Rooster Republic, Santa Ana CA

vytran214

7 years ago

Categories: Santa Ana
Tags: Chicken Sandwich, Santa Ana

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When I first heard the name “Rooster Republic,” a picture of white feathered fowl signing the Articles of Confederation came to mind. Imagine a large wooden table with chickens in waistcoats and breeches talking about taxation without representation. There’s tons of potential for me to make correlations between a group of colonial roosters and America, but let’s not go there.

Rooster Republic is inside the Mcfadden Public Market, a modern food hall with a righteous 80’s styled Barcade. There aren’t a lot of places to eat here, but the 4th street market is only a couple of blocks away if you don’t find anything you like. Of course, if you are looking for some Nashville Hot chicken, you don’t have to go anywhere.

The interior of the McFadden Public Market. Rooster Republic is in the right side, with the red chairs.

Rooster Republic’s Nashville Hot Tender Sandwich

Nashville hot chicken tenders
White barbecue sauce
Pickles
Cabbage

Nashville Hot chicken tender sandwich with white barbecue sauce.

Rooster Republic’s hot chicken tender sandwich was an interesting combination of hot spices with a touch of sweetness. I appreciated the flavors of the batter and the chicken was surprisingly moist for white meat. There was a touch of garlic and heavy cayenne pepper that worked in sync with the subtle white barbecue sauce. I expected a little more from the sauce and cabbage, but it seemed to serve more as a balance to the spice. The sandwich itself is pretty straight forward, it’s spicy (I ordered it hot) but not so much that you can’t taste anything and the spiced honey on the table is a wonderful compliment to the chicken.

I’d like to come back again, but I think next time I’d like to forego the sandwich part and just order the chicken (blasphemous, I know); The sandwich is nice, but the chicken itself is really what made the meal remarkable. Plus the hot honey on the chicken is really good.

-Vy

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