Chicken Charlie, the King of Deep-Fried Food

12 years ago

You’ve never heard of Chicken Charlie? Allow me to introduce you…

“Chicken Charlie” Boghosian

Charlie Boghosian was born in Syria to Armenian parents. His family came to America when he was 11, eventually settling in San Diego, CA. The summer he was 14, Charlie worked at the local county fair where he sold charbroiled corn for one of the vendors. Charlie enjoyed cooking, selling, and working with people- and knew this was the life for him.

Charlie spent summer after summer working his way through high school and college selling fried food. He eventually teamed-up with the vendor he worked with for so many summers, and together they bought a trailer specializing in pressure-fried (broasted) chicken. The name “Chicken Charlie” was selected, and the rest is history.

Today Charlie runs the business with his family – his wife, two brothers, and several other family members.

Charlie’s passion and vision to fry different foods continues to grow. He experiments with different batters based on the type of food that is to be fried.

A partial list of Charlie’s fried food menu includes: Oreo cookies, avocados, cheesecake, cheese balls, Twinkies, hot dogs, frog’s legs, Kool-aid, and cereal – a new item on this summer’s menu. OK, so it’s not diet food, but when you’re at a fair or carnival, who’s thinking about calories or healthy eating?

For the record, Charlie does have grilled chicken and beef kebab, grilled chicken sandwiches, tabbouleh, and hummus on the menu for the less adventurous palette.

The Zucchini-Weenie

My favorite creation of Charlie’s has to be the ‘zucchini-weenie’. I’m not saying I would actually eat this, but I love how the idea came to him. As Charlie watched his mother scoop out zucchini to make dolma, Charlie wondered if he could stuff a hot dog in the scooped out portion, coat it in batter, and deep-fry it? The answer was….of course! Thus was born the zucchini-weenie.

Charlie takes his truck – and crew- on the road for five months each summer, traveling to county and state fairs throughout California. So, if you’re in his neck of the woods, be sure stop by his truck and give “Chicken Charlie’s” a try.