Ezell’s Famous Chicken, the Seattle restaurant chain made famous after Oprah Winfrey declared her love for its fried chicken, will open its first Portland-area location next month.

Ezell’s currently operates 13 Seattle-area locations, plus a 14th in Spokane. The Oregon restaurant, expected to open in late January near the Washington Square mall, will be the chain’s first outside of Washington State, save for a short-lived location in Dubai, according to co-founder Lewis Rudd.

“Over the years, I can’t count the number of times that we’ve had people driving up from Oregon, and they’d stop in one of the restaurants and say, ‘When are you coming to Portland?’”

Rudd opened the first Ezell’s in 1984 with high school friend Ezell Stephens and sister Faye Rudd (Faye and Ezell were married at the time) in Seattle’s Central District, modeling the restaurant after a Louisiana-style fried chicken joint they’d worked at growing up in East Texas. (Stephens parted ways with the chain that bares his name about a decade ago, but continues to serve fried chicken at his two Heaven Sent locations. Debating which restaurant serves the better fried chicken remains a popular Seattle pastime.)

But it wasn’t until five years later -- and a delivery to a very famous customer -- that the restaurant took off.

“She was doing a production at King 5,” says Rudd of Oprah’s 1989 visit to Seattle, "and she asked someone where she could get some good food, and specifically some good fried chicken. They said Ezell’s, of course.”

But when an assistant called to place the order, the employee who answered the phone had some bad news -- Ezell’s didn’t deliver on Saturdays.

“And then he heard a voice: ‘This is Oprah Winfrey, and I want some of that chicken, and I want it now,’” Rudd recalls. “He said, ‘Well, how do I know this is you?’ And she said, ‘Bring some of that chicken down and you’ll see.’"

Oprah ordered another round of chicken on Sunday, mentioned Ezell’s on her show the next month, then had the restaurant cater her 36th birthday party in Chicago the following year.

“We had people literally driving from Longview, Washington to get chicken," Rudd said. "We couldn’t keep up with the demand.”

Soon, Ezell’s was prepping lunches for the Seattle Seahawks, and catering post-game dinners for visiting squads at Washington Husky football and basketball games, including the Oregon Ducks.

In addition to its lightly spiced bone-in chicken and tenders, Ezell’s serves a spicy version marinated in Creole seasoning and fried with a little cayenne in the crispy crust, as well as potato salad, mashed potatoes, soft dinner rolls and sweet potato pie, with side dishes made in-house at each location.

Get your first taste of Ezell’s Famous Chicken when it opens its first Portland-area location in late January at 10218 S.W. Washington Square Rd., near the Washington Square mall.

-- Michael Russell

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