Yo, in a minute with Evan Lovett, and I'm here at my desk in the I am studios in the heart of Los Angeles with another episode brought to you by the excellent folks at Sarito's

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And speaking of saving, this week's episode is about a beloved

LA institution that once had more than 300 locations and has since dwindled down

to two. But it's in the midst of being saved by an unlikely

hero and a true LA American dream story. But the reason why this iconic food chain all but disappeared was shrouded in mystery

is the man who built the company from his literal bootstraps turned into a

Howard Hughes type figure and everything went haywire.

I'm talking about Pioneer Chicken and anybody that enjoys Fried Chicken

in Los Angeles owes Pioneer chicken a debt of gratitude.

They were and are L.A.'s fried chicken.

And we're going to unravel the elements of this story one juicy, crispy bite at a time. This is the mystery of H.R.

Kaufman and Pioneer Chicken. All right y'. Let's get into it.

We start with something that happened in LA this week like we always do. I had some hot chicken

which is I think LA's favorite food right now and probably has been since Halen-rays took over the city and a new spot called

humblebird it was delicious and props to Louis the owner over there who's really

really good and they make good chicken but it made me crave my favorite food in the world

pioneer chicken now I've talked about pioneer before my week. It was our special place.

I'd get the two-piece with Biscuits, Coleslaw, and of course an orange bang, and we would sit in those

retro orange booths. I mean these were

retro even in the 80s and we'd crunch into that chicken. Delightly wondering how

the heck something so crispy and crunchy could still be so juicy inside and if you've had that pioneer you know what I'm talking about because it cracks like like sugar you know that sugar candy that glass glass sugar, and it just crumbles, but it's so

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