First place I ever ate in LA was their Sunset Blvd. location.
ucsbaway
Man their chicken was so good. That sauce.
SoUpInYa
Aw man, too soon!
TheChosenWaffle
Man…. those prices.
Fresa22
Oh my god! Best vegetarian sides and combos. I miss them so much!
lifetourniquet
1/2 chicken white, creamed spinach, and tomatos. I still remember my order
The_Guy_Over_Yonder
Man I miss them. Place was always top notch
ryanrosenblum
Rest in peace. The Mac and cheese tho!
popRichiepop
They’re apparently coming back soon!
audimus
Omg totally forgot about them! LOVED koo koo roo
RealKidCorduroy
Thank you, OP. How this franchise offed themselves is a mystery (or a lesson in idiocy).
beachphotogirl
I miss that place so much
smurfsundermybed
I don’t think you understood me. I don’t want a lot of the basting sauce. I want all of the basting sauce you have.
NYerInTex
Duuude – lived in LA the late 90s and this was a goto.
sids99
I worked there in the 90s when I was in HS. We had tons of fun.
moonchild291
This place was so good! And easy.
Zenyquyen
P Diddy gonna be fine he owned 20 koo koo roos , 21. He worried about all you tho.
Lion_Fearless1221
Once, back in my production assistant days, I had to go out and grab Koo Koo Roo for the office. The owner of the production company gave me his credit card, and I used it to buy food for something like a dozen to 20 people. The total was $52.
Somehow, I lost the receipt, and boy was he mad at me. Still got promoted eventually though.
Individual_Essay8230
I heard a rumor it’s coming back
theglinda
Worked in SM in the late 90’s, would pick it up on the way home at least once a month.
contactfive
I own 21 Koo Koo Roos. Y’all don’t own one Koo Koo Roo. Not one. Not one. Y’all are fucked.
Its_Beelzebozo_Time
I went to the one in Downtown Pasadena on a date once. Food was good. We never had a second date though…
ThaneOfCawdorrr
*sobs silently
What WAS in that sauce? Surely someone’s figured out how to sort of duplicate it!
Granadafan
Glad I’m not the only one with a menu drawer!
C_Saunders
Idk this place, I haven’t been in LA that long.
But omg reference to a ‘menu drawer’ just brought back childhood memories of my parents’ basket of takeout menus in the kitchen and a simpler time before Yelp and Grubhub… when I wasn’t an adult…
putain1375
Vintage
BeerNTacos
That brings back memories.
Wasn’t their book of recipes posted on one of the Los Angeles-based subreddits some years back?
RCocaineBurner
The [Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koo_Koo_Roo) for this place is like a ride through failing 90s capitalism while everything else was booming. They had two small stores in 1988, got a huge influx of random investor capital in 1990, went public and then immediately started to lose money while trying to expand and preserve falling stock shares. They bought a coffee shop, ceramics store and 14 Hamburger Hamlets.
It remained hugely popular: “When our investors see the lines out the door of our restaurants, they don’t understand why the stock isn’t performing.”
The last location closed in Santa Monica in 2014. Koo Koo Roo never once had a profitable quarter.
29 Comments
I wish there was a nostalgia tag
First place I ever ate in LA was their Sunset Blvd. location.
Man their chicken was so good. That sauce.
Aw man, too soon!
Man…. those prices.
Oh my god! Best vegetarian sides and combos. I miss them so much!
1/2 chicken white, creamed spinach, and tomatos. I still remember my order
Man I miss them. Place was always top notch
Rest in peace. The Mac and cheese tho!
They’re apparently coming back soon!
Omg totally forgot about them! LOVED koo koo roo
Thank you, OP. How this franchise offed themselves is a mystery (or a lesson in idiocy).
I miss that place so much
I don’t think you understood me. I don’t want a lot of the basting sauce. I want all of the basting sauce you have.
Duuude – lived in LA the late 90s and this was a goto.
I worked there in the 90s when I was in HS. We had tons of fun.
This place was so good! And easy.
P Diddy gonna be fine he owned 20 koo koo roos , 21. He worried about all you tho.
Once, back in my production assistant days, I had to go out and grab Koo Koo Roo for the office. The owner of the production company gave me his credit card, and I used it to buy food for something like a dozen to 20 people. The total was $52.
Somehow, I lost the receipt, and boy was he mad at me. Still got promoted eventually though.
I heard a rumor it’s coming back
Worked in SM in the late 90’s, would pick it up on the way home at least once a month.
I own 21 Koo Koo Roos. Y’all don’t own one Koo Koo Roo. Not one. Not one. Y’all are fucked.
I went to the one in Downtown Pasadena on a date once. Food was good. We never had a second date though…
*sobs silently
What WAS in that sauce? Surely someone’s figured out how to sort of duplicate it!
Glad I’m not the only one with a menu drawer!
Idk this place, I haven’t been in LA that long.
But omg reference to a ‘menu drawer’ just brought back childhood memories of my parents’ basket of takeout menus in the kitchen and a simpler time before Yelp and Grubhub… when I wasn’t an adult…
Vintage
That brings back memories.
Wasn’t their book of recipes posted on one of the Los Angeles-based subreddits some years back?
The [Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koo_Koo_Roo) for this place is like a ride through failing 90s capitalism while everything else was booming. They had two small stores in 1988, got a huge influx of random investor capital in 1990, went public and then immediately started to lose money while trying to expand and preserve falling stock shares. They bought a coffee shop, ceramics store and 14 Hamburger Hamlets.
It remained hugely popular: “When our investors see the lines out the door of our restaurants, they don’t understand why the stock isn’t performing.”
The last location closed in Santa Monica in 2014. Koo Koo Roo never once had a profitable quarter.