The Best Fried Chicken Sandwiches In Miami

Personally, we’re always in the mood for a fried chicken sandwich. Wake us up at 3am with a blow horn (please don’t, by the way) and we’ll eat one. Wednesday at 11:36am? Why not. Trapped in an airport for a six-hour layover? We’ll eat three, even if they taste like plastic. Luckily, the ones on this guide taste very good.

THE SANDWICHES

Off Site

Off Site is a bar and restaurant from two establishments we love: Taquiza and the now-closed Boxelder. Like Boxelder, Off Site is a small, chill space perfect for a beer and a conversation. Unlike Boxelder, they have a kitchen and are serving some of the best bar food you’ll find in Miami. Among that bar food is a phenomenal fried chicken sandwich. It’s the ideal size—big but not how-the-hell-am-I-going-to-eat-this big. The chicken is crunchy, juicy, and accompanied by just some shaved lettuce, pickles, and a toasted sesame seed bun. And it is officially our favorite fried chicken sandwich in Miami.

Cote Miami

If you’re punctual and don’t mind standing (the bar has no stools), Cote’s Happy Hour is a great way to affordably eat and drink at a pretty expensive restaurant. And it's also the only time you can try Cote's “shicken” sandwich. It's a sort of Frankenstein sandwich. The patty is made from ground chicken—but the center is a small disk of diced shrimp. It's an impressive feat of engineering and a tremendous sandwich. Happy Hour—or “magic hour,” as they call it—is only available at the bar, which fills up fast. So get here right at 5pm to claim a comfortable spot and order food, because they sell out of that sandwich often.

Gramps Getaway

This is not the chicken sandwich you expect to find at a relaxed waterfront bar. It’s thick, puffy, and so tanned, it looks like it just walked across the causeway from the beach. And you can thank delicious curry oil for the gleam on that crunchy skin. Deep spices like cumin and coriander hit you (and everyone around you) right in the nostrils before you even pick it up to take a bite. It's a strong flavor, but cucumber yogurt cools the whole thing down—and makes a bit of a mess. Luckily no one here cares if you have sauce on your face.

Kojin 2.0

Imagine a McChicken sandwich. Now, replace the questionable “meat” with a thick, fluffy ground chicken patty covered in crunchy breadcrumbs. Add slaw and tsukemono, put everything between buttery toasted brioche, and serve it with yolk jam on the side. That’s Kojin 2.0’s Chicken Sando. The sandwich is familiar and comforting, but also made with quality ingredients and a Japanese twist—a great example of what this Coral Gables spot does so well. We like spreading the yolk on the inside of the bread and dipping the sandwich in the leftover egg jam for an even fancier experience. The sandwich is only available for lunch. You can order it on its own, but if you choose their lunch special option, it also comes with Kojin’s giant caesar salad and a delicious housemade cookie for $29.

Red Rooster Overtown

If you’re bored of cheesy omelets and ghost-like poached eggs for brunch, here’s your handheld solution. The fried chicken sandwich from Red Rooster comes doused in so much hot honey, it seeps through the bottom brioche bun, making it taste like pancakes. It comes with pickles that even out the spice and sweetness with a good vinegary kick. It’s the kind of sandwich that makes you forget to speak for 20 minutes until it’s all gone—that’s when you brag to your friends about it.

Over Under

This is the kind of fried chicken sandwich that reminds us why we'll never get sick of fried chicken sandwiches. It's a boneless chicken thigh polished with hot honey sauce, pickles, lettuce, and mayo between the same sesame seed bun they use with the burger. It glistens in the sun and goes really well with the frozen drinks this Downtown spot also serves.

United States Burger Service

This vendor inside The Citadel specializes in burgers, but their fried chicken sandwich is absolutely worth a try. The “Carrier Pigeon” is made from ground chicken and formed into an aesthetically pleasing little round patty. The breading is thin but crispy, and there’s a crunchy cabbage situation on top that we approve of.