Basic Bird in Beaverdale delivers crispy, Korean fried chicken
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Korean fried chicken wings with potato salad, cucumber kimchi and pickled daikon ($14). Photo: Linh Ta/Axios
🍗 Linh here. After much anticipation, Beaverdale's newest Korean fried chicken restaurant, Basic Bird, is finally here.
- I went Wednesday for its opening.
State of play: It's the third restaurant from local owners Joe and Alex Tripp.
- Born out of pandemic necessity, Basic Bird initially operated out of Harbinger when restaurants could only offer carry-out meals.
- Now in its own brick-and-mortar spot, Basic Bird focuses on quick counter service. You can seat yourself or get a meal to go.
Details: There are three steps — pick your chicken (boneless, wings or sandwich), one sauce and three sides.
- Don't expect celery or carrots. Instead, there are "banchan" — little crunchy, cold and pickled Korean vegetable dishes — that contrast the spice of the chicken.
What I ate: Six-piece chicken wings in the double dunk sauce with cucumber kimchi, Korean potato salad and pickled daikon ($14).
What I liked: Korean fried chicken is known for its crunch. There should be a satisfying, non-greasy bite that's lighter than KFC or Popeye's chicken.
- This was nice and crisp and had me looking for fallen crunchy bits around the bowl.
- Together with the banchan, there were constant flavor rotations of salty, sweet and spicy that kept me wanting more.
💭 My thought bubble: I want to be supportive of the industry, but have been playing mental gymnastics to justify some menu prices over the last year. This type of restaurant is just what Des Moines needs — it's quick service but not a chain.
- The menu is creative, but doesn't break the bank.
- And the chubby characters and "kawaii" aesthetic just makes it fun to be there!
If you go: Open 11am-9pm, Tues.-Sun.; 2607 Beaver Ave.
