Roscoes Chicken N Waffles

What Roscoes Chicken N Waffles does

Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles (legally Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles) is a privately held soul food restaurant chain founded in 1975 by Herb Hudson in Hollywood, California. The chain operates six active full-service locations across the Los Angeles metro — Hollywood, South LA, Long Beach, Inglewood-LAX, Anaheim, and La Brea — with a previously operating Pasadena unit now permanently closed. Signature offerings center on fried chicken paired with waffles, supplemented by traditional soul food sides such as macaroni and cheese, collard greens, candied yams, red beans, and biscuits; the menu is anchored by named items such as Scoe's, Herb's Special, and Country Boy/County Girl.

Revenue is generated across five streams: in-restaurant dining (primary), formal catering packages priced from $190 to $630 for 20–60-piece chicken trays plus half- and full-pan sides, third-party delivery via UberEats, Postmates, Order Online, and Dine Online, nationwide frozen-food shipping through Goldbelly, and a small branded merchandise line on Shopify. The Hollywood flagship operates from 8 AM to 4 AM daily, giving Roscoe an unusually broad late-night window for the category, while the LAX-adjacent Inglewood and Anaheim (near the convention center) locations target travel and event demand.

The company is founder-owned with no disclosed institutional investors, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no app or proprietary technology platform. Distribution and customer acquisition rely primarily on earned media (Los Angeles Times, New York Times, TastingTable.com), organic social (Facebook and Instagram at @RoscoesOfficial), press coverage across California outlets, and word-of-mouth from a 47-year celebrity endorsement history including Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Snoop Dogg, Shaquille O'Neal, and President Obama. A first San Diego unit is in development, representing the chain's first expansion beyond the Los Angeles metro.

Name

Roscoes Chicken N Waffles

Legal name

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles

Website

https://roscoeschickenandwaffles.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles is a privately held soul food restaurant chain founded in 1975 in Hollywood, California, operating six locations across the Los Angeles metro with catering, nationwide shipping via Goldbelly, and merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Soul Food Restaurant / Casual Dining

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Caterers (722320), Mobile Food Services (72233)

SIC

Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Chicken Concepts (Fried/Grilled/Hot Chicken) (THAFABAI)

Keywords

• Soul food restaurant
• Chicken and waffles
• Casual dining
• Event catering
• Frozen food shipping

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. In-restaurant dining: Revenue from customers dining at physical restaurant locations across Southern California
2. Catering services: Bulk food orders for events with packages ranging from 20-60 pieces of chicken plus sides, sold directly to customers via inquiry form
3. Third-party delivery: Orders placed through delivery partners UberEats, Postmates, and Order Online platforms
4. Nationwide shipping: Ship frozen food nationwide via Goldbelly marketplace partnership
5. Merchandise: Branded merchandise sold through Shopify storefront including apparel and other items

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles operates a casual dining soul food restaurant chain serving its signature chicken and waffles and traditional Southern sides at six physical locations in Southern California. The brand extends its reach through event catering packages, third-party delivery, nationwide frozen-food shipping via Goldbelly, and branded merchandise.

Product overview

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles is a Hollywood, California-based soul food restaurant chain founded in 1975, operating as a unified restaurant brand with multiple California locations. The core offering centers on its signature chicken and waffles combination, supplemented by traditional Southern soul food menu items. The business extends its reach through catering services for events, a nationwide shipping partnership via Goldbelly, and an online merchandise store. Delivery integration with third-party platforms enables off-premise dining.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dine-In Restaurant Service Full-service soul food restaurant offering chicken and waffles and traditional Southern cuisine at six physical locations in Southern California (Hollywood, South LA, Long Beach, Inglewood-LAX, Anaheim, La Brea).
• Catering Service Catering packages featuring chicken selections (20, 40, or 60 pieces, mixed or white meat) with choice of side, plus half pan and full pan specialty sides, designed for corporate events, meetings, and private gatherings.
• Goldbelly Nationwide Shipping Mail-order frozen food shipping nationwide through Goldbelly marketplace, allowing customers outside California to order Roscoe's menu items for home delivery.
• Branded Merchandise Store Online merchandise store selling branded apparel and other items through a Shopify-powered storefront.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GoldbellycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGoldbelly is a marketplace for shipping iconic food nationwide. Roscoe's uses Goldbelly to ship their frozen food products to customers across the United States, extending their reach beyond physical locations.
• UberEatsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party food delivery platform for restaurant orders
• PostmatesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party food delivery platform for restaurant orders
• Order OnlineminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party online ordering platform for restaurant orders
• Dine OnlineminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party online ordering and pickup platform

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sylvia's Restaurant: Sylvia's is a legendary Harlem soul food institution with national brand recognition, comparable to Roscoe's as a regional soul food icon operating a sit-down restaurant anchored on fried chicken and Southern sides.
• Harold's Chicken Shack: Harold's is a Chicago-born soul food fried chicken chain with multi-unit footprint and similar Southern/soul food positioning to Roscoe's, comparable as a regional soul food chicken chain.
• Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles: Lo-Lo's is the closest direct competitor to Roscoe's — both specialize in the chicken-and-waffles combination within the Southern California/soul food category and compete head-to-head for the same diner occasion.

Regional players

• The Hat: The Hat is a Southern California fast casual chain specializing in pastrami and Southern-American comfort food; it overlaps with Roscoe's in SoCal casual comfort-food occasions and delivery aggregator footprint.

Others

• Sweetgreen: Sweetgreen is a tech-forward fast casual chain using direct digital ordering and omnichannel delivery — adjacent to Roscoe's as a benchmark for the modernized casual dining tech stack Roscoe's currently lacks.

Broad incumbents

• Bojangles': Bojangles is a regional chicken-focused QSR chain with strong Southern brand heritage; it competes with Roscoe's for fried chicken occasions and shares Southern/soul food menu cues.
• Church's Chicken: Church's is a national fried chicken chain with Southern heritage positioning, comparable to Roscoe's as a fried-chicken-anchored brand operating in similar casual dining and delivery occasions.
• Raising Cane's: Raising Cane's is a national chicken-focused QSR chain with deep brand love and a narrow chicken-only menu. It competes with Roscoe's for casual chicken occasions in California markets.
• Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen: Popeyes is a national fried chicken QSR with strong Louisiana/soul food flavor positioning, overlapping with Roscoe's on the fried chicken and Southern cuisine pillars at scale.
• KFC (Yum! Brands): KFC is the dominant global fried chicken QSR and competes with Roscoe's for casual fried chicken occasions, including via third-party delivery platforms where Roscoe's also operates.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/RoscoesOfficial
• Instagraminstagram.com/roscoesofficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/roscoes-chicken-n-waffles

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Roscoes Chicken N Waffles