I came across this place while searching for nearby restaurants, and as soon as I saw it, I wasted no time considering any other restaurants for lunch. I drove straight to this place! I was so excited to see a Hainanese chicken place in Austin! I used to frequent one in Queens, NYC that was absolutely amazing, so my standards were pretty high. If I had taken the time to read the reviews before going, I would've known that it wasn't an actual restaurant I could walk into and order. It's a ghost kitchen located in a building where you can pick up orders from this place and a variety of other ghost kitchens. What a cool discovery! I will definitely be checking the other places out as well in the future. After placing my order, it took about 20 minutes before my food was packaged and ready to go. While the quality wasn't up to par with my favorite Hainanese chicken place, I did enjoy the meal. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the ginger dipping sauce was fresh and so tasty! The mango sago was okay, but the mangos in it didn't taste fresh. They tasted canned and were like a yam texture and a bit bland. I'm glad I know this place exists and have tried it!
James T.
We have enjoyed Chicken Rice Joe a number of times over the last two years. Consistent, delicious and a good value they have a loyal takeout customer
Jessie Y.
Can't say enough good things about this place! The Mixed Chicken set is so flavorful, and the rice is to die for (seriously, I could eat an entire bowl of just the rice). The chicken is very tender and the sauce compliments the dish very well. Every time I open my order, you can smell it throughout the entire room. There aren't many Singaporean food spots in Austin, so this is definitely a great addition to the Austin food scene. It's important to note that this is a ghost kitchen, meaning you need to order beforehand or at the kiosks inside for pick up or have it delivered. It shares the space with several other restaurants as well. I've been ordering from here for a while now, and while I still love the food and will continue to come back, there has been a slight decrease in quality since the first time I tried it roughly two years ago. The food used to be in airtight plastic containers, which have been since replaced with styrofoam boxes. A veggie side also used to be included in the chicken sets. On the other hand, the technology has drastically improved to the point where you just need to show a picture of your order confirmation to the camera and it tells you exactly what locker to pick up your order from!
J W
This is a pick up and delivery business. Basically lots of ghost kitchens are located in the back and the front desk people will hand you the order. Hope they will get a brick and mortar location soon.They have the right hainanese chicken rice flavor. However the chicken portion seems a bit small. I also ordered the cha ye dan ( tea braised egg) and mango sago dessert. Both are decent.
JiShun Zhou
Great Hainanese chicken! I liked the fried chicken too - spicy! However, it’d been even better if it was crispier.The portion is fine for the set, but a little more abundant for the Hainanese chicken set would have been better.Recommended
Dharshini M
Food was pretty good. Chicken rice is closer to authentic but not much the nasi lemak but still pretty good. But this is coming from a Malaysian who loves her nasi lemak. The other thing is the sambal for nasi lemak was a little too little especially for us who eats with lots of sambal and there's no peanuts but otherwise, it's still good and I will get it again.
Amy N.
So I'm from California, and I really treasure a good authentic hainanese chicken rice plate. The pictures looks good on the main page but there were a few disappointments I have overall. CONS: The chicken and the rice were not fragrance and flavorful as I hope. The rice in this plate is very special (if you ever had an authentic one) it's really a make it or break point for me. The rice was well cooked and nice texture but it just didn't have that kick of flavor that I really like. The chicken was just ok. It is not as tender as I hope. In the picture it looks very nice but in person the chicken looks very dull and lack luster. Again, if you ever seen many hainanese chicken rice plate as I do through out the year, you would know the color of the chicken is very important since the chicken doesn't usually give off an exotic smell like the rice. The rice and chicken have to really compliment each other for it to be a full "experience" is what I am trying to say. I was also very disappointed on the amount of vegetables.... Which is... really none... I maybe got like two slides of cucumber....which is really sad. I was hoping for some pickled vegetables or at least more slides of cucumbers, tomatoes and some lettuce...I did not take a picture of the food. But it looked very sad tbh. The portion was also extremely small. It was more like a snack for me. Usually the hainanese chicken plate are serve as a full meal....and the owner reallllyyy want to fill you up (without having to pay more for protein). But the regular order didn't even satisfy my tummy. PRO: Now the sauce I have to say was very good! But again.... The purpose of the sauce is just for dipping, not to drown the foods in. It did add very good flavor but its still not "an excuse" to get away with the chicken and rice cons I wrote above. I also got the roasted chicken rice plate. Which does have more flavor but the chicken was still very dry. I ate both portions and it was barely getting me to being full. Overall. I do believe that this place have good potential... considering it's the only place that have hainanese chicken rice plate in Austin Texas right now. I think maybe they are just low in resources right now ? I would have to re think before coming back here but it's not a complete no for me.
Art C.
Pretty tasty. Pretty authentic. It's usually during this time that I remind you, my dear reader, that my continuing dining partner is Malaysian. And since Hainan chicken rice is a Malaysian staple (let's not get into it's modern-day origin, hint: it's Malaysia not Singapore), it holds a special place in our hearts (and stomachs). We had delivery from here for both versions of their chicken specialty. And I'm happy to say: we approve. Tasted real- maybe not quite like home, but close enough. I'd recommend everyone try it... I think you'll agree.
Chris Mattina
Excellent chicken rice plus the sides, very authentic. Have been to Singapore/date a Singaporean and this is right there with quality + taste from the hawkers there! All the sauces were legit and the cereal wings were so good too. Thanks so much will be coming back.. would love to see ya open a shop!Chris
Raquel M.
I wish I could give this small business a five-star review, but alas, I cannot. Firstly, I could not find the actual location and that's when I realized it was in a "ghost kitchen." - I went ahead and ordered but it was not like the sago that I've had before. It was toooo gummy and not so flavorful. - Price: cheap! (Very nice) I think it was around 4 bucks for their mango sago. If anyone knows where to go for yummy sago, please let me know!!
I char, you char, we all cheer for achar. A supreme side - Singaporean? Well, my heart was, at least. The Hainanese chicken was satisfactory, ultimately salvaged by its saucy counterparts, whose robust countenance did the clucking on behalf of our demure yet featherless fowl. Gingerly splayed out, poached & prone, over its basmati throne, skin pallid & goose-bumped, reminiscent less of a hen than a hairless cat - our darling dinner beguilingly toed the line between the freakish and the finger licking, and for that I commend her.
Samuel C.
Austin never used to have Singaporean food. Well, it does now! And Chicken Rice Joe is a fine fine place. * * * An alert Yelper has just sent me a gentle corrective email: Excuse me but Chicken Rice Joe is Taiwanese. Or using their own language, Hainanese. It says so on most of their menu items. * * * Well, actually yes and no. Singapore is a strange place. It is a fusion of Chinese food, Malay food, Tamil food and European food. Many (but not the majority) of original Chinese migrants to Singapore came from Taiwan. As a result, Hainanese dishes are as integral to Singaporean cuisine as Mexican food is to Texas cuisine. The Hainan range is a small percentage of what would be in a Singaporean food court. But nearly every Singapore food court will have Hainan Chicken rice and a number of traditional Taiwanese specialties that you don't get in the United States. The majority of dishes will be Malay - and there is likely to be a Tamil section as well. Here they cover a good range of the Hainan dishes but they do have Malay on the menu as well. * * * I have spent tons of time in Singapore - but have never gotten around to getting Hainanese chicken rice. I'm sure its wonderful. But Chicken Rice Joes has chicken wings with sambal on the menu. Samuel C. absolutely positively kills for sambal. Sambal in its many many manifestations is one of the greatest sauces on the planet. Chicken Rice Joe's Sambal is absolutely positively first rate ... A sambal that could be served with honor at the Maxwell Road Hawker Center. They put that sambal on some of the biggest chicken wings I have ever seen. Those chickens when they were alive competed in the Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Competition for Chickens and received their trophies personally from Arnold Schwarzenegger. The judges were blown away by the size and perfect development of those chickens biceps. Put the perfect sauce on the biggest chicken wings in town And you have good good good eating. * * * Other minor notes. They do a very fine Malay pickled vegetables. They claim they make their French Fries SE Asian style. You can get French Fries all over Singapore but they are nothing special there. They are nothing special here either. The restaurant is located in the 5610 I-35 all-take-out back room operation for mini-kitchens. You order by phone. You pick up your bagged food in a locker or have Doordash get it for you. You take it home. The ordering interface is irritating. (There is no way for instance to specify a pickup time. All orders assume "now".) Your food will get soggy and cold sitting in the locker waiting for your pick up and then sitting in a car waiting to get home. Choose items that can survive long waits. Anything with sambal just gets better the longer it waits. French fries die fast. How does rice and chicken do? That is not a dish I would really want to have get soggy and cold on me. I hope Chicken Rice Joe's prospers and gets to open its own brick and mortar place. If they don't ... Plan on eating your chicken and rice in the parking lot of the 5610 kitchenateria.
Ryan Schwartz
Yup. Delicious.Fried chicken, rice, egg, plus a side of greens.Fast delivery with Uber Eats.Excellent food.
Nathan J.
Eh. Okay. Got the combo half hainan half roasted chicken. Flavors overall were heavy. Main issue was a lack of meat... I think there was 5-6 small slices of each of the flavors. Definitely felt wanting for more meat- still had half my rice and left by the time i finished the meat. The side vegetable bok choy was too salty. Passionfruit sago honey thing is cloyingly sweet.
Weihang He
I tried the chicken rice Joe during our trip to Austin from Dallas last weekend. This is pickup/delivery only. Simply order online and get a locker # when it's ready. Then pickup by yourself.The Hainanese chicken rice is better than all I can found in Dallas. The chicken was juicy and flavorful, so as the rice cooked with chicken broth. I especially love the ginger sauce and wish I could have extra one. If something could be improved, I would say the rice was a bit dry and loose. I am not a big fans of the roasted chicken because it was like what we got from Costco. Nothing special. Would definitely recommend my friends if they visit Austin.
I came across this place while searching for nearby restaurants, and as soon as I saw it, I wasted no time considering any other restaurants for lunch. I drove straight to this place! I was so excited to see a Hainanese chicken place in Austin! I used to frequent one in Queens, NYC that was absolutely amazing, so my standards were pretty high. If I had taken the time to read the reviews before going, I would've known that it wasn't an actual restaurant I could walk into and order. It's a ghost kitchen located in a building where you can pick up orders from this place and a variety of other ghost kitchens. What a cool discovery! I will definitely be checking the other places out as well in the future. After placing my order, it took about 20 minutes before my food was packaged and ready to go. While the quality wasn't up to par with my favorite Hainanese chicken place, I did enjoy the meal. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the ginger dipping sauce was fresh and so tasty! The mango sago was okay, but the mangos in it didn't taste fresh. They tasted canned and were like a yam texture and a bit bland. I'm glad I know this place exists and have tried it!
We have enjoyed Chicken Rice Joe a number of times over the last two years. Consistent, delicious and a good value they have a loyal takeout customer
Can't say enough good things about this place! The Mixed Chicken set is so flavorful, and the rice is to die for (seriously, I could eat an entire bowl of just the rice). The chicken is very tender and the sauce compliments the dish very well. Every time I open my order, you can smell it throughout the entire room. There aren't many Singaporean food spots in Austin, so this is definitely a great addition to the Austin food scene. It's important to note that this is a ghost kitchen, meaning you need to order beforehand or at the kiosks inside for pick up or have it delivered. It shares the space with several other restaurants as well. I've been ordering from here for a while now, and while I still love the food and will continue to come back, there has been a slight decrease in quality since the first time I tried it roughly two years ago. The food used to be in airtight plastic containers, which have been since replaced with styrofoam boxes. A veggie side also used to be included in the chicken sets. On the other hand, the technology has drastically improved to the point where you just need to show a picture of your order confirmation to the camera and it tells you exactly what locker to pick up your order from!
This is a pick up and delivery business. Basically lots of ghost kitchens are located in the back and the front desk people will hand you the order. Hope they will get a brick and mortar location soon.They have the right hainanese chicken rice flavor. However the chicken portion seems a bit small. I also ordered the cha ye dan ( tea braised egg) and mango sago dessert. Both are decent.
Great Hainanese chicken! I liked the fried chicken too - spicy! However, it’d been even better if it was crispier.The portion is fine for the set, but a little more abundant for the Hainanese chicken set would have been better.Recommended
Food was pretty good. Chicken rice is closer to authentic but not much the nasi lemak but still pretty good. But this is coming from a Malaysian who loves her nasi lemak. The other thing is the sambal for nasi lemak was a little too little especially for us who eats with lots of sambal and there's no peanuts but otherwise, it's still good and I will get it again.
So I'm from California, and I really treasure a good authentic hainanese chicken rice plate. The pictures looks good on the main page but there were a few disappointments I have overall. CONS: The chicken and the rice were not fragrance and flavorful as I hope. The rice in this plate is very special (if you ever had an authentic one) it's really a make it or break point for me. The rice was well cooked and nice texture but it just didn't have that kick of flavor that I really like. The chicken was just ok. It is not as tender as I hope. In the picture it looks very nice but in person the chicken looks very dull and lack luster. Again, if you ever seen many hainanese chicken rice plate as I do through out the year, you would know the color of the chicken is very important since the chicken doesn't usually give off an exotic smell like the rice. The rice and chicken have to really compliment each other for it to be a full "experience" is what I am trying to say. I was also very disappointed on the amount of vegetables.... Which is... really none... I maybe got like two slides of cucumber....which is really sad. I was hoping for some pickled vegetables or at least more slides of cucumbers, tomatoes and some lettuce...I did not take a picture of the food. But it looked very sad tbh. The portion was also extremely small. It was more like a snack for me. Usually the hainanese chicken plate are serve as a full meal....and the owner reallllyyy want to fill you up (without having to pay more for protein). But the regular order didn't even satisfy my tummy. PRO: Now the sauce I have to say was very good! But again.... The purpose of the sauce is just for dipping, not to drown the foods in. It did add very good flavor but its still not "an excuse" to get away with the chicken and rice cons I wrote above. I also got the roasted chicken rice plate. Which does have more flavor but the chicken was still very dry. I ate both portions and it was barely getting me to being full. Overall. I do believe that this place have good potential... considering it's the only place that have hainanese chicken rice plate in Austin Texas right now. I think maybe they are just low in resources right now ? I would have to re think before coming back here but it's not a complete no for me.
Pretty tasty. Pretty authentic. It's usually during this time that I remind you, my dear reader, that my continuing dining partner is Malaysian. And since Hainan chicken rice is a Malaysian staple (let's not get into it's modern-day origin, hint: it's Malaysia not Singapore), it holds a special place in our hearts (and stomachs). We had delivery from here for both versions of their chicken specialty. And I'm happy to say: we approve. Tasted real- maybe not quite like home, but close enough. I'd recommend everyone try it... I think you'll agree.
Excellent chicken rice plus the sides, very authentic. Have been to Singapore/date a Singaporean and this is right there with quality + taste from the hawkers there! All the sauces were legit and the cereal wings were so good too. Thanks so much will be coming back.. would love to see ya open a shop!Chris
I wish I could give this small business a five-star review, but alas, I cannot. Firstly, I could not find the actual location and that's when I realized it was in a "ghost kitchen." - I went ahead and ordered but it was not like the sago that I've had before. It was toooo gummy and not so flavorful. - Price: cheap! (Very nice) I think it was around 4 bucks for their mango sago. If anyone knows where to go for yummy sago, please let me know!!
Restaurantji Recommends
I char, you char, we all cheer for achar. A supreme side - Singaporean? Well, my heart was, at least. The Hainanese chicken was satisfactory, ultimately salvaged by its saucy counterparts, whose robust countenance did the clucking on behalf of our demure yet featherless fowl. Gingerly splayed out, poached & prone, over its basmati throne, skin pallid & goose-bumped, reminiscent less of a hen than a hairless cat - our darling dinner beguilingly toed the line between the freakish and the finger licking, and for that I commend her.
Austin never used to have Singaporean food. Well, it does now! And Chicken Rice Joe is a fine fine place. * * * An alert Yelper has just sent me a gentle corrective email: Excuse me but Chicken Rice Joe is Taiwanese. Or using their own language, Hainanese. It says so on most of their menu items. * * * Well, actually yes and no. Singapore is a strange place. It is a fusion of Chinese food, Malay food, Tamil food and European food. Many (but not the majority) of original Chinese migrants to Singapore came from Taiwan. As a result, Hainanese dishes are as integral to Singaporean cuisine as Mexican food is to Texas cuisine. The Hainan range is a small percentage of what would be in a Singaporean food court. But nearly every Singapore food court will have Hainan Chicken rice and a number of traditional Taiwanese specialties that you don't get in the United States. The majority of dishes will be Malay - and there is likely to be a Tamil section as well. Here they cover a good range of the Hainan dishes but they do have Malay on the menu as well. * * * I have spent tons of time in Singapore - but have never gotten around to getting Hainanese chicken rice. I'm sure its wonderful. But Chicken Rice Joes has chicken wings with sambal on the menu. Samuel C. absolutely positively kills for sambal. Sambal in its many many manifestations is one of the greatest sauces on the planet. Chicken Rice Joe's Sambal is absolutely positively first rate ... A sambal that could be served with honor at the Maxwell Road Hawker Center. They put that sambal on some of the biggest chicken wings I have ever seen. Those chickens when they were alive competed in the Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Competition for Chickens and received their trophies personally from Arnold Schwarzenegger. The judges were blown away by the size and perfect development of those chickens biceps. Put the perfect sauce on the biggest chicken wings in town And you have good good good eating. * * * Other minor notes. They do a very fine Malay pickled vegetables. They claim they make their French Fries SE Asian style. You can get French Fries all over Singapore but they are nothing special there. They are nothing special here either. The restaurant is located in the 5610 I-35 all-take-out back room operation for mini-kitchens. You order by phone. You pick up your bagged food in a locker or have Doordash get it for you. You take it home. The ordering interface is irritating. (There is no way for instance to specify a pickup time. All orders assume "now".) Your food will get soggy and cold sitting in the locker waiting for your pick up and then sitting in a car waiting to get home. Choose items that can survive long waits. Anything with sambal just gets better the longer it waits. French fries die fast. How does rice and chicken do? That is not a dish I would really want to have get soggy and cold on me. I hope Chicken Rice Joe's prospers and gets to open its own brick and mortar place. If they don't ... Plan on eating your chicken and rice in the parking lot of the 5610 kitchenateria.
Yup. Delicious.Fried chicken, rice, egg, plus a side of greens.Fast delivery with Uber Eats.Excellent food.
Eh. Okay. Got the combo half hainan half roasted chicken. Flavors overall were heavy. Main issue was a lack of meat... I think there was 5-6 small slices of each of the flavors. Definitely felt wanting for more meat- still had half my rice and left by the time i finished the meat. The side vegetable bok choy was too salty. Passionfruit sago honey thing is cloyingly sweet.
I tried the chicken rice Joe during our trip to Austin from Dallas last weekend. This is pickup/delivery only. Simply order online and get a locker # when it's ready. Then pickup by yourself.The Hainanese chicken rice is better than all I can found in Dallas. The chicken was juicy and flavorful, so as the rice cooked with chicken broth. I especially love the ginger sauce and wish I could have extra one. If something could be improved, I would say the rice was a bit dry and loose. I am not a big fans of the roasted chicken because it was like what we got from Costco. Nothing special. Would definitely recommend my friends if they visit Austin.