Ezell Now Serves Oprah's Favored Chicken Up North

------------------------------- Restaurant review / Lynnwood

XX Ezell's Famous Chicken, 7531 196th St. S.W., Lynnwood. Lunch, dinner ($2.85-$7.88) 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday, Noon-8 p.m. Sunday. No smoking. No credit cards or checks. No alcohol. 425-673-4193. Wheelchair access. -------------------------------

His chicken has slipped between the lipsticked lips (and ended up on the once-gigundo hips) of his famous fan, Oprah Winfrey, whose endorsement has given Ezell Stephens - the man behind Seattle's most clucked-over poultry parts - plenty of national exposure. These days it's Northern exposure that has fried-chicken fanatics bowing to Seattle's answer to Colonel Sanders.

To the delight of North End neighbors tired of traipsing to the original Central District Ezell's for their finger lickin' fixins, Ezell's chicken can now be found in Lynnwood. Shy of the city's busy commercial center, in the reincarnated husk of a Chinese fast-food joint that once housed - stuff my mouth with Shake 'n Bake! - a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, the new Ezell's is already doing gonzo business a month after opening.

Unlike the Seattle store, where patrons must contend with takeout-only facilities and a crush of Garfield High Schoolers on a never-ending lunch break, the Lynnwood shop has booths for eating in - and a more mature clientele. Ezell himself might be frying chicken in back, or working the register taking orders in a red T-shirt sporting the slogan "We Take Our Chicken Seriously." That they do.

Ezell and his crew fry wings 'n things in the industrial kitchen visible beyond trays of plump, crispy-coated chicken (with just the right amount of oil trapped between the skin and the meat). Keeping things spiffy in the small, utilitarian dining area, you may find Ezell's mother-in-law, kindly assuring curious customers that, no indeed, this is not a franchise, just a much-begged-for extension of her popular son-in-law's 14-year career as Seattle's main chicken man.

2 PIECE WHITE MEAT SNACK PACK: Order a "snack pack" and you miss out on the tangy, black peppery coleslaw that comes with the "dinner." There's a nice light crumb to the warm housemade roll that's part of this package (jelly's 12 cents extra but you won't need it). You will need a decent pair of choppers to make the best of the dense, crispy as all get-out, worth-every-calorie skin-on-the-meaty breast and wing.

3 PIECE DARK MEAT CHICKEN DINNER: Two zaftig thighs and a good-sized drumstick make this combo a dark-meat lover's meal and a half. Ezell's "original" flavor chicken is light on the salt - and not overseasoned. Which is why you may prefer his (not too) spicy version, kicked up with a touch of cayenne. Starch fans should go for the crinkly fries or the sweet, dark baked beans rather than the whipped-to-death mashed potatoes and insta-tasting gravy.

SIDE OF FISH: Fish? What fish? Lots of panko-style breading (and little else) describes these finger-shaped morsels. Perfect kiddie food.

SWEET POTATO PIE: A slice of Thanksgiving.

PINEAPPLE-ORANGE FAYGO: Carbonated sweet stuff.

BOTTLED WATER: You want to drink water? Then you'll have to ante-up.

ITEMIZED BILL/MEAL FOR TWO:

2 PIECE WHITE MEAT SNACK PACK: $3.55 3 PIECE DARK MEAT DINNER: $5.82 SIDE OF FISH: $1.93 SWEET POTATO PIE: $1.84 PINEAPPLE-ORANGE FAYGO: 85 cents BOTTLED WATER: 60 cents

TAX: $1.33 TOTAL: $15.92