Freeman’s Flying Chicken

We are huge fans of Freeman’s Flying Chicken, so when we decided to host a party for the Stanford Ultimate Frisbee Team, we thought of them. Their food is delicious, plentiful and healthy – exactly what young athletes need. Owner, Paul Freeman, helped me make selections from their menu – not easy because there are so many great choices – and he personally delivered the food. It arrived fresh and steaming hot. We fed 60 people with ease, and everyone raved about the food. Many thumbs up!!!

To start out, I want to let you know I first emailed this establishment directly asking if they could give me an explanation. Six days later I have not heard from them…
At 5:47 pm last Saturday I called to make a delivery request. The call was answered and I said «I would like to place a delivery» a younger man said «Do you mind if I put you on hold». I was placed on hold for 6 minutes, which really isn’t that horrible except the music is just one 5 second rift on repeat, making it dreadful. When I was taken off hold a woman told me that you did not take delivery requests over the phone anymore and I needed to go thru SB Menus. Which is fine, but why didn’t the guy tell me that at the beginning before being on hold?
I placed my order through SB menus. At 6:52 (beauty of cell phones, they record everything) the same woman called me back and said that you were out of chicken. She was not apologetic about it at all. I was flabbergasted, first I wait on hold then I go through SB Menus then wait over an hour to be told there are no chickens? Why wasn’t that known when I placed the order?
To further add to my frustration the SB Menus delivery guy calls me and said he had been waiting 25 minutes and people had been coming in picking up take out chickens. And, he said they sent him away and he saw chickens still there?! What?! That is impossible right, why would they say there were no chickens when there were?
So if that isn’t enough of a bad experience I went on my credit card and was changed, by Freemans Chicken, not SB menus the full amount of an order I never got!
Bot sure how the food is, since I never got it but the customer service is awful!

Freeman’s Flying Chicken is a wonderful addition to the fabulous culinary delights available to us in Santa Barbara. Their chickens are large, flavorful, and cooked to perfection. Their corn is amazingly good. They have superlative hummus and pita bread. In short, everything they make is terrific. Moreover, the dishes are plentiful. This is an amazing «fast, casual» place for pick up and dining at home.
We asked for certain items from their Thanksgiving menu to complement what we cooked for the holiday. The owner, Paul, was very helpful and cooperative in accommodating our requests which were not standard to his menu. He included final preparation instructions that enabled us to bring everything together with ease.
We patronize Freeman’s regularly. We suggest you do so, too.

Freeman’s is great! We’ve ordered their large Greek Dinner several times and have always been impressed with the quality and quantity of food. The chickens are large, juicy, and perfectly prepared. The salad, hummus and pita are fantastic sides. The fresh corn-​off-​the-​cob is wonderful. The BBQ, pesto, and buffalo sauces are tasty and made from scratch.
Their customer service is fantastic! Paul happily worked with me to create a Thanksgiving dinner order for our family this year. All the dishes were prepared with fresh, tasty ingredients. There were detailed instructions for how to coordinate the timing and final preparation of each item, and everything turned out perfectly. It was the yummiest, most stress-​free holiday dinner ever. Thank you!
I highly recommend Freeman’s for standard take-​out/​delivery, as well as their special holiday meals. They are a top choice in my book for catering, too!

Our Thanksgiving was a HUGE success because of Freeman’s Thanksgiving special. We had pita stuffing which was better than any stuffing I have had… Ever! We also had yummy mashed potatoes, delicious hummus, fresh corn, heavenly cranberry sauce, and an incredible apple dessert. All of the food was fresh, delicious, and had multiple layers of flavor. It was all pre-​prepared in a way that made cooking, serving, and clean-​up so easy! We also received specific directions and a «cooking plan» that helped us plan what to cook and when so that everything was fresh and hot when it was time to eat. All we can say is thank you thank you thank you… And please do this next Thanksgiving!

So, I heard of this place through one of my good friends and he recommended this place. I then begin ordering a pretty large order 4 adults/​2 kids. I’m on hold for 5 minutes then hang up to call back, on hold for another 5 minutes. I finally get through. I begin placing my order (which I repeated 3 times) and get a reasonable wait time (30 – 45) delivery. I order all large sizes of damn near everything. 2 Caesar salads, southwestern corn, 2 full orders of chicken wings, mustardy potatoes, humus, and 2 orders of Mac and cheese. I receive 1 Caesar salad with no dressing, (missing the other Caesar) no Mac and cheese, chicken wings with 1 ranch and 2 wing sauces when I asked for a whole lot more than that. I asked for pita bread for the humus but they said it comes with a lot of the food I was ordering, it cane with 4 tiny pieces for a huge amount of humus. I called back to fix it, and they came back with the extra Caesar, still no dressing for both now. No pita bread, no Mac and cheese. (They didn’t put it on the initial order and I received none even after having to repeat my entire order 3 times) and 1 extra ranch for all the wings (24+)
The food was good though, not gonna lie. I reached out to them again through the company site and no response. I wanted to give them a chance to fix/​respond to there mistakes. This whole deal took at least 2 hours with 2 hungry toddlers that pushed there bed time back. If I do ever decide to order from them again, it will be an order for PICK UP, NOT DELIVERY. Just thought ya’ll should know.
The owner contacted me and is gonna make things right. Most companies don’t. Thank you Paul Freeman! I’ll try you guys out again very soon

We found this place through the Santa Barbara Axxess, and boy are we glad we did! The chicken is perfectly cooked, the sauce was fantastic, the menu well-​curated. This is REAL food, not the crappy garbage many restaurants try to pass off as food (pre-​frozen french fries and wilted lettuce… come on.)
We got the BBQ chicken dinner and have plenty for lunch tomorrow. The price of the meal with the axxess card is a steal, but even without it, it’s a bargain for the value you get. I can imagine this place being convenient for picking up a full-​meal for a family that is conscious about the quality and nutrition of their kids. The staff was also very courteous and friendly, even came out to bring me my food by hand instead of just passing through the window.
The sign is small, so it’s a little tricky to find, check the map before you leave to pick it up (gate C at Earl Warren).
We have one suggestion — how about putting pie on the menu? We didn’t get to try one of the cookies, since they were sold out tonight, but cherry or apple pie would be a great addition to the menu… please!!! :-)

I finally tried the Tri Tip, we ordered Medium rare and it was cooked perfect
Ordered it with the garlic salt rub. Really good
And by the way they cook the chicken perfectly also!

the best mashed potato ever! best take-​out or delivery! everything’s so good! we love the Tri-​Tip and chicken!

The chicken is well cooked, juicy, and light on flavor. The mashed potatoes were a nice, thick, creamy consistency, but also bland. The gravy helped, but not enough. I also added S&P, which also weren’t enough. As delivery is the primary way to get this (I’m not driving to pick it up), the value just isn’t there when the delivery fee and tip are tacked on. I’d give it 2.5 stars, but it’s not good enough to round up.

I had been curious about Freeman’s for a bit since I saw them pop up on Axxess, and seen coupons in the ads you get in the mail. So, one nice when we didn’t feel like cooking, we decided to check them out.
They have a variety of different side dish options (all of which sounded delicious) and we decided on the BBQ meal (the meal because of the great axxess deal). We decided to pick up the food because we were curious about the location at Earl Warren. It’s located at the C entry gate, back by the barns, and looks like a converted snack stand (it’s basically an industrial kitchen with a window for orders).
First, the food: We found the medium BBQ a good size for my husband and myself. We finished all of the chicken and pita but had a small amount of left overs (enough for a snack the next day) of the potatoes and corn. The chicken was great, not too dry, and delicious. The corn was my favorite (and they were able to make it special for us without the onions). It was probably so good because of the amount of butter used (way more than I would cook with or eat normally, but it was really really good). The potato salad was also good, spicier than I would have thought, but I prefer it that way. I’d go back based on the food.
Second, the service: When we called the order in, the guy taking the order was courteous but not overly helpful. When we went to pick up the food, there was a bit of a wait (even though we arrived 20 min after we ordered as they suggested). It seemed that the slow up was the guy taking the orders, and since I had a bit of time to observe while I was waiting, it seemed that the cook was a bit exasperated by the manner of the order/​window guy (because he responded slowly, mixed things up, and had to be told a few times which order was which). I think if they stream lined this process, it might be better.
I didn’t order delivery, so I’m not sure how they are on that front. I might try next time.
We have a bunch of family visiting in November and I think this will be a great option to please the palates of both the adults and kids!

I ordered at 645p and I was told my order would be delivered within 35−45min. One hour later the food had not arrived. I called to ask about the food, the man answering the phone didn’t seem concerned that the food was late and told me my order would be delivered «within ten minutes». He also said that the driver had notified him that he would be late, why I was not called with this information I don’t know. I think if you’re going to work at or operate a business in the service industry you should act like you want people to enjoy your service. So I cancelled my order and will never call again.

This is currently my favorite delivery place in Santa Barbara. The chickens are better than anything you will find in a grocery store, super fresh and their sauces are quite tasty. So far I’ve stuck to the Italian Dinner which comes with potatoes and a caesar salad both of which I enjoyed quite a bit.
The amount of food you get for the price is great too. I always feel like I spent too much money on Pizza or Chinese but I usually have leftovers from Freeman’s.

Must try! We wanted an alternative to the typical, local chicken place. The sautéed veggies were delicious and the mashed potatoes were great. But the sauces were what really took it over the top. The mojo sauce was so fresh and delicious. The garlic sauce was also really good and we used it to dip the pita. The location is a little obscure, but well worth it!

We ordered a dinner from here because of a school fundraiser. Now, I’m not exactly the targeted audience because I cook most of our meals and I’m frugal, but it is nice to get a break. It was a convenient location — I called from work and it was ready when I got there, which is not too far from home.
The chicken was good. I know someone else made a comment about «being too lazy to roast your own chicken», but um, roasting a whole chicken is not exactly an option when you get home at 5:30 pm and the kids are hungry at 6 pm.
We ordered the Italian dinner. It came with potatoes, salad, pita, and pesto. We all really liked the potatoes and the pita. I thought the pesto was better than my pesto. It was enough for dinner with leftovers (except the potatoes and pita, no leftovers there).
So, on the price — it was $ 30 for the family dinner. For a «dinner out», that’s a pretty good price. Most places that we’d go would be at least that much. This was definitely a healthier option than most other places. Plus with leftovers, it’s more like a dinner out and a lunch out.
I’m looking forward to trying them again for one of the other family dinners (Teriyaki?). Maybe my birthday so I don’t have to cook!

Wanted to like this place. I think it is a great idea. The chicken the first time we ordered was too salty. However, we decided to try again because we saw the axxess deal. We mentioned we wanted to use the one that saves 10 dollars on any dinner meal. So after we get the food and check the receipt it looks like they only gave us 10% off. I e-​mailed the company and did not get any response. Eh. Not very great customer service. Not sure if I will bother next time.

If you’re really that lazy that you can’t roast a simple chicken, mash some potatoes, and throw together a salad or some sautéed veggies, then I guess maybe waste your money here??? Honestly just about anyone can make these exact same dishes for a fraction of the price and yours will taste much much better. Freeman’s is really not good, especially for the money they want you to throw away for it. The chicken was mediocre tasting, the mashed potatoes were so boring and the «au jus gravy» was nothing like it was advertised. Actually nothing we got looked anything like the pictures. That’s a stunt that cheap fast food places pull. What are you hiding Freeman’s? Super shady move that puts you on the same level as Burger King. Hope you’re proud of that.

Ohhhhhh Lord.
So we were starving, didnt want pizza, saw you in the Axxess Book and ordered the «All American Dinner» and the cookies.
When the driver got here I discovered I lost my Axxess card and instead of honoring me for mentioning it, he said I owed $ 10 more (pretty sure he pocketed it plus my tip since theres no way to tell if he stamped my card lol, enjoy!)
Chicken was tiny and cold
Mashed potatoes tasted like powdered potatoes
Veggies were good
Gravy was edible
I did NOT get the «free» pita thanks
Overall it was ok for a fast food run but NOT worth $ 40!!!
Oh and see my picture of the cookie compared to the online picture… Wow!
Bummed. Wont be going back.

We decided to give it a try last night… and decided to pick it up instead of having it delivered. We went for the smokey BBQ dinner, which came with yummy «corn off the cob» (which we loved) and a potato salad made with mustard and red potatoes (also pretty good). We both agreed the chicken was okay, but nothing special. Unfortunately when we got our $ 29 order home, we realized they had forgotten to include the BBQ sauce, which was a total bummer. The portions were generous and we had leftovers.
Honestly the best part of the meal was the delicious pita bread that was included, that is worth going back for.
I can see how this would be ideal for a busy family wanting delivery, and not wanting pizza. The menu seems to have healthy options (vegetables, salad, etc.), we just went for the non-​healthy stuff, and it was good.
Forgetting to give us sauce was a major fail, but hey, stuff happens. My only other complaint is the abundance of plastic used for the meal. In this day and age I would expect compostable containers like many other take out restaurants in town use. I understand the need for the plastic container to hold the juicy chicken, but there are so many other options for the sides. The good news is I believe the containers are at least recyclable in SB.

Freeman’s Flying Chicken was just AWESOME! it was honestly some of the best roast chicken our family has ever had. Moist, simple and flavorful, just falling off the bone delicious.
Yes Vincent M., it’s more pricey than if you drive to a supermarket and pick one up that’s been sitting there all afternoon in the red lights, but we live in a society that very clearly supports the «you-​get-​what-​you-​pay-​for» philosophy. The Freeman chicken was huge, plump and didn’t have that dried out, left under the lights thing that some grocery stores do. It was qualitatively better than the best grocery store roast chickens I’ve ever had. We didn’t mind paying a bit more than that
We had a blast with the sides too. Love the stir fried veggies, salads and sauces and wish we had been able to taste them all. It was fun to be able to dip the chicken in different sauces and experience different cuisines with the same chicken. The owner is supposed to be master chef of some kind (high cuisine, Frenchy restaurant stuff) and in an unusual way, it shows with the simplicity of what he’s created here.
Best of all, we were just outside of the delivery zone on the Mesa, but they expanded it by a few blocks just to get to us. Having a big, delicious roast chicken and sides delivered to the home was the deal sealer for us.
Our family will order again and it’s hard to write this review without wondering if they’re open today!