Chicken Maisón
With two OC locations, this Torrance-based chain offers great Mediterranean chicken and kababs
Mediterranean food shouldn’t be difficult for fast-casual restaurants to consistently make well, but as chains such as Apóla, Daphne’s, The Great Greek, and Nick the Greek illustrate, actual greatness is rare in this category – well-run indies (such as 7 Grill Mediterranean) tend to be superior choices. Chicken Maisón is an exception: Originally founded 20 years ago in Torrance, this 10-unit chain came to Orange County in 2020 with a Santa Ana location, followed in 2021 by a Fountain Valley opening. Billing itself as a “modern Mediterranean” restaurant, Chicken Maisón specializes in roasted chicken, kabobs, and salads, while also offering smaller assortments of wraps, pastas, and desserts.
Original rotisserie, spicy lemon garlic, lemon basil, and ginger lemon chickens are offered a la carte in quarter (~$9), half (~$14), and whole (~$21) chicken portions; full plates with two side dishes are around $5 more. Seven types of kabobs ($6.25-$15) include two of those chicken flavors, steak, kafta, salmon, vegetable, and tiger shrimp; the same proteins and gyro meat are used in ten salads ($13-19) and three $11-ish wrap-style sandwiches, with chicken also starring in three $18 fettuccine variations. On the Mediterranean front, hummus, grape leaves, tabbouleh, falafel, sole, lentil soup, and chicken soup are also offered either as sides or major ingredients for plates. Three desserts – baklava, cinnamon-honey-pistachio pita chips, and Ghirardelli brownies – are pre-packaged at reasonable $4.25 to $4.95 prices.
Even with plenty of experience at chicken restaurants, we were genuinely surprised by how excellent Chicken Maisón’s poultry tasted: We ordered original rotisserie, spicy garlic, and lemon basil, finding each to be both worthy of its name and clearly superior to places like El Pollo Loco in flavors, external crispiness (where appropriate), and juicy inside textures. Though each was served with a small container of garlic dip, none actually needed it – the intense chicken flavor was strong enough to enjoy on its own with the rotisserie, with plenty of lemon in the lemon basil and just enough spice and garlic in the “spicy garlic” to whet any palate without oversaturation.
Other items we tried varied from pretty good to very good. We liked a steak kabob ($13), which came with six reasonably sized but just barely medium well pieces of beef that would have been even better either medium or medium rare. Similarly, a gyro plate ($18) arrived with multiple thick ribbons of sliced gyro meat that were just barely glistening with juice and oil on delivery, becoming a little too dry only minutes later – another good meat that would have been great with less cooking time. While its accompanying salad and rice were light on frills, they were both quite tasty, while included hummus was even better thanks in part to a nice-looking herb, paprika, tomato, and oil topping.
Though we skipped Maisón’s brownie, we found ourselves devouring the prepackaged baklava and honey-pistachio pita chips before the rest of our meal arrived. While neither was gourmet-quality, they were both good enough by fast-casual chain standards, and the sweet chips were an inspired way to repurpose leftover pitas. We’d order them again (and try a brownie next time).
There will be a next time: It took us several years to hear about Chicken Maisón and a couple more years to actually stop by, in part because they’re not open on Sundays, but we fully intend to make up for lost opportunities with future visits. This family-owned chain does better with both chicken and “modern Mediterranean” items than many of its rivals, and we’re excited to explore more of the menu sooner rather than later.
Stats
Price: $-$$
Service: Counter
Open Since: 2005 (LA), 2020 (OC)
Addresses
3605 S. Bristol St.
Santa Ana, CA 92704
714.754.5480
18030 Brookhurst St.
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
657.329.0494
Instagram: @chicken_maison