Rush Hour Chicken & Waffles

Last evening was my third visit to this restaurant and it will be my last.
The staff was almost hostile. Not a word of greeting, just a hostile glare. When I extended a friendly greeting and asked questions, all I got was a muttered response I could hardly hear. Ordered the smothered chicken and thanked the server when it was brought to the table. Again, no response or interaction.
The chicken breast was good but when I got to the thick part, it was pink and undercooked. I was never asked how things were while sitting at the table or when I paid.

This place is definitely a hidden gem! The chicken and waffles is delicious and the collard greens BANG! If you’re visiting st. Petersburg you must stop here! I had the chicken waffles, Mac and cheese, collard greens and the fried corn! The sweet tea is better than your grandmothers!

Wow! The fish and shrimp was out of this world! The Waffles were great as well as the Mac n cheese! This is a hidden gem. We will be back!!!
Tom Bedwell

The food is amazing here. Everything we ordered was fresh and taste like some of the best home cooked food you could ask for. A must visit in St. Pete.

First of all, get chu the mac and cheese and you will never forget me. It was perfectly cheesy to the proportion of mac. I got the chicken and waffle because they serve breakfast all day (BOO-​YAH). The waffle was perfectly made and the chicken was full of great taste! I don’t know if I was eating it right but I scrapped some butter on a piece of waffle, added a piece of chicken, folded it and dipped it in syrup. Lord. Have. Mercy.

Rush Hour’s is LEGIT. I typically get the chicken and waffles, side of MAC and Collards. Let me tell yall how much of a blessing the chicken here is! … First, it is fried fresh. The woman who took my order literally dropped the wings right then and there. When I saw that, I knew I was in for a treat.
The wings were a nice size and fried to perfection. Had me reminiscing on my grandmother’s fried chicken. The waffle was nice and fluffy. If you anticipate being in a rush, call ahead. Otherwise, there will be a wait… but trust me, its worth it. The collards are cooked with turkey meat, which I appreciate. And the Mac is pretty good too.
If you want real chicken and waffles in the Tampa Bay, this is the place to be.

I love the fried chicken and waffles.

My family and I ate here the other night, and was I impressed! The owner treated us like it was a fine dining restaurant. He showed such respect and spoke so kindly to my kids. He’s a Gibbs Alumni, and I’m proud he’s keeping this cool little business in St Pete.
Now, the food. don’t let «rush hour» fool you. it takes a good 20 minutes to get your PIPING HOT chicken. However, I have eaten some chicken in my life, but Mr. Rush; he has perfected the art. And art takes time.
I ordered (of course) the chicken & waffles, and it was wonderful. The Shrimp & Grits is heavenly as well. What a nice treat, we’ll be back for sure.

This is a not a chain, but a family owned place, and we went in based on the excellent Unilocal reviews, and we’re so glad we did!
I had the chicken and waffles and they were fantastic — there was so much meat and it was moist and seriously perfect — we also got a salad which was beautifully assembled and was fresh and a huge portion.
There are a few tiny areas that are a bit dusty (on top of paper towel dispensers, etc) but everything is sanitary, and well-​cared for. Their food prep was clean and fast and the lovely woman waiting on us anticipated our needs — providing refills and everything before we even needed to ask.
We always prefer to support locally owned businesses and you should too — and your money is well spent here.

I had the TRe’von chicken with french fries and a Diet Coke.
The food was hot the waiter was attentive and friendly.
I have no complaints at all about the quality of the food. My wife a mostly vegetables and love them.

This place was pretty disappointing. I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting but not this. It’s a random small place in a strip plaza. It’s not nice inside but looks like a fast food joint. If you want a fancy brunch place, this is not what you are looking for. The food was fine but really, no better than the fried chicken at Publix! Like this place isn’t worth going out of your way for. It’s super cheap but then again so is Publix. There’s much better places in St. Pete that you could eat at. And this place isn’t like a hole in the wall unkempt authentic Southern place that only locals know about. That’s what I was expecting but it really isn’t. Just don’t go here. I don’t understand the point.

While still on my quest to find the best fried chicken in St Pete, I stopped at Rush Hour Chicken & Waffles to try their offereings. For $ 11.50 you couldn’t beat it. Chicken was seasoned perfectly and brined. The corn muffin had a nice sweetnes, but wish it was served warm with butter. The black eyed peas had a nice smokey flavor too. The mac & cheese was simple, but extra cheesy. I would highly recommended this place if you are in the mood for fried chicken.

i ordered fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, a waffle and the catfish dinner, everything I ordered was outstanding.
The owner answered the phone when I called and also gave us our food when we came in, he was very polite and helpful.
The fried chicken was so good I will be returning and often.
I highly recommend Rush Hour.
Delicious!

Excellent chicken and waffles! The owner was courteous and respectful, something to treasure in today’s fast paced society. The chicken was breaded and fried and served to my table piping hot! Definitely a place to feed body and soul!

TL;DR — Solid chicken and waffles but restaurant could be cleaner
I love eating breakfast foods during other times other than breakfast. I also love fried chicken. So getting lunch at Rush Hour was an easy choice to make as I was driving around St. Pete looking for a place to eat.
I’m not gonna go as far to say that the chicken tastes just like Publix fried chicken but its pretty damn close. I think when they snuck into Publix HQ to steal the secret recipe, I think they only managed to tear out part of the page from the cook book because although it’s seasoned well and tastes good, it ain’t Publix good. With the R.H. Chicken and Waffles, you get 3 huge pieces of these juicy wings with a big ol’ waffle to slather with butter and syrup — all for under 10 bucks.
Everything is made fresh to order. As soon as you say the word, they drop the wings into the deep fryer 10 feet away from you. Unfortunately, that’s their down fall and what’s keeping me from giving a higher rating. The restaurant is not well ventilated and it shows. The sneeze guards are caked in grease and you come out smelling and feeling like it too. Definitely not a place to go eat before a night out on the town unless you’re already wearing something from KFC’s line of cologne.
4 stars: I’ll be back for lunch if I’m ever in the area.

This place is now on my top 5 list of best places to get fried chicken. Perfectly spiced and expertly fried. Get the 3 piece dark (Tre’von) with 2 sides and a corn bread muffin, and add an extra breast piece. Enough food to feed me for 2 or 3 days.
The sides. I have only had the mac n’ cheese and collard greens. Both very, very good. Collards are cooked with turkey legs.
Chicken wings. Again, perfect breading on these bad boys and fried to perfection. As others have noted, one wing here =‘s the drummie and the flap. The way it SHOULD BE, but usually never is. And the wings are BIG too. The best part is their price: 20 pieces (which equals 40 pieces anywhere else) for only $ 13.75. A fantastic deal.
Really looking forward to a return visit so I can try some additional sides and/​or menu items.

For starters this restaurant is located in a small strip mall not to far from Gibbs HS. The place is very clean and not outdated. We actually recognized the owner from seeing him on TV or in the newspaper a few years back.
We only tried the chicken and waffles. The chicken was seasoned perfectly just like my grandmother’s. Our waffle was not to heavy and was just right. This place will be a repeat.
We wanted to give it 4.5 but can’t figure out how to. We are anticipating give it five stars once we try some of their other dishes!

This place does not get one star because the food isn’t good. I’m sure if I tried it it may have been awesome! I have been here twice in two days and still have not tried anything off of this menu. The first time they had the hours wrong on Unilocal and the restaurant was already closed when I got here. The second day I came a little earlier and just a simply asked for a paper menu so I can make my selection as soon as they opened within the next couple of minutes and I was greeted with a nasty condescending attitude.
Customer Service is everything to me because I can cook at the house! I don’t make money to spend it in places where it’s not welcome or I’m not welcome so never will I come back to this establishment THE END!!!

Chicken & Waffles may be the last meal I ask for if I ever found myself in that predicament. There is just something, a special flavor that is developed from deep fried chicken, buttercream, maple syrup (or pancake syrup), and waffles. I don’t know what it is, but either you get it or you don’t. This is the type of meal that has no in between, and you cannot pretend to like it.
Rush Hour sits on a strip mall, on a street that is busy and quiet at the same time, at the corner of 22^nd and Highway 19. Being really close to I-​275, it is a great place to drive to and pick up some take out.
I may have said this previously, I am not a fan of «chicken wings» & waffles, which is the type of chicken & waffles served here, because I like the variety of white and dark meat. Rush Hour, however, may be the exception to that rule. Here, the chicken wings are lightly breaded and they taste nice and clean. They are fried perfectly and come to the table soft, juicy, and with lots of flavor. Spicy sauce at the table complements the chicken portion of this dish.
The waffle, the second part of this dish, comes itself in a different plate and is not to be ignored either. It is not a side or just a waffle. This waffle is big, crunchy, meaty, tasty, and the syrup on top make it plain delicious. Add an iced tea and you may be deep in the South without leaving Florida.
After reading the stellar reviews, I made a point to stop by, and I can say that I was very satisfied. The only time I stopped by I also ordered a chicken leg, just to add variety. Needless to say, it was also perfectly cooked.
In conjunction, put together, these chicken & waffles are very good. The portion is very generous and I could hardly finish the food, but I did. The lady in charge was also very charming and helpful and she made sure I had everything I needed to enjoy my visit.
To put it simply, this is definitively a repeat.

I thought I had eaten fried chicken before. After eating it here, I was obviously wrong. I love my mother, but I blame her for my first chicken that she had fried. The fried chicken was so good at Rush Hour I felt like I was having a religious experience. The seasoning, juices, size, skin, was all perfect and was a 6 napkin meal. Paired with the sweet and ample waffle, the experience was overwhelming in the best way. My husband was without words the whole time we ate, just made sounds.
The service was excellent. We can only hope they open one in Tampa.