Finger lick n’ kick n’ chicken: Five Star lands in Richmond

We had to eat through all the fries first. That’s just how it works when you’re at Five Star Chicken on San Pablo Avenue, where the old H. Salt Fish & Chips used to be, back when things were different and the corridor was quieter and nobody was talking about the "Richmond Gourmet Ghetto" yet.

Richmond Five Star Chicken: 12951 San Pablo Avenue

Some are calling it that now. Richmond’s Gourmet Ghetto. All this stuff opening up along The Avenue. Five Star Chicken expanding from Vallejo to Richmond. Flora de Jalisco’s truck next door serving what they’ve always served. New spots popping up between the tire shops and the auto body places. The vanguard across the street watching another storefront fill up on San Pablo Avenue.

The interior of Five Star Chicken is clean and modern with a playful attitude. Pops of red come from both the décor and the glowing wall sign, a bold, cartoon chicken with crossed wings under the slogan “Finger Lick N’ Kick N’ Chicken.” Imagine the Colonel raising an eyebrow, or perhaps tipping his hat.

The menu features fried chicken combos and sandwiches, such as the “Five Star Chicken Combo” we ordered ($13.16 with tax), as well as hot-honey, buffalo, or mango-habanero variations. You’ll also find loaded fries and bowls. Think: mac-and-cheese topped with chicken or a “Flamin’ Mac Fries” option, accompanied by sides like coleslaw and cheese sauce. On the beverage side, there's a lot of stuff we are too old for. Milkshakes (vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, Oreo, mango, Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch) and “energy refreshers” like tropical mango and cosmic berry are available alongside fountain drinks and lemonades.

Two plumbers were eating inside, still in their work clothes, and one was giving the other grief about ordering the chicken sandwich combo instead of the mac and cheese bowl. "Oh man, you ordered the wrong thing..." The other one just shrugged and kept eating, not defending his choice, not arguing, just working through his sandwich.

The sandwich came out hot, hot. Not just hot. Hot hot. The kind of heat that makes you wait and think about your choices and remember other times you didn’t wait and burned your mouth on something you should’ve respected more. The brioche bun was sweet and soft like a good memory from before everything got complicated. The chicken stayed crispy through the whole thing.

You could see it in the coating, that orange-gold crunch that didn’t quit even after sitting next to hot fries in a plastic container. The kind of crispy that survives the journey home, that holds up against steam and time and the reality of takeout physics. And the chicken itself was juicy, probably brined if we had to guess, the kind of moisture that means someone in the kitchen figured out the science and made sure it worked every single time.

There was lettuce, tomato, and pickle. The holy trinity of sandwich architecture that never goes out of style. Some sauce, nothing too fancy. Just honest construction from people who started in Vallejo and worked their way down to San Pablo Avenue, where El Pollo Loco sits a few blocks north, and now there’s competition, now there’s a scene developing.

The crinkle fries were good, but they were just the opening act. They gave us two sauces: we're going to call'em Ranch and Thousand Island. The sandwich was the headliner. And yeah, it delivered. It held up under scrutiny, hunger, and the weight of expectation that comes with filling a burned-out space in a neighborhood that’s suddenly got people talking about gourmet ghettos and food corridors, and whether Richmond is having a moment or if Richmond was always having a moment, and we just weren’t paying attention.

Five stars out of Five Stars.

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