CGK (Crazy Good Kitchen)

If you’d told me I’d be blogging about a burger and a chicken sandwich, I’d think you were crazy. Until we found Crazy Good Kitchen or CGK as it’s called, on Boston’s famous Newbury Street. Apparently there’s only one other, the original location about 20 minutes north, in Malden.

The picture you see here of me lovingly gazing at our sandwiches and fries is to give some perspective as to the size of the chicken sandwich. When I say it was huge, that would be an understatement as I didn’t even expect my daughter to eat the whole thing. Which says a lot. Because she can eat. A lot. So either both the burger and I are really tiny or… you get the picture. And by the way, the fries, which were the best I have ever had were also a heaping helping which my daughter did not finish. An experience I have never witnessed before. (She LOVES fries!!) Which also leads me to mention their “Better-than-Ketchup” which was also very fresh and delicious!

So what’s all the fuss about the food? Well, for starters, when was the last time you had a chicken sandwich made with dark meat? For me, I have only had what I have made at home. CGK’s version, waaaaaaayyyyyyyy better than mine, is a buttermilk fried chicken sandwich with mixed slaw, house pickles and homemade buttermilk dressing. The chicken is very tasty and reminiscent of a cross between Nashville hot chicken and Japanese chicken karage. My daughter ordered the spicy version. YUM!! The brioche bun melts in your mouth along with the slaw and pickles. All of which I wanted to purchase individually to go!

I can only imagine how good the rest of the menu is as they also specialize in white meat chicken tenders and shakes! I am definitely going back!! Maybe this weekend. My burger was cooked PERFECTLY and as good as the winning Bobby Flay Throwdown green chile burger I had in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico at Manny’s Buckhorn Tavern. (Manny said he’d buy my lunch if I ate the whole burger AND onion rings. Do you think I paid?) I should probably mention I very rarely eat red meat and have a burger about once every 5 years.

Now let me back up a bit to the service… does it even matter at this point? Yes. In our case, we only popped in to see the menu because we were curious, given the name. We were greeted by the most friendly people and decided we just had to give it a try. The service from then on was worthy itself of a 5 Heart Rating and as good as any I have had at Michelin restaurants.

If you’re ever in Boston, go here. My guess is there will be more popping up in a city near you too.