Savory and sweet collide for a soulful celebration of flavor on October 20th as we celebrate National Chicken and Waffles Day. Imagine a world where ingredients of every spice and spirit find their way into the honeycombs of thick and crispy waffles. Well, that day has arrived.
- 6000 BC – Waffles are an ancient food dating back to the rustic hotcakes cooked on stones in the Neolithic Age (6000BC to 2000 BC).
- 500 AD – Fried chicken shows up in its earliest form as a fricassee – chicken pieces braised in a sauce. Fricassee was popular in the Mediterranean basin during the medieval period.
- 14th Century – Waffles have been eaten since the 14th century.
- 17th Century – Chicken and waffles first appeared in Pennsylvania Dutch country. During this time, cooks made waffles topped with pulled chicken and gravy.
- 18th Century – conventional wisdom has designated the American South as fried chicken’s native home. Southerners have made it a mainstay of their regional cuisine claiming that the dish was developed by the African slaves who were doing most of the cooking in Southern kitchens.
- 1700s – The exact origins of the dish are unknown; there are several versions of its origins. Food historians have unearthed chicken and waffle recipes in cookbooks as far back as the late 1700s after Thomas Jefferson returned from France with a waffle iron.
- 1800s – Chicken and waffles have been around for more than 150 years. And while no one knows who first put chicken and waffles on the same plate together, we do know the meal was a staple of both African-American cooks and the Pennsylvania Dutch.
- 1870s – The big, nationwide boom in fried chicken and waffles began in the 1870s mirroring the rise of a national railroad system that mitigated the strain of long-distance travel.
- 1917 – A Chicago restaurant advertised a Southern chicken dinner with waffles and real maple syrup (35 cents each!) Today, Metro Diner serves more than 1,300 orders of fried chicken and waffles every day!
- 1938 – a different version of the combination appeared in Harlem, NY at the Wells Supper Club. Known as “Wells” to the regulars, this was a favorite of late-night musicians who arrived too late for dinner and too early for breakfast—so chicken and waffles was the perfect compromise.
- 2019 – Metro Diner sold more than 485,000 orders of our Fried Chicken & Waffles – that’s nearly two million pieces of fried chicken!
- 2021 – Roscoe’s House of Chicken N’ Waffles in Southern California founded National Chicken and Waffles Day in 2021
- The dish is most commonly made by serving fried chicken with a waffle, the waffle then typically being covered with butter and/or syrup (as is common practice among those who eat waffles for breakfast in the United States). This unusual combination of foods is beloved by many people who are influenced by traditions of soul food passed down from past generations of their families.
- There are myriad of ways to eat this dish: Some people go right for the chicken, saving the waffle for dessert. Others do exactly the opposite: They start with the waffle because they want to save the chicken for last. Some shred the chicken, put it on the waffle, pour the syrup over the whole thing, and nosh away.
- The combination became increasingly popular, spreading to Los Angeles when Harlem native Herb Hudson opened a restaurant dedicated to the pairing. The restaurant, Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles, is a staple for music industry professionals and performers in the LA area.
- Celebrity Chef Guy Fieri is a big fan of Metro Diner’s Fried Chicken and Waffles – he featured them on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network.
- It takes 48 hours to brine and marinate the chicken to give it maximum flavor and juiciness before we pour even one drop of the sweet and spicy sauce that so perfectly complements the delicious dish.
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