The Early Word on StreetCar Merchants of Fried Chicken, Doughnuts & Coffee

Eaters have been flocking to StreetCar Merchants of Fried Chicken, Doughnuts & Coffee since the purveyor of fried foods first opened in North Park at end of 2014. To help you plan your visit, we mined the Internet to find out what people are saying about the place, which was recently honored for their storefront improvement. Say hello to Good News/Bad News.

The Chicken News: The restaurant's using Mary's Free Range Chicken for its fried chicken varieties that range from Southern-style to Korean and Nashville Hot. The chicken's fried to order, so it can take 30 minutes to cook, but most commenters agree that it's worth the wait. Yelper Parada O. deems it "some of the best fried chicken in town" while the San Diego Reader found the Korean version cooked to "beautiful golden crisp, with nicely moist meat inside". Kirbie's Cravings shared that they do a "great version of Southern-style fried chicken and I’d gladly come back here again to get my fix." and Jinxi Eats agreed, saying that "the batter was perfectly crunchy, the chicken was juicy and tender and flavorful".

The Donut News: StreetCar's square donuts, based on brioche dough and fried in rice bran oil, didn't find a fan in a Chowhounder who sampled two and said they were "grease bombs, overly sweet and tasted more or less the same" or Yelper Anna K. who described them as "greasy, and flavorless. It tasted like someone just poured vegetable oil in my mouth." But Kirbie's Cravings differed, saying the "buttery brioche batter makes these donuts taste richer and feel more gourmet."

The Coffee News: StreetCar is serving Intelligensia Coffee; Yelper Jack M. writes that it's "very good and I was pleasantly surprised with its richness and smoothness." A Chowhounder says "The coffee was pretty good. But not $3 for a small paper cup of it good."