Popular US chicken restaurant, Slim Chickens, has arrived in Guildford with the launch of the brand’s first Surrey restaurant. Having created 60 new jobs, ‘Slims’ opened its doors at 22 Friary Street on Thursday, 3rd March promising quality food that is ‘always fresh’. Quickly building a reputation as one of the UK’s up-and-coming brands, the Guildford launch marks the brand’s 17th UK restaurant.
Famous for its chicken tenders and hugely popular in the USA, Slim Chickens offers good old Southern hospitality, serving up cooked-to-order premium chicken with a side of Blues music – creating a relaxed, casual, but memorable experience.
Slims offers family seating, intimate tables, booths and large platters cooked fresh to order and served in less than 10 minutes. Diners can choose from Slim’s signature buttermilk marinated chicken and house specialities, including crispy tenders, alongside a range of 15 signature dipping sauces including Blue Cheese, Sriracha Garlic and Fiery Inferno – but be warned: it’s seriously hot!
Also on offer is a wide selection of fresh chicken sandwiches, wings, salads and wraps, as well as vegetarian options and sides such as pickles and mac’n’cheese. Drinks include Slims’ famous hand-spun shakes, IPA and unique signature cocktails such as the Corn Star Martini and Whiskey Smash.
At Slim Chickens, food and great tasting drinks are served up alongside BT Sport, with US Sports, Premier League and Champions League shown. The restaurant will appeal to students, families with a crowd to feed, those that want to #ChickenOut from cooking and people who want to meet up with friends and enjoy satisfying conversation with equally satisfying food.
They invited us along for a taste…
First impressions were excellent. The restaurtant is very smartly layed out, with bright colours, comfortable seating, a friendly buzz and a very inviting look. It is also the first Slim Chicken restaurant in the world to have its own two robots, pictured below. These ferry the takeaway orders from the kitchen to the front counter and work brilliantly Here is a video.
We decided to order a small selection so we could do a proper review for you. The signature, and best-selling, tenders were our first choice, and we also ordered a Hot Buffalo Sandwich (or burger as we would call it), some chicken wings and sides of Fried Pickles and Crispy Fried Onions. We washed these down with a popcorn flavoured ‘hand spun shake’ and their own-brewed IPA beer.
The tenders were really fabulous. Because the chicken is coated and then cooked to order, the pieces were wonderfully moist and tender, living up to their name. We had ordered a ‘meal’, which came with very good skin-on fries, a piece of Texas toast (garlic bread really) and a sauce of choice (plus bottomless soda). We actually were given a few of the sauces to try, all were good but the Korean BBQ and Inferno were the best, both hot with the latter being seriously hot as they promise! 
The sandwich as a very decent chicken burger in a pleasant, soft bun and they have six to choose from including a spicy double one for healthy appetites. The chicken wings were also good, if messy to eat. Happily a full kitchen roll was provided on each table – and was needed! The sides were both excellent, and plentiful. You will need to share them – and we had the small portion size…
The shake was deliciously silky, tasted exactly like popcorn but happily wasn’t too sweet. The beer was citrussy and went down very well. The service was excellent, everyone was helpful, smiley and efficient. Prices are reasonable (four tenders meal is £8.95, a burger on its own is from £5.95) but it’s the quality that shines out. If chicken is your thing, you will not go wrong here. Warmly recommended.
Slim Chicken, 22 Friary Street, Guildford GU1 4EH. Eat-in or takeaway.
www.slimchickens.co.uk
