This was my first time going to this particular Harold's chicken. My Mom wanted to get some chicken for dinner. She ordered the 8 pieces of chicken but when she discovered that only/mostly dark meat (thighs, legs and wings; she changed her mind. My family & I eat mostly breast and for $2.99 each breast she declined. So, I ordered the catfish lunch special. The place is set up for takeout with a few places to eat in. The service was good and your food is cooked to order therefore, nice and hot when you get it. They also offer catering menu. I enjoyed it but my Mom said that the fish was not fried hard enough for her liking. Overall experience I'll give 4 & a half stars. read more

See all

The customer service is totally unprofessional. They don't have to worry about me patronizing their establishment. An opening my bag to find that they use Starbucks stamped napkins. Are they apart of Starbucks as well? read more

Harold's Chicken - The small salad on the left and the large that they charged me double for on the right. Bad business!!! - Chicken Shop Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

See all

This is not a real Harold's restaurant. The logo is different. They are just running with the name .Service was terrible. Waited over 30 minutes for a 6 wing diner. read more

Harold's Chicken - Chicken Shop Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

Always a favorite when I come home....love the sauce and the pound cake, but they were sold out of the cake.

The chicken and the service is excellent well above board it is being remodeled, but it is clean. I I bought a side of macaroni and cheese wasn't worth it. I won't buy any more sides if this is what I get look and taste like is out of a box no effort was put into this read more

Harold's Chicken - Chicken Shop Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

See all

Called in for a NYE party order -- customer service was awesome and the food was fresh, hot and tasty! 12/31/2022 read more

See all

Hi all! So this "Harold's" is not affiliated with the local Midwest Harold's chains so they don't have the typical Harold's mild sauce or fries. The chicken was bunk too. 0/10 do not recommend. Do yourself a favor and go to the local Sharks instead. This place is not Harold's as we've known it, it's now more of a knock off Sharks anyway. read more

This is an amazing place. Great food and great service. The food is cooked fresh. The wait is always 25 minutes because the food is cooked to order. The order is always hot and accurate. The ambiance is amazing with sit down leather booths. I only made a yelp account to leave this review. read more

See all

Honor the order that's placed. Called in an order was minutes away from picking up the order & received a text saying something went wrong & they would not be able to prepare my order? I'm sure that whatever the issue was could've been found & corrected @ the time of placing the order? read more

Have heard people talk about how great the chicken is. As a pescatarian, I was excited to see they have seafood options. Multiple locations in Illinois/Indiana. Ordered large catfish, which came with fries and coleslaw. Passed on the coleslaw and asked for hot sauce on the fish. Came with 5 pieces of catfish. Fish and fries were extra hot and taste pretty good. Service was excellent. Would definitely eat it again, however will go with one of the other locations that offer more options. read more

Harold's Chicken - Catfish Dinner - Chicken Shop Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

Bad customer service and they don't have good accuracy when it comes to time food will be ready . Ordered at 12:31 was told 20 minutes get there in 25 minutes. Walk in it's 1 person in the front of the house on the phone taking orders, so first I have to wait even longer to retrieve my food then finally after he gets off the phone and I tell him my name he puts the ticket up and then looks for my ticket puts some gloves on and goes around the corner and is just dropping my fish ,,, like whoever owns this business needs some professional employees and more then 1 person doing everything ,, anyway then he says 7 more minutes like are you serious lol,, and it's lunch hours .. Yea black people just do better , because this is unacceptable read more

Everytime I go there. I ask for extra mild sauce. And there barely any sauce. Fries never cooked all the way. Under cooked fries. read more

Harold's Chicken - Paid for extra sauce and this there extra sauce. Dry chicken!!!!!! - Chicken Shop Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

In the past, it took forever to get your food, and they were rude and seemed bothered. I have been there twice in the last few weeks, and even though I had to wait, they were very friendly and courteous. I don't mind waiting for fresh chicken and didn't mind the wait because the chicken was good. Since my food was good and they were so nice, I will be returning :) read more

Coming from Cali where Roscoes is king of LA for yardbird & knowing about what that southern chicken is about in Richmond, VA (shout out to Lee's Chicken) Harold's stands true as The Boss of Bird in the Midwest! Don't waste your time on KFC or Popeyes - don't play and get yourself down to Harold's! (Chicken so good Gary's own MC, Freddie Gangster Gibbs made a track about what Harold's produces) I hit up the location in Merrillville two days in a row. Had that 3 wing with gizzards one day and then that 3 wing with livers with an extra chicken breast to make sure I got the full effect. Fries, coleslaw and a bed of bread come with all meals. Sauces range from mild to hot but if you mix them both they make something worth putting on fries, chicken and anything in between. Chicken fried just right and don't worry about dealing with too much grease. The bones are fried so you can even eat them if you really know how to tear up some bird. The teas from Oooh weee are worth a look specifically that Obama. Be prepared to wait but yo all great things are worth the wait. read more

Harold's Chicken - Chicken and gizzards with hot sauce served on it instead of the side. If you're gonna eat in this was the way! - Chicken Shop Near Me - Merrillville, Indiana

Came on a Tuesday and they had a lunch special from 11-3pm for 4 wings. Didn't know this location was here. I know some of the Harold's locations are better than others. Hopefully this location is the find I've been looking for. The chicken was fresh, of course. It is made to order. Now your best bet is to call ahead and order. There's less wait time. Try the shrimp. It is much bigger than I expecting and really good. Sometimes I wish I could orchard a bottle of their mild sauce. I wonder why no one says mild bbq sauce in the stores. read more

My husband loves this place and was so stoked when I said okay to dining here that night. I was compelled to read the history of this place and was happy for a moment to read that there seemed to be a lot of pride in serving the communities around their stores. Well I'll keep it simple. I walked away with an ah ha realizations as to why my husband had a heart attack. I walked away with the feeling that they were doing me a favor. Customer service was void! Greasy, messy, dirty, I would rename it " Harold's cross-contaminated chicken shack" we can make them do better. read more

The worst customer service at this location!! The cook is extremely violent and verbally abusive. The short lady with tattoos on her arm is uneducated and rude!! I will never spend another penny at this location. Go to the Harolds on Grant!! read more

I love this Harold's Children location. ALWAYS get delicious, hot, fresh, well prepared food! During my visit today the customer service was phenomenal. The cook was pleasant and didn't have a problem asking questions to ensure orders were to our satisfaction!! read more

As a restaurant owner, I'm terribly dissatisfied. Staff is unprofessional, closing store hours/orders before an actual listed time to close. We try to support our small private and franchise businesses but it's hard. COVID-19 has transitioned operational management and customer retention strategies. Nothing more to say. I'm sure it's not the owners policy; but, I have to mention this inconsistency for future costumers. https://www.louiewingz.com read more

This is not Harold's Chicken as I know it can be. My family and I have been to various Harold's Chicken Shack restaurants in the Chicago area. We love the quality of their food and their generous portions. This Merrillville location did not meet our expectations. First, there is much confusion about the ordering line and the pickup line. How about better signage so customers don't have to keep sorting things out among themselves? Kudos to my fellow customers on the night I was there. Everyone was more than civil, though I wouldn't have been surprised if there had been short tempers. Why? That leads me to my second point... The wait for food is much too long. I appreciate the fact that Harold's serves freshly cooked chicken, but it does not take 45 minutes to cook chicken. It just doesn't. I counted as many as 15 people waiting for their orders. Some said they'd already been there for more than half an hour. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, many orders were filled out of sequence. That may or may not have something to do with order specifics, but to me it is also a sign of a very disorganized kitchen. We asked for a to-go menu so we could order ahead next time and avoid the long wait, but were told they had run out. The quality of the food was mediocre at best. We asked for mild sauce on the 1/2 chicken order and hot sauce on the gizzards. Neither came with sauce on top of the meat. There was a small container of sauce included with each meal. Yes, we should have checked before leaving. If we go back again we surely will check, but I have never been to a Harold's where they didn't add the sauce right on top of the meat. That's what gives their chicken that special flavor. The chicken was overdone but edible, but the gizzards were mostly inedible as they were horribly overcooked. Finally, watch out for the large pothole in the parking lot and the uneven flooring in the restaurant. I know they've only been here a few weeks, so I'm giving them two stars. I'll revisit later in the month and hope they have their act together. read more

Their chicken is good but it's not consistent. They have their good and bad days. This chicken shack was a hot mess when they first opened. They didn't accept credit cards for awhile now they do. So many people standing around wasn't sure who needed to place an order or who was waiting for their food. Couldn't find a phone number for them online until recently. Some advice: This is not an appeasing dine in restaurant, it's more of a take out type of place. Call ahead to order, wait time is like ordering Pizza.....! Up to 1/2 hour wait. read more

I have been fan of this place for over 3 years now. The food is always fresh and good. I gave them only 4 stars because the wait times can be pretty long. There has been a couple of times I ordered over the phone and they told me that it will be 20 minutes before it will be ready for pickup only to get there 30 minutes later and still waited another 20 minutes for my order. I don't know if it was because they were busy on those days but they never provided an explanation for why it will take 50 minutes to complete my small order; however, I do understand they cook to order so I tolerate the slowness and expect it not to be ready when they say it will be ready. read more

This place is the worse, they never answer the phone. And when the do they make you wait 10mins just to take your order, I've never seen a Harolds this slow. read more

Poor management and service. Waited an hour only for the order to be wrong! Will never return again!!! Food sucked as well!

Best chicken ever! Great shrimp! Great service!! My kids are always asking for Harolds!

After I called in a order and coming 30 mins after ordering I still had to wait another 20 mins then I had to come back in because my order wasn't complete ... I know they are busy but they have to get it together. read more

I will say up front, this isn't a place I would usually frequent, my husband likes this place. I decided to stop and see what the rave was about. The prices aren't bad, the location is a bit scary, the food is of coarse deep fried. Not much of a menu for a person who doesn't want deep fried greasy food. But on the plus side if that is what you are craving this is the spot for you. Weirdly enough, I enjoy a weird food most people don't eat, giblets. They actually had them. Deep fried. I tried them. The liver was over cooked but the gizzards were cooked to perfection. The customer service could have been better. The guy on the counter was short, but the fry cook himself was a treat. He tried to make sure I was happy and asked if there was anything he could do better. That made it nice for me. I had to rate them on a system. 1 to 5 stars per category. Price: reasonable 4 Location: sketchy 2 Food: average for the type 3 Customer service: slightly above average 3.5 read more

For being closed on Sundays... And not claiming and posting business hours. Do the owners of this restaurant even take this seriously?

Harold's is definitely my #1 for fried foods in the area. Most selections on the menu are great and fried to perfection, given you go on a good day. What really pulls me in is the 2 delectable sauces Harold's serves; I love mixing them and dousing the chicken to achieve a sweet, extra-tangy, slightly spicy flavor that goes with their food perfectly. So perfect that I always have to watch so I don't gorge myself too horribly. Overall, Harold's has amazing food when fried to protocol, sometimes they can be off on the frying but when it's right, it's gold. read more

Let me tell ya'll something about this restaurant! They are professional, friendly, the place is always clean and whenever I call to place my order, the operator is always friendly, professional and prompt! I'm originally from Chicago, land of the best Harold's chicken around ie. 87th and the Dan Ryan, Racine, Halsted, Stoney Island..."You name it" (in my Shirley Ceasar voice). But this one right here in Merrillville reminds me of Chicago always fresh and hot! My wait time is NEVER long because a sista always calls in her order. Anyway, thanks for reading and check out my favorite Harolds on Broadway!! Pam D. Merrillville, IN read more

My first time stopping at Harold's since I started working in Merrillville over a year ago. Restaurant was clean and staff very friendly, polite and efficient. I won't take off points for the 20 minute wait for 6 wings, because it clearly states they "drop it fresh." However, I asked for HOT sauce, but got mild sauce. Other than that, I would have given 5 stars. BTW, the chicken was great! (just needed some hot sauce). I will return soon. EllaH read more

I had been wishing and hoping to have a Harolds Chicken near me for years and now - dreams answered :) If you have been to a Harolds you know the run down. Chicken, wings, fish, fried perfect covered in sauce (unless you dont like that kind of thing - they will give it to you plain), fries, theres not much flair to it but they know what they are doing. The business had only been open 6 days when I went so it was a little slow but customer service was good and they were very busy. The interior was very nice for a Harolds. They had a seating area with a tv. They are cash only for now and they had out what looked like great deserts (red velvet cupcakes). I will have to try next time. read more

Chicken was very good. Hot, fresh and very crispy outside and juicy inside - Harold sauce is solid. Fries are good. Served on a nice white bread with coleslaw. I skipped the slaw but other liked it. Bring your own hot sauce tho. read more

Great place. Love the food. They fish and chicken is fresh but be aware they are slow so it is a wait. They do run out of fish so get there at a descent time. Friendly setting. Clean restaurant. I would recommend them as one of the good harolds. They are simpler to 87th and Dan Ryan or 93rd ashland. read more

Nothing fancy about this place but the food here is the best. Fresh, hot and tasty chicken, Harold's does it right.

Terrible!!!! Bad customer service!!!!!!! I don't know why people would waste their time and money!!!

I called in an order and had the person who took the order read it back for clarity. Was told it would take 20 minutes. The order took 40 minutes. As I get the order, I specifically ask them if all of the mild and bbq sauce I requested is in the bag. They say yes. I look through the bag anyway. and point out it's not in there. The cashier then goes into the garbage to retrieve the ticket and states, that she didn't ring it up and proceeded to charge me for it. Never once did ANYONE apologize for anything. read more

Horrible horrible horrible take out service. If you want an order of chicken how about 50 minutes?... No clue no rush mañana staff of 3 takes orders and fill orders in non-sequential numbers. If you dare order white meat that is a big delay. Came in at 6:50 and left at 7:40. REAL!! One cook doing his best but kitchen help is really no help. Many customers all shared the same experience looking at the kitchen all on hold for their orders for a long time,.... Might be good chicken it's ok,.. not that great and definely not worth this hassle. Harold's you have to have some level of customer service or mindless people as customers that just don't care if it takes almost an hour for carry-out. The Colonel and Popeyes are better options...seriously, not happy. Management? No where to be found. If dumb people want to go here for just ok fried chicken almost burnt expect THE worst customer service. read more

I have a lot of problems with this Harold's chicken here in Merrillville. At first it was the "cash only" issue but I can see now they do allow you to pay with credit card so that was a big plus. The main issue with Harold's is the wait. I mean Harold's chicken has a history of being very tasty chicken that is freshly prepared but at the same time having people wait 45 minutes to fulfill in order for chicken that honestly tastes over cooked is just unheard of!!! Not to mention it wouldn't help if they just worked on the overall look of the place. That place looks like someone's old basement. If they want to have any luck being a successful takeout business they need to speed it up!! Especially when you have a Sharks chicken 10 blocks north. And quite honestly their chicken isn't that bad neither are the wings!! Harold's chicken needs to do better!! read more

We stopped by to try this new Chicken place (Harold's ) for dinner to take home. The order was for 2 quarter chicken dinners. When we got home there was only 1 dinner and a large tray of French fries and 2 tiny 2 ounce cups of slaw. The chicken had a good taste but the pieces were incredibly small, the thigh was less than 4 ounces. l did call and asked for a refund of the missing dinner. The redeeming thing here is that they refunded the entire check. read more