Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles in Pasadena closed its doors Sunday and thanked customers for their three decades of support. But there may still be a future for the iconic soul food restaurant in the city.
“We are looking for another modernized location in Pasadena. Stay tuned and follow us on Facebook and Instagram,” read a sign on the building at 830 N. Lake Ave.
Roscoe's website lists the Pasadena restaurant, which was open for 30 years, as permanently closed, but gives no further indication of a possible move. Representatives for the restaurant did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the closure.
Roscoe's, a longtime Los Angeles soul food classic, has six remaining locations in Southern California: Hollywood, South Los Angeles, Long Beach, Inglewood, Anaheim and La Brea. A Mid-City location on Pico Boulevard has been set to close in early 2023.
Roscoe's has a long list of celebrity visitors, including then-President Obama, who dined at the restaurant, Pico, which was renamed Obama's Special in his honor, in 2011. He later mentioned it during an appearance on “The Tonight Show,” saying he rushed to remove a stain from his tie after eating at Roscoe's before heading to a fundraiser.
Online, fans of the soul food chain are lamenting the closure and remembering 30 years full of good times and good food.
Others have pointed out that there are four other chicken restaurants within about a five-minute walk of the closing Roscoe's. One person referred to the stretch as Chicken Row, where diners will find El Pollo Unico, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Chick-fil-A, which opened last year. Several others, who were considerably less sentimental, said the prices of the food have gone up and do not match the quality of the food.
The chicken chain has experienced difficult times in recent years. At its location in southern Los Angeles, a gunman shot the rapper PnB Rock in September 2022. Employees at the Pasadena location asked a man to wear a face mask in 2021 and an argument ensued, which was ended by the man pull out a gun and get food from the kitchen.
In 2015, Roscoe’s parent company Bankruptcy filed after being ordered to pay $3.2 million for wrongful termination and discrimination.
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