Pioneer Chicken Used to Run L.A. . .and it STILL Does!

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  • Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
  • Thank you Eddie from ‪@hungryinla‬ for sitting down at Pioneer Chicken to discuss the history, the legacy, and the culture behind my favorite restaurant in L.A.. Let's get into it!
    #pioneerchicken #losangeles #lainaminute #hungryinla

КОМЕНТАРІ • 112

  • @smeeagain3102
    @smeeagain3102 4 місяці тому +18

    I remember pioneer chicken! Brings my childhood back…

  • @svbarr
    @svbarr 4 місяці тому +1

    LA in a Minute is GREAT!!! Keep up te good work. What I remember the most about Pioneer Chicken was the FISH and chips.Amazing with the malt vinegar.

  • @Adriheydri
    @Adriheydri 4 місяці тому +1

    As a kid my grandma would take to Pioneer chicken on Soto after the last day of school every year. Oh how I miss my grams!

  • @leonardborja4644
    @leonardborja4644 4 місяці тому +2

    Going to drive from wildomar tomorrow and eat there. Thank you for this

  • @jameschan9634
    @jameschan9634 4 місяці тому +2

    Didn't know there were any left: drove there next morning after seeing this, picked up a bucket and some gizzards. I'm happy! I live between the old locations at Echo Park and on Sunset/Fountain.

  • @pb51-d8f
    @pb51-d8f 4 місяці тому +12

    I worked at a Lucky grocery store and we had a Pioneer Chicken and an HSalt fish and chips next door. It was great

    • @michaelcastillo364
      @michaelcastillo364 4 місяці тому

      Luckys in alhambra?

    • @pb51-d8f
      @pb51-d8f 4 місяці тому

      @@michaelcastillo364 South Gate,State St and Firestone. 467

  • @brawnbenson552
    @brawnbenson552 4 місяці тому +6

    Pioneer should have been where Chick-fil-A is today!

  • @Horsefingerandthetaintwrights
    @Horsefingerandthetaintwrights 4 місяці тому +1

    I grew up in Venice and ate at the one on Lincoln.

  • @spitflamez
    @spitflamez 4 місяці тому +1

    I used to go to the one in Long Beach, it was down the street from my house and was my favorite fried chicken when I was little.

  • @jdkirkland63
    @jdkirkland63 4 місяці тому +5

    I used to frequent the Pioneer Chicken at Victory Blvd. and Vineland in North Hollywood. I was so bummed when they closed down. That was some good chicken 😋. I miss it. 😞😥

  • @cardiffchris
    @cardiffchris 4 місяці тому +1

    I still eat at Pioneer.
    Usually at the Bell Gardens store with the drive through.

  • @bensantos4244
    @bensantos4244 4 місяці тому +2

    Use to go to the one in South Gate. Use to get a comic book or other toys as a child. Pioneer chicken was the best.

  • @f4ll3nzr0
    @f4ll3nzr0 4 місяці тому +6

    Good News!! The 2 grandkids are going to try and bring back Pioneer!

  • @chrisdeguzman7795
    @chrisdeguzman7795 4 місяці тому +1

    Bbq sauce and chicken tenders for me.. i always go to bell gardens. 20 mins drive from me off florence…🔥🔥

  • @mypl510
    @mypl510 4 місяці тому +4

    Man, I miss Pioneer! Not many of them here in San Diego, and the one I went to was in National City. Sad day when it went away. Need to make a trip to L.A. for some of that Orange Bird!

  • @13_13k
    @13_13k 4 місяці тому +6

    I live in Downtown L.A. and I go to the Boyle Heights Pioneer once a month at least.

    • @mariem.1398
      @mariem.1398 4 місяці тому

      How far is Downtown L.A. from Boyle Heights ?

    • @13_13k
      @13_13k 4 місяці тому

      @@mariem.1398 --- 5 minutes depending on what part of downtown you are in.
      It's just a matter of crossing the River and the train yard.
      I live in the Westlake District which is next to Echo Park. I'm 2 blocks West of the 110 freeway. The high rises start one block away from me but most are just on the other side of the freeway. I'm about a mile or less from where the 110 and 101 freeways collide. That's where Echo Park Park and Lake is. Glendale Blvd. at Sunset Blvd.

    • @rigoortiz2434
      @rigoortiz2434 4 місяці тому +2

      Two minutes away. Just over the Six Street bridge.

  • @eddietorres5655
    @eddietorres5655 4 місяці тому +13

    Orange Bang is SFV-born!

  • @michaelcastillo364
    @michaelcastillo364 4 місяці тому +1

    It was all about the corn on the cob in those translucent yellow bags

  • @slkriderchick
    @slkriderchick 4 місяці тому +2

    I tried both locations recently and I prefer the one in Bell Gardens. The one in Boyle Heights chicken was drier even though the crunch was still there.

  • @Mosgerb
    @Mosgerb 4 місяці тому +2

    LAin1 stepping up the production value! Love it! ❤213❤

  • @wooster2452
    @wooster2452 4 місяці тому +5

    Back in the 70s and 80s I used to patronize the Pioneer in Venice on the corner of Washington and Lincoln. Nothing better than biting into that orange-colored batter and having the grease just jump out at you.

    • @gqmartinez1
      @gqmartinez1 4 місяці тому +1

      I did not know there was a pioneer at that intersection. Now you have Costco and 818 Brewery.

  • @davidavelar7779
    @davidavelar7779 4 місяці тому +4

    Used to visit the one in Anaheim on the corner of Magnolia and Lincoln as a kid. My pops really liked it. The sign (without the Pioneer) is still there.

  • @FrazierMtnCheese
    @FrazierMtnCheese 4 місяці тому +5

    Sure hope they bring Pioneer locations back. It's a shame that they only have two locations left. They have the best Chicken. I used to go the one in Santa Monica twice a week.

  • @crickkett7510
    @crickkett7510 4 місяці тому +23

    Better chicken than KFC! Went to locations in the SFV

    • @michaelfarar4232
      @michaelfarar4232 4 місяці тому +2

      Was greasy but delicious. Got my chicken fries and a pickled Jalapeño

  • @donaldduck4867
    @donaldduck4867 4 місяці тому +7

    The Pioneer Chicken in La Mirada was walking distance from my house. I loved the place!!!😎❤️

    • @tagamial
      @tagamial 4 місяці тому

      My dad always bought from that one !

  • @mortensen1961
    @mortensen1961 4 місяці тому +2

    I briefly worked at the one on the corner of Whittier Blvd. and Painter Ave. in 1980. . . . .

    • @whoami7721
      @whoami7721 4 місяці тому +4

      That was my local Pioneer Chicken. Lived just up the street from there. I was sad to see it go, sometime around the 1987 quake. The building is still there, but it's now a Mexican restaurant. I've been to the Bell Gardens one a few times and the memories came rushing back!

  • @jeffreybroussely9795
    @jeffreybroussely9795 4 місяці тому +1

    I went to the one in Cypress. My friends and family still talk about how much we miss it. I hope it makes a comeback!

  • @emazonreviews6269
    @emazonreviews6269 4 місяці тому +3

    Dad used to sneak in 7 and 7 in a cup (if you know you know) and we’d have a great time !!!

  • @CaptVII
    @CaptVII 4 місяці тому +1

    There used to be one on Western in Ktown. Now its a chinese fast food joint but that iconic building is still standing. They even filmed a scene at the location, in the movie Nightcrawler.

  • @luifranco1457
    @luifranco1457 4 місяці тому +4

    Mine was the one that used to be on Sunset and Fountain, back when Best Buy didn’t exist and everyone went next door to Circuit City!
    Yo Evan, you should check out Donahoo’s in Pomona, that one has a bit of a controversial story because there are a couple other locations that are NOT related (there seems to be some kind of controversy as to which one is the true OG). Best chicken in the area IMO

  • @1anonymousb
    @1anonymousb 4 місяці тому +1

    I once moved in to a place because it was down the street from the Pioneer on Sunset. It closed before I even moved in. I hope they start growing from the two locations again.

  • @drplando14
    @drplando14 4 місяці тому +1

    When we lived in pacoima back in the 80s we use to go do laundry and there was one right next to it. Loved it

  • @H2VPROEternal
    @H2VPROEternal 4 місяці тому +1

    Pioneers of chicken!!

  • @imagesinla8575
    @imagesinla8575 4 місяці тому +5

    Pioneer was always very good. But with all due respect, Golden Bird was always the best chicken in LA in the 70s, 80s and 90s. And like Pioneer, there are only two Golden Bird locations left in LA. Try it out, and compare the two.

    • @nismonotmugen
      @nismonotmugen 4 місяці тому +3

      Golden bird is fire

    • @reneejohnson9256
      @reneejohnson9256 4 місяці тому +4

      ​@@nismonotmugenGolden bird was delicious. Nowadays people open restaurants and say it's golden bird, but it's definitely not the same! There's one on western, it's ok! I remember they opened one on Manchester Blvd a few yrs back, it was horrible+ there biscuits was hard as bricks! They not even there anymore! Adams Blvd, and marlton/ Crenshaw were famous golden bird locations!😊

    • @richterbelmont2
      @richterbelmont2 4 місяці тому +1

      Pioneer was always better. Golden Bird is straight up trash nowadays. It's so bad they reheated all their sides in the microwave before serving it. If you want something better than both Jim Dandy's on Vermont and Imperial had always stayed consistent with the flavor and pricing.

    • @imagesinla8575
      @imagesinla8575 4 місяці тому

      @@richterbelmont2 If I were going for something other than Golden Bird, but very much like Golden Bird, I'd go to Honey's Kettle in Culver City.

    • @nismonotmugen
      @nismonotmugen 4 місяці тому

      @@reneejohnson9256 damn that's what happened to the place? I remembered they opened one in Georgia a few years ago. Closed down though.

  • @andycervantes1586
    @andycervantes1586 4 місяці тому +1

    I drive from Ontario ca to Bell gardens for it.

  • @carlossantiago323
    @carlossantiago323 4 місяці тому

    The last time I had pioneer Chicken was in San Francisco on 24th and mission across the street from McDonald's thanks for the video brings back memories

  • @semipenguin
    @semipenguin 4 місяці тому +1

    As a kid, I used to visit my aunt and uncle who lived in Norwalk. Sometimes we’d go to the one in Norwalk Square. Good stuff. Since then, I’ve lived in other parts of the country. I have to say that Bojangles is probably my favorite fried chicken.

    • @imagesinla8575
      @imagesinla8575 4 місяці тому

      Where is Bojangles? I've never seen one in LA.

    • @semipenguin
      @semipenguin 4 місяці тому +1

      @@imagesinla8575 They’re in the South. We had one in the town I used to live in in Tennessee

    • @imagesinla8575
      @imagesinla8575 4 місяці тому +1

      @@semipenguin Thanks!

  • @steveh5882
    @steveh5882 4 місяці тому +1

    LA is my back yard. I grew up in the LA and I remember eating once at Pioneer chicken. It was greasy as hell. I stuck with KFC. This was in the early 80s.

  • @ponce538
    @ponce538 4 місяці тому

    When I was a kid, the original Pioneer Chicken was located in Echo-Park. They had 2 side-by-side stores.

  • @punetang-vtnm
    @punetang-vtnm 4 місяці тому

    That was our go to back in the day...80s and 90s

  • @doe3886
    @doe3886 4 місяці тому +1

    I grew up near the location in Echo Park. This video takes me waaaaaaaay back.

  • @nriqueog
    @nriqueog 4 місяці тому +3

    Their Biscuits are amazing.

  • @cstreip7707
    @cstreip7707 4 місяці тому

    There was a Pioneer Chicken on Lincoln Blvd. in Venice near Santa Monica. Great tasting food!

  • @busterhikney6936
    @busterhikney6936 3 місяці тому

    Lemonade was a popular drink
    AND IT STILL IS

  • @jamesisabeastieboysfan
    @jamesisabeastieboysfan 4 місяці тому +2

    Used to go to one in Sunland.

  • @jayski9410
    @jayski9410 4 місяці тому

    I used to live & work in Honolulu back in the 1970's and they had a Pioneer Chicken out there.

  • @mhansen52
    @mhansen52 4 місяці тому +1

    You guys made my mouth water!

  • @chrisn5527
    @chrisn5527 4 місяці тому

    They had one in Pomona Holt /San Antonio man it was good, this one he’s at is on Soto in E-Los.

  • @Mrkoolaid333
    @Mrkoolaid333 4 місяці тому +2

    PC is the GOAT of fried 🍗 !!!

  • @sleepy310714
    @sleepy310714 4 місяці тому +3

    i remember the one in Hawthorne i believe Rosecrans and Prairie

    • @bitnbyte3319
      @bitnbyte3319 4 місяці тому +3

      Pioneer was all over the South Bay back in the day. Chicken choices used to be Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pioneer, Church's & the fried chicken from the $1 Chinese fast food at the corner of Redondo Beach & Normandie. Good times!

  • @parrotletsrunearth1173
    @parrotletsrunearth1173 4 місяці тому +1

    The BEST chicken!!!!!!

  • @drh3b
    @drh3b 4 місяці тому +1

    There used to be a Pioneer Chicken by where there used to be a Lucky's in Westminster, I think Magnolia and Bolsa. Didn't eat there often because my Dad hated fried chicken after two years in the army. Don't remember specifics other than I enjoyed it. This was the Seventies, I'm lucky I remember it at all. There was a Foster's Freeze nearby and Japanese farms, until they realized they could make more money selling to developers than farming.

  • @tiojojo
    @tiojojo 4 місяці тому +1

    Wow. Someone upgraded the video equipment! What camera are using now for this video?

  • @emazonreviews6269
    @emazonreviews6269 4 місяці тому +3

    Do they still have the corn on the cob in the yellow wrapper ?

    • @arfriedman4577
      @arfriedman4577 4 місяці тому

      I went to their website. You can do the same. They have corn on cob.

  • @handsome526
    @handsome526 3 місяці тому

    They had a pioneer chicken in Montebello when I was growing up

  • @johnlopez3996
    @johnlopez3996 4 місяці тому +2

    Kids used to steal Pioneer Pete and take him to high school for a senior prank.

    • @mjwbulich
      @mjwbulich 4 місяці тому +1

      We took the Big Boy once too.

  • @mariem.1398
    @mariem.1398 4 місяці тому

    Im from Stkn, ca. used to live like 3 blocks from pioneer Chicken Havent had it oh gosh going on 40 Yrs, How many more left ?

  • @socaljarhead7670
    @socaljarhead7670 4 місяці тому +1

    I used to hit the one on Tweedy in South Gate when I was kid.

    • @pb51-d8f
      @pb51-d8f 4 місяці тому +1

      It was on Firestone and State Street, next to the Lucky Market.

  • @Nihilist1974
    @Nihilist1974 4 місяці тому

    Forgot about this place.
    Good stuff
    Mimber Naugles
    Mimber Pup N Taco ??

  • @TheMmiguelito
    @TheMmiguelito 4 місяці тому

    You need to try honey kettle in Culver city

  • @MrWeliz
    @MrWeliz 4 місяці тому +1

    I live in Hacienda Heights and we han one on Hacienda Blvd and Gale Ave

  • @King_S_D_L
    @King_S_D_L 4 місяці тому

    Their strips are what I go for… unmatched. And I am not even a chicken strip guy. Yet, that was my youth in the mid eighties. Summertime ☀️ After swimming for hours at the local high school Ma takes us to Pioneer Chicken for a strip basket with double fries 🍟 😋

    • @lainaminute
      @lainaminute  4 місяці тому

      That sounds amazing! There’s nothing like those nostalgic summer memories. Pioneer Chicken really knows how to hit the spot! 🐔🍟

  • @MJ1331EL
    @MJ1331EL 4 місяці тому +2

    I was always wondering why there are plenty of Florist Stores that have a particular Spanish style to their facade. Perhaps a new LA in a minute?

  • @socaljarhead7670
    @socaljarhead7670 4 місяці тому +2

    Those prices for fried fucking chicken can best be described as ludicrous

  • @airtioteclint
    @airtioteclint 4 місяці тому +1

    We had one in the bay area. Chicken basket with fries was all we ever got because it was cheap. From what I can remember, it wasn't anything special. Decent for the price and all we could afford. The KFC in the Plaza across the street is still there so....

  • @jeffnelson4489
    @jeffnelson4489 4 місяці тому

    Went to bell gardens not the same

  • @sb-ux5lq
    @sb-ux5lq 4 місяці тому

    It was the best

  • @robertevangelista8626
    @robertevangelista8626 4 місяці тому +1

    Loved the flavor but gave me a headache. Weird right?

  • @erikh9991
    @erikh9991 4 місяці тому

    There is one by my volunteer job. I went for lunch and found out they don't have white meat chicken. So strange to me.

  • @bigcatauna
    @bigcatauna 4 місяці тому

    the cost to eat at these places makes for a good diet plan

  • @javierdelgado1554
    @javierdelgado1554 4 місяці тому +1

    Funny, i just had 'Raisin Canes' today for the first time...nothing to rave about really...it was just bland chicken and batter.

  • @Tangent360
    @Tangent360 4 місяці тому +4

    I had no idea any were still around! Pioneer was always better than KFC and that's before the decline in quality KFC has had over the last decades...

  • @geerad7237
    @geerad7237 4 місяці тому +1

    I'm sure there's more than 2 locations of KFC in LA. 😅

  • @frankofudrucker2201
    @frankofudrucker2201 4 місяці тому +1

    In the 70s, the Glendale Pioneer's chicken did not smell or taste fresh. Glenoaks and Grandview.

  • @eliassalcedo5229
    @eliassalcedo5229 4 місяці тому

    OJ Simpson used to make the famous pioneer chicken commercials. 🤭

  • @kijnek
    @kijnek 4 місяці тому

    Pioneer. Montebello.

  • @jackwalsh7956
    @jackwalsh7956 4 місяці тому +1

    F*** me. Like I need another reason to go back to LA. I’ll be going here next time if it’s still there

  • @tonystarks5569
    @tonystarks5569 4 місяці тому

    Is Tommy's famous chili burgers falling off , below expectations?

    • @pb51-d8f
      @pb51-d8f 4 місяці тому +1

      @@tonystarks5569 No, but the original in LA is still the best one.

  • @spderman123
    @spderman123 4 місяці тому

    this is the stereotypical LA guy

  • @bensantos4244
    @bensantos4244 4 місяці тому

    Use

  • @gobanito
    @gobanito 4 місяці тому

    Why are these types of restaurants found only in ghetto areas?

    • @nriqueog
      @nriqueog 4 місяці тому +2

      Rent is cheap so these are usually the last to go. But this one never went under as they have kept everything O.G.

    • @imagesinla8575
      @imagesinla8575 4 місяці тому

      Because people in more well to do areas are better educated on eating healthier foods, and wouldn't patronize these types of places. As an example, there are zero McDonalds in Beverly Hills.

  • @riohondoish84
    @riohondoish84 4 місяці тому

    $$$$

  • @michaeldavies4871
    @michaeldavies4871 4 місяці тому

    There’s used to be a third one about 15 years ago, but I’ve been to the two remaining restaurants, mainly the Bell Gardens location. I still think it’s the best. I love the crust, although you gotta eat it the same day, in other words, it doesn’t hold up to refrigeration very well.

  • @sharkair2839
    @sharkair2839 4 місяці тому +1

    the same owner as fgs insurance. field group services.