98K Hamburger

"这家店, 我等了十年"
今天晚上和朋友去吃了因为人手不足关门了一个月后重新开业的大鼓米线，因为我们都很喜欢大鼓所以我们都很开心，也点了很多。我把汤都喝得一滴不剩，饱到不行。按照惯例，我们去朝茶买喝的。路上发现了这家刚开的店，我和朋友都特别喜欢炸鸡（国内的麦当劳肯德基这样的）所以好奇心就促使我们来看看。门口的小姐姐给了我们一份菜单，说味道和国内一样的。我们拿过菜单，看着图片感觉刚才明明已经饱到走不动路，这个时候仍然想要试试。“万一好吃呢？”我们在美国就很少能吃到喜欢的炸鸡。之前在DMV地区发现了Choongman Chicken，好吃到流眼泪。因为实在和国内的麦辣鸡翅这些太像了。但匹兹堡是没有这些的。另外，因为北美人基本只吃white meat，所以炸鸡腿也是不存在的。然而，98K有鸡腿堡，还在买二送一。我人傻了，无法抑制冲动，买了三个辣腿堡，两对辣鸡翅。因为今天可能第一天开业，后勤什么的还没有走上正轨，Google上也有因为太慢给一星的差评。但是店门口的饭团小哥非常热心，我们在20分钟内就拿到了餐。当时就等不及吃了鸡翅。然后我们就傻了 -- 真的太好吃了。我老婆和我朋友的老婆对我们都很嫌弃，认为至于吗。只有我知道，太至于了。10年前来美国人生地不熟，一开始只敢去麦当劳肯德基，结果麦当劳没有辣翅腿堡，肯德基的鸡翅不知道是什么鬼东西。所以自那之后两次回国，每次回国麦当劳起码要去三次（别的再好吃的店都只去一次解馋）。这家店，可能我等了十年。鸡翅吃完，再试试腿堡。我咬了一口，直接递给我老婆。我老婆很喜欢麦辣鸡腿堡但一样，美国是没有的。她因为也很饱，非常嫌弃地咬了一口。果然没人能逃脱真香定律。我现在一口水都喝不下了，但是我一点都不后悔。希望这家店能一直一直开下去。现在的学生们可太幸福了！
Maybe I was being a bit emotional. I wrote everything above in Chinese because I thought this place would be more than a fast food restaurant to most younger people (including me) from mainland China. It could be nostalgia for me, it is something that I've been longing for for a long time but I was insatiable all the time because the difference in how we and American dine. I LIKE fried chicken, especially wings. KFC and Mcdonalds in China provide spicy breaded chicken wings and they are, in my opinion, way much better than any wings in any US wings-chain like BWW, Wingstop, Quaker Steak&Lube, you name it. I don't understand how you can eat fried chicken wings that are unbreaded or not marinated beforehand. I went to DMV and had Choongman Chicken which is a Korean franchise. Their fried chicken are something that I have never had in Pittsburgh or in the US (if any Yinzer can tell me a good fried chicken restaurant, let me know and I am happy to give you $100 cash if I think their fried chicken are better.) Popeyes and Churchs pale before Choongman Chicken. Besides wings, thighs and legs are great, especially in a sandwich. But such things are not American because there is only white meat here. I experienced the Popeyes fried chicken sandwich fever in 2019. Yes it was good, but not enough because it's white meat. The texture, juiciness, tenderness and flavor of dark meat like thighs and drumsticks, especially in a sandwich with lettuce and mayo, are something that plain, insipid chicken breast will never excel. This place, Hamburger 98k, whose name was inspired by the popular PUBG I think, quenched my thirst for good fried chicken. With chicken marinated beforehand, I will no longer face the nightmare of chewing the flavorless chicken carcass after I ate the coating which is the only part that has flavor in most American fried chicken. And yes their spicy fried chicken wings are spicy. You will not expect the ghost pepper level hotness, but the flavor and the spiciness not only stays at the breading but infiltrates every piece of muscle between radius and ulna. Something that I expected from McDonalds and KFC (after all I developed my habit there in China), finally I got myself sated here. Carry on! I will surely visit often.

Ate here on their first day, the food was great. Very moist chicken with delicious flavors. We got #17 and #1 and they were better than any competing business around! They were busy but we ordered before we left and got our food when we got there so about 25 min or so.