For decades, the initials “KFC” have stood for one thing: Kentucky Fried Chicken, the chain restaurant with over 30,000 locations in more than 150 countries, many of them with their own home-grown fried chicken styles. In Korea, there has long been a tradition of thinly breaded, crispy fried chicken often served with a seasoned glaze. It’s now becoming so prevalent in the United States that it might be seen as another “KFC” in much the same sense that K-pop has become popular music throughout the world. Tipsy Chicken in Mesa is part of that latest K trend.
Tipsy Chicken is located in the Mesa Asian District in a shopping center anchored by H Mart, a natural neighbor for a Korean restaurant. It’s less than a quarter mile from Sycamore/Main station on the A Line. Bike racks are found outside H Mart and also in front of the smoke shop across the driveway from Tipsy. The restaurant’s space is near the west end of the shopping center at the end of a strip of tenants. Neon signs and banners outside advertise the restaurant, although the description of “barbecued” chicken is somewhat off. This place is all about the fryer instead.
The decor is minimal with a few screens and lights adding color and illumination, but little theme beyond fried chicken and cold drinks to accompany it. A bar sits in the center of the space with seating all round. At most times, customers simply sit wherever they wish. The two page menu begins with some familiar starters and sides such as fried dumplings, or mandu, and crispy tofu. Fries come with a sprinkling of scallions and two sauces for dipping. Corn, which has firmly established itself within Korean cuisine, is available with either melted cheese or tiny shrimp.
In Korean fried chicken, wings are often the star with their ratio of bone to meat to skin allowing optimal cooking. Tipsy serves them both in a traditional style on the bone and in a boneless format, both portioned in multiples of seven. Be warned that even the small size can be filling. Doubling to fourteen pieces or tripling to 21 is good if an entire table is enjoying wings and rounds of drinks. While the chicken typically has a light batter, there is another option with no coating at all. In that scenario in particular, the six sauces offered become essential for flavor.
The most popular choice seems to be soy and garlic, with a salty, aromatic profile that complements the moist poultry meat. Sweet and spicy is exactly as it sounds, and is only subtly differentiated from another option, honey sriracha. Honey butter sauce is, as expected, more viscous in texture and gentle in flavor. The sweet fish glaze adds a umami note somewhat reminiscent of Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. If wings are ordered with a single sauce for the septet, then the chicken comes glazed. If multiple sauces are requested, they’re on the side.
While wings are the most popular for Korean fried chicken, Tipsy offers a few other options. A fried chicken sandwich features breaded boneless breast encased in a bun with some kimchi mayonnaise and pepperjack cheese, along with fries on the side. Chicken fried rice is a whole fried breast, thigh, and leg piece of poultry with rice and mixed vegetables on the side and a dipping sauce, soy garlic unless otherwise requested, to moisten the dish. Kimchi fried rice, on the other hand, involves a choice of bulgogi, pork belly, spam, or a fried egg as added protein.
These other meats form the second half of the menu, which is devoted to familiar Korean favorites beyond fried chicken. Bulgogi is available in platters with steamed rice or fries. For something less meaty, tteokbokki, chewy cylindrical rice cakes with slices of fish cakes is available in two variants: a slightly spicy dark broth or a creamier “rose” broth. Both come with a boiled egg, and additional add-ons such as miniature shrimp are available. It should be noted that Tipsy’s banchan, or vegetable side dishes, are limited to just cubes of pickled radish.
Although there are some influences from other Asian cuisines, the most striking departure from the generally Korean format is the presence of pho on the menu. This can sometimes be a troubling sign that a restaurant with a background in one nation’s food is serving something from another country over a thousand miles away in an attempt to be all things to everyone in fulfillment of Western stereotypes of Asia. At Tipsy, though, the pho is surprisingly good with an aromatic broth and tender cuts of beef. The combination “dac biet” pho is the best option.
There is no dessert per se on the menu, but Tipsy serves a variety of milk teas with the option to add boba. Anyone seeking a more solid sweet can find plenty of options nearby, from pastry at Paris Baguette to shaved ice and ice cream at Snowtime, both in the H Mart food court, along with a variety of other options throughout the Asian District. As the name “Tipsy Chicken” might suggest, the restaurant does have a liquor license and tries to replicate the bar-centric approach in which fried chicken is downed with bottles of soju, a fermented rice beverage, or beer.
The restaurant also has some cocktails, all of them fairly sweet, incorporating spirits, usually soju but sometimes bourbon or tequila, with various citrus or tropical fruit flavors. For a while, Tipsy Chicken seemed active mostly during the day. After a recent change in ownership and a renewal of its liquor license, the restaurant is now becoming more of an evening destination for wings and drinks. The core element, crispy fried chicken, with the letter “K” standing for Korea rather than Kentucky or anything to do with Colonel Sanders, seems to be already in place.
1933 W. Main St., Mesa AZ 85201
https://www.tipsychickenaz.com
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