat. If you’re sensitive to spicy foods, they let you sample the chicken first!
While I was waiting for my food, I noticed how joyous the employees were. Even when I took a quick picture of the kitchen, one of them noticed my phone and quickly made sure the rest of the cooks were looking at the camera. Everyone was so friendly! What was the secret?
This was a complimentary meal. They were nice enough to also comp me the Quarter Bird, (breast + wing) with Mild heat. Frankly, I didn’t expect to love it so much. I got a deeper appreciation for the chicken as a whole.
Besides the unmatched quality of the chicken, I was struck by the crispy, velvety texture of the skin and the unique blend of spices that were out of this world. This was something I didn’t get to taste when I had the Sando without heat. Here, I was able to get the full experience. Delicious is a big understatement. I had the Sando first, so I didn’t eat all of it, but I took it to go. If you’re a first timer, the Sando is a must, but the Quarter Bird really won me over. It was magic in every bite. I lightly cut it with the knife. Look at the inside! The skin peeled off so easily. 🤤🤤🤤
The Sando was so good, and as you can see in the picture below, it was a very generous portion! This time I noticed how important the slaw was in the Sando because it cut through the mild heat of the chicken. They complemented each other seamlessly! For sides, I chose the collard greens (not pictured). The broth was so flavorful and rich.
After this experience, I’m definitely willing to wait in line again. Exceptional customer service and delicious food: What more could you ask for? If you go, I encourage you to dine in to get the full experience!
The most popular menu item at Howlin’ Ray’s is The Sando, but the Quarter Bird — which is the leg / breast quarter served with a slice of white bread and topped with pickles — is what you’ll find in any hot chicken place in Nashville. While I was poring over articles about hot chicken, I thought it would be worth sharing the story of how it originated. In the 1930s, a woman sought revenge on her cheating partner Thornton Prince by sprinkling great amounts of hot pepper and spices onto his chicken.
Instead of succumbing to the devilish heat, he ended up loving it and she started cooking it for friends and family. After perfecting the recipe, Thornton Prince opened the first ever hot chicken shack in Nashville, called BBQ Hot Chicken Shack. In the 1980s, the shack underwent a name change. Today, the family continues to carry the legacy at Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. You could say they are hot chicken royalty in Nashville.
This article was very eye opening as it was very interesting to learn about traditional Southern food and how it varies from state to state.
Originally, this was just supposed to be a review, but then Johnny accepted my request for an interview! Via Zoom at the beginning of January, we explored how he applied his fine dining cooking skills to such a simple dish like fried chicken, the definition of success, the work culture behind the company, and of course, Los Angeles!
We lightly dove into his impressive background as a chef, but since there are already so many interviews of him talking about it, I wanted to mainly focus on Howlin’ Ray’s, the South and Los Angeles.
I’ve never been to Nashville or the South, but some of my favorite singers are country artists. Because Nashville is on my travel wish list, I asked Johnny about the best restaurants in Nashville. Needless to say, I think I’m covered!
The first time you were introduced to Nashville-style hot chicken was with your wife Amanda in 2014. At that point, you were a fine dining chef and you had dipped your toes into many cuisines. What was it about this dish that made you go, “I have to bring this to LA”? Walk me through that moment.
One of the first times that I had it was in a shack called Pepperfire in Nashville. I had never had whole-fried chicken like that before, with the drum, the breast and the wing attached. It was cooked a little bit longer in the oil and slower. Just extremely crispy on the outside and really juicy in the middle. Then on top of it, with the spices, the heat, the way it was served with the bread on the bottom and the pickles on top… it was so unique to me. I was like, “Wow, this is something super special. I’ve never had anything like this.” Being in the fine dining world, you’re always eating at different restaurants and trying out new things. But it was a pretty shocking moment to have something like that for the first time in Nashville. I was so enamored with it.
The chicken at Howlin’ Ray’s is so incredibly juicy and tender. What are some of the steps and components to make good fried chicken?
What we’re taught in a lot of fine dining restaurants, is to source your ingredients from local farmers and local produce. In terms of developing our recipe, that was the first step – choosing the right ingredients. With other fried chicken restaurants, they don’t necessarily have the wherewithal to expand on the chicken because their profit margins are so slim — so they have to offer it at a lower price point. It was a huge opportunity for us to come in, utilize fine dining ingredients and apply it to such a simple dish like fried chicken.
Can you elaborate on the brining process and prep?
There’s a lot of ways to brine your chicken. Brining is very important in poultry products. I won’t go too much into detail of our brining process… but the type of oil, the friers, the temperature, how consistent your frier temperature range is… there’s so many different variables when you break it down scientifically, and how to put out the most consistent and best possible product.
It also comes down to personal preference. I tried a lot of different hot chicken places and I wanted to develop and take the flavor aspect of a few of them and mold it into one: sweeter, hotter, dry rub… A lot of cooking is playing with different color and spice palettes and finding what you really enjoy. Being able to identify the differences between a star anise powder, a curry powder, or a garlic powder is very important and a fun process in terms of being a chef.
You opened the first brick-and-mortar in 2016. There are now more competitors, but Howlin’ Ray’s continues to be at the top of the game. What is it that keeps people coming back over and over again?
The hospitality and customer service. The way we engage with our clientele, even our employees are a huge part of our success. It’s important to treat everyone respectfully, like human beings. When you go to the South and you go to a gas station there, it’s not just, “twenty dollars on number 6.” It’s more like, “did you hear about my cat the other day? He went up the tree and we had to call the firefighters.” There’s this element of small talk and humanization in the interactions. That’s a big component to our success. We’re continually developing our customer service. With COVID and the way it changed the restaurant scene, people really enjoy being treated like human beings versus something transactional, like, “here’s my money, here’s your food.” That aspect is often overlooked but I think it’s a big reason as to why we’re so successful.
Speaking of employees, I was amazed by the exceptional customer service. When I went to a different restaurant yesterday, it was a stark contrast from the happy work atmosphere at Howlin’ Ray’s. Can you tell me more about the hiring process?
It’s really cool, we’re very blessed and lucky. It’s not super complicated to make a fried chicken dish, but in comparison to the fine dining restaurants I worked at before, there’s different levels of execution.
With this being said, if you have a cousin who just turned 17 or 18 and wants to work, has a good mindset… maybe he has a hobby like being a musician but needs to make some money. We can take individuals with relatively no experience and shape him into a powerhouse manager, line cook, server… any position really.
Once you start to offer someone knowledge and good pay, it becomes a really positive relationship. You’re not just paying them, you’re treating them like a human being, teaching them and providing them a safe space to work and do their thing. Then on his days off, he can focus on other things… it’s a really good balance. My wife helped me over the years to create this system because it wasn’t how it is now.
It’s been a learning curve because I come from harsh kitchens, like working for Gordon Ramsay. It’s a different way of treatment and interaction. I used the negative experiences that I had there to my benefit. “How do I want to inspire? How do I get someone really excited about coming to work?” That’s been another huge part of our success. Employees are customers too because they’re going to share with their families how they’re treated and how cool the restaurant is. It’s a way of passive marketing.
What is your go-to order?
My go-to order is the breast quarter. I usually get it Hot or X-Hot, with a side of collard greens. That’s pretty much it. With the collard greens, I like to dip the chicken in the broth and the bread that’s at the bottom. It’s really awesome. I’ll put some of the Trappey’s vinegar in the collard greens, it’s like a pepper vinegar and that cuts through the richness of the broth.
You worked for some of the best chefs in the world. Was there something that you saw that really stuck with you and that you continue to implement in your daily life?
The organization and the way Thomas Keller lays out his kitchens and sets them up has been a huge component in my daily life and in the restaurants. It makes it so much easier for employees and for everyone to do their specific roles: inventory, keeping it clean… He calls it “in search of perfection”, but you can never be perfect. That has had a huge weight in terms of how we run our kitchen and how we set up our restaurants because it’s such a powerful message, mentality and ethos.
Looking back on your journey, what does success mean to you?
Success has never been about money or popularity. I think success for me has been about creating happy systems. It’s like a cell with its own organism. Those daily systems can be really good or really bad. When the systems in the restaurants are happy and positive, each day it keeps getting stronger and stronger. Employees keep getting better and better and customers keep getting happier and happier because the system keeps getting stronger. That to me is success, even if you’re serving 40 customers, like we did at the beginning. It’s not necessarily making the most money, but it’s a happy system. The longer you are doing it, the stronger and more powerful it’ll become.
Some comments I came across on @HowlinRays‘ IG:
I went to the Pasadena location a few days ago and I loved the space: the chicken projections, the vintage mic and the souvenir box. It was very well thought-out and a very different experience from the Chinatown location. What was the experience you wanted people to have there? I read that it was supposed to open in 2019, right?
Yes! Then COVID hit and we went back to the drawing board in terms of what a restaurant would look like post COVID and we took our time with it. That’s the beauty of being in business with my wife. We’re the ones calling the shots. We don’t have to rush in terms of paying back investors and start making money.
All the little details you mentioned took time to develop and formulate. A lot of that was my wife. But yes, it was delayed quite a bit. Luckily, we got it open and now things are turning around. It’s been working out really well. Aside from little issues like leaks from the rain… but that’s going to be constant in any restaurant or business. You just get better at dealing with those issues.
While you were doing your research trips in Nashville with Amanda, was there something that you learned that took you by surprise?
The way people interacted was so different because I grew up in LA. Customer engagement and the little banter was something really big for me. The way people were so kind shocked me a little because LA is so fast-paced. Also, the way it’s so slow down out there.
Wow… I’ve never been to the South before.
You should check it out, I’m sure you’ll love it. It’s definitely eye-opening. Anywhere in the South: Charleston, Nashville… It’s great to see it on TV shows, but to experience it yourself is really awesome. Traveling is a huge investment in your experiences, but also in your mentality. The more you can see, the more you can become educated with different parts of the world. Any opportunity or chance to travel to experience all those things is a huge W in my book.
What are your must-eats in Nashville?
Let’s see… Arnolds Meat and Three (permanently closed) is great. It’s set up like a cafeteria. You choose your meat with 3 sides, and they also have a very wicked chocolate pie that’s pretty rich. That one is definitely a must-have!
I always mention Aqui from 400 Degrees Hot Chicken. She’s great, she’s like family. Then, Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, obviously…
*Hattie B’s. I went there on a recent trip and they had tacos on the menu. I was a little surprised by that. But generally, I like to take first-timers out there.
Robert’s Western World is a cash-only bar that plays country music from the 1940s. They do an interesting fried bologna sandwich that is served with some chips. The layout of the bar is very cool.
Their famous fried bologna sandwich has been featured on Food Network and other road trip TV shows.
Other interesting places are Pegleg Porker, where you can get Memphis Sushi and burritos. It’s really fun.
Pepperfire Hot Chicken. They have a very interesting deep-fried grilled cheese sandwich.
Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish. You have to go there for their Hot Catfish. They do it Nashville-style hot chicken. You can also do a side of spaghetti.
Hermitage Cafe (permanently closed) is a late-night, 2am, biscuits and gravy diner that’s really cool. It’s next to a bar called Batters Box and we have one menu item named after them. Husk is another one. All the chefs are great. If you’re into Bourbon or whiskey you can try their massive selection, but they also have great elevated dishes.
Then, any of Sean Brock’s new spots. His execution is always on point.
So yeah, those are a few specific Nashville restaurants that will make for a great enjoyable experience.
*Note: Hattie B’s is a hot chicken restaurant that lately has been doing collaborations with a few local bars and restaurants, hence the change on their menu.
This is two questions in one. What is your earliest food memory and what made you want to become a chef?
My earliest food memory was probably overcooked steamed beans and bacon. My mom would make that a lot and it was pretty good and very comforting. But growing up, I wasn’t exposed to many dishes. It was more so my friends and I eating Cheetos and French fries on the corner. Junk food. We would heat up these French fries bags called O’Real and then we’d pour hot sauce on it. It wasn’t necessarily the most refined cooking experience. I was also playing a lot of basketball at the time. My first passion was basketball and hooping. I eventually made the switch to the kitchen because I saw a lot of similarities to being on a basketball team and then working in the kitchen on the line with cooks and stuff. I slowly had to educate myself and experience new dishes because I wasn’t exposed as much in terms of food.
Los Angeles
You were born and raised in Silverlake. What was it like growing up in that part of LA?
It was great! A big part of my passion for food stems from my childhood and going to public schools. There weren’t many Caucasian students at all, and that was something I fell in love with. LA is such a melting pot, we have so many different ethnicities and cultures that are doing so many different dishes and things at such a high level. That was the norm for me, but when I went to other parts of America, it wasn’t like that. That really made me fall in love with the city. It’s also why I decided to stay here instead of moving to Nashville. In LA, you can get the best sushi in the world, or Korean BBQ… you name it. It’s really cool to be exposed to so many different cultures.
You may have partially answered my next question, but what do you like about living in LA?
Yeah. If you go to other parts of the world and were to ask, “Did you have this type of Kebab?” people wouldn’t understand it. Even the Thai dishes. You can have dishes from Northern to Southern Thailand that are so spicy and delicious… that is something that a lot of cities don’t necessarily have. That level of authenticity being executed at such a high level. The fact that you can go from one group to the next group of different cuisines is so amazing.
What are your favorite restaurants?
I’m a big sucker for Thai food, so Jitlada for sure when it comes to spice and heat levels. Sanamluang Cafe too. In terms of tacos, I’m always pulling over in random places and trying out different taco spots. There’s been so many Birria tacos popping up, really delicious spots that you should try, like Teddy’s Red Tacos on Whittier Blvd. in East LA, or Birrieria Don Boni on 1st Street. Birria tacos are similar to hot chicken in terms of heat.
I also like the Szechuan style restaurants that use a lot of Sichuan peppercorn and give you a numbing sensation. There are a lot in Alhambra that are just amazing, like Sichuan Impression.
Din Tai Fung is great for dumplings and to experience the sauce, vinegar and soy sauce ratio. That one is always fun.
There’s a cool sandwich shop called Roma Market. The owner is an Italian guy who’s been doing it for years. He makes a sandwich with three types of deli meat and one slice of cheese, olive oil and salt on the bread. It’s really good!
Note: The sandwich Johnny is talking about is called “The Sandwich” and is wrapped in pink wax paper.
Yuca’s in Pasadena (Pasadena and Los Feliz). Sometimes I’ll get their burger, but their Michaca is so awesome and on point. The tortillas they use are so flakey. For Korean BBQ, Soot Bull Jeep if you want to smell like charcoal. Chosun Galbee is also really good… they’re so many to name.
For sushi, Matsuhisa is great. There are other Omakase places that are really solid… Even some of the markets that we have, like Fish King in Glendale. Bristol Farms is also stepping up their game on some of their products. If you want to cook something for yourself you can get a nice lamb shoulder or pork rib. McCall’s Meat & Fish Co. in Los Feliz is also great. We’re so spoiled out here.
My wife likes to go to Houston’s in Pasadena every once in a while, they’re pretty consistent.
What places do you like to go to unwind?
That would be me cooking at my house for friends and family. The best way for me to unwind is walking my dog in the morning. He’s a mix of Cocker Spaniel and Pomeranian and looks like a mini golden retriever. Walking him and seeing how much joy he gets out of the walk is so therapeutic and the best way to unwind from all the craziness.
Note: Johnny’s adorable dog has his own Instagram page @PepperTheHowlinPup
Lastly, you’ve been to many cities all over the world. What is your favorite food city?
I’ll say Los Angeles! I like New York a lot and it’s very interesting. The apartments are so small and you want to get out, so they really take restaurants very very seriously, and it’s awesome to see that. Japan is great as well for sushi and other amazing dishes.
I really like LA, but you have to look for it! Jonathan Gold was so great in writing about small mom-and-pop places. He was essentially doing the work for people in discovering these gems. There are so many gems and jewels of restaurants to discover. You just have to put in the time and try them out — and it’s cool because you’re supporting all these family-operated restaurants.
Howlin’ Ray’s website and Instagram
PASADENA: WEDS － SUN // 11AM － 4PM (Full service)
CHINATOWN: WEDS － SUN // 11AM － 7PM (walk up + delivery via Postmates)
