At Fran’s Chicken Haven they’ve been using the same original fried chicken recipe that dates back to 1964. The place even has the original neon sign that’s been grandfathered into Boca Raton‘s no-neon laws. Fran’s Chicken Haven, 1925 N. Federal Highway, is a landmark, and Susan Mussaffi, the restaurant’s fourth owner, has made sure that Fran’s Chicken is glatt kosher using only glatt meat and certified by the Orthodox Rabbinical Board of Broward and Palm Beach Counties. They even have a mashgiach on site to supervise the kashrut status of Fran’s Chicken Haven as a kosher establishment. Shaya Greiner, the mashgiach, makes sure the standards aren’t jeopardized and is employed at the restaurant where he ensures the reputation and integrity of all the items that come through the door, making certain they are kosher.
While there has been a few major changes since Mussaffi bought Fran’s Chicken Haven, those changes have made a major difference at the restaurant. She gutted the whole restaurant and now it has four tables seating 12 and four bar seats. The interior is inviting with new paint and a new floor. The open kitchen allows for patrons to watch their food being cooked, which is always a plus. As for the menu, macaroni and cheese is off and so is fried shrimp, replaced with tasty Basmati rice (a nod to Mussaffi’s Mediterranean roots) that’s higher quality with a nice fragrance that ignites the taste buds. She also added homemade chili.
Fran’s Chicken Haven also serves chicken by the piece with breast, leg, thigh and wing options, or a Barn Box of Fried Chicken, the perfect sidekick to that picnic at the beach or something to bring to the party. Buffalo wings are also available; they do small, medium and large orders of the full wing and drum combinations with mild, spicy or sweet sauces. There also are four options of chicken tenders with sauce; the tasty Popcorn Crusted Chicken Tenders with Apricot Sauce are great. There are six dinner options with sides that include baked beans, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, Basmati rice, homemade creamy coleslaw made with sweet lime juice, homemade potato salad with onions and pickles, or sweet and tangy macaroni salad. For hot sides, Fran’s Chicken Haven has fried mushrooms breaded in a secret coating, French fries, corn nuggets, sweet potato fries and onion rings made with the original Fran’s fried chicken recipe and served with honey Dijon mayo sauce that’s just out of this world! They even have gizzards and everything is fried in soybean oil.
They do a Homemade Mush Potato Bowl with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and fried chicken tender pieces.
My favorite part of the menu is the Schnitzelwiches, which are crispy, fried, boneless chicken breast or grilled chicken breast on a delicious hot sub roll flown in fresh from France. The Fran’s Crunchin Munchin sandwich is sweet and crunchy schnitzel breaded with Cap’n Crunch cereal, pretzels and dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles and sweet tropical sauce. The Frank Sinatra Schnitzelwich is savory schnitzel breaded with Italian herbs and spices, onions, tomatoes, pickles, banana peppers and lettuce with homemade Caesar dressing on that hot French sub roll. There’s also the “JC” with grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, onion and Mediterranean Lemon Sauce. My favorite is the Pretzel Logic with all the toppings: delicious pretzel-breaded chicken and the best homemade honey mustard sauce ever. There’s also the Shanghai Surprise, Falafel and Frantastic Schnitzelwiches. I’ll be back. A garden salad with crispy lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, hearts of palm, cabbage, chick peas, banana peppers, pickles and beets, with the option to add fried or grilled chicken, also makes the menu.
At Fran’s Chicken Haven, I found everything to be very affordable with great face-to-face service. They do catering, take-out and a new free delivery (in a 2-mile radius).
Call 561-395-0781 or visit FransChicken.net.
