Fried Chicken in New England

I live in the Boston, MA area and in my three years here have not found great fried chicken. Any recommendations for New England places to get great fried chix?

Big Y Supermarkets in Western Mass. have pretty good chicken. We were transplanted Southerners living up there, so my mother would normally just buy the frozen Banquet chicken and heat it up.

Fortunately there are so many other good things in New England to eat we didn't mind. Bring on the pizza, the grinders, the hot dogs!

I feel your pain Marlin. No noteworthy friend chicken in Wester CT either. Some of the chinese take out places have decent friend chicken wings but that's about it.

Route 11 - I probably wouldn't have admitted it, but with a Big Y near us in Walpole we've gotten pretty used to the fried chicken. Not fabulous, but decent and cheap enough (it's currently the daily dinner special, $7.00 a bag, which is essentially a chicken).

I'll even go to Old Country Buffet every now and then just for some fried chicken. When it's fresh it's not bad.

For something more authentic, I've been told that Bob the Chef's, the old soul food place turned jazz club (they've changed the name to Bob's Southern Bistro ) on Columbus Avenue in the South End is good. I've also heard that it's not just the name that's been "upscaled," but then so has the whole South End.

If you run across anything you like, let us know. The northeast is not fried chicken territory and to most people KFC is the gold standard.

Add. - I see you're in Medford. I believe the Phantom Gourmet re-ran this review of the Coast Cafe in Cambridgeport in this weekend's show on comfort food. Might be worth a shot. Let us know if you do. http://www.phantomgourmet.com/Showpage.aspx?content=ReportCard&id=3457

Central Kitchen in Cambridge has terrific fried chicken served in a picnic basket with macaroni & cheese, watermelon and a 1/2 can of Bud. The only catch is that you can only get it in August.

A "side" line, but Big Y does have the only store-bought potato salad we'll eat, in a number of varieties (plain, with egg, red potato). Just classic American potato salad that doesn't taste of chemical preservatives. Our friends from Boston request it when we grill, and like it almost as much as our home made, from the Cooks Illustrated recipe. They sell tons of it in the warm months so you can count on it being fresh, then.

Makes a great easy dinner with fried chicken and salad when it's hot outside, one of these days.

How about Chicken Joe's in Cos Cob Ct on route 1,usually on friday's and saturday's seems to have a line out the door.

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Rushmore Jr.

Central Kitchen in Cambridge has terrific fried chicken served in a picnic basket with macaroni & cheese, watermelon and a 1/2 can of Bud. The only catch is that you can only get it in August.

A half can of bud?????

how much for the whole can?

quote:

Originally posted by Ashphalt

A "side" line, but Big Y does have the only store-bought potato salad we'll eat, in a number of varieties (plain, with egg, red potato). Just classic American potato salad that doesn't taste of chemical preservatives. Our friends from Boston request it when we grill, and like it almost as much as our home made, from the Cooks Illustrated recipe. They sell tons of it in the warm months so you can count on it being fresh, then.

Hmmm, thanks for the tip, neighbor. We generally shop at the Stop & Shop on 1A in Walpole, or the Roche Bros. in Westwood. Might have to go out of the way to Biy Y.

By the way, Jasper's Summer Shack in Cambridge has pretty good fried chicken. Ain't exactly a Roadfood-type place w/ their prices, but the food is excellent.

John in Norwood

For those in Connecticut....Uncle Willie's Barbecue in Waterbury has absolutely terrific fried chicken. I got one piece and an order of hush puppies (these are homemade, real, and great as well)and i could not finish it all.

This is one I do got to chains for in the South- I LOVE Church's chicken and Mrs Winner's is very close to a chain we used to have here in CT called Lee's Famous Recipe.
Unfortunately they closed their last store last year and I've missed their chicken since!

Now I go to Popeye's in Wallingford for Cajun fried chicken that's still better than KFC...

Popeye's would be my vote. You have a couple in the boston area. it's not great...but it's good!

I really miss the fried fish at big y. you just can't get good fried fish here...even on friday's.

A memory raised by this thread. We used to go out of our way to get the fried chicken at Fontaine's in West Roxbury. My wife, a native of Newton Center, grew up on the stuff, and early in our marriage, she introduced me to the place, and whenever we were anywhere near it (meaning within 50 miles), we'd go. It was that good. Big mulitcolored neon chicken sign outside with a blinker on the wing that made it look like it was flapping. The owners were always present-- it was a real mom & pop operation. I've since learned that the food suffered an undignified decline in quality before the place closed for good.

Do you have a place where weddings are done? Or large banquets? Around here(Northeast Wisconsin) these are usually the best places to get fried or broasted chicken. The Darboy Club, Romys Nightengale, Van Ables,The Starlight Club,come to mind for anyone that lives in Northeast Wisconsin. KFC...... Yeah..... right. If you want something that looks like a cornish game hen. Some of the local grocery stores with hot delis around here are also good places to go for good fried chicken.

i don't stay in england but you can prepare your own chicken. there are lots of membners who have posted tasty recipes.

A number of years ago we use to have drive-ins with chicken baskets.
Today, the fried chicken dish, plate or basket has pretty much gone by the boards in this area. I'm sure it has something to do with cooking time, prep, space and overall health concerns.
A few years ago I was working on a construction site in the Dorchester, Roxbury area and there was a spot in a chuch basement that was opened for lunch, the fried chicken there was outstanding. The sides were great also. It may have been on Blue Hill Ave. Chow Jim

Yesterday I had some pretty good "chicken bites" at the Augusta Market in Billerica. Check out this spot: http://www.yelp.com/biz/3kbpa1aF89g2qCE_S3z0PQ

Now that is a tough question. Even after living in New England for 15 years, I'm scratching my head, trying to come up with a couple of good spots. Nope, the West Coasters sure are into broasted chicken. We came up on a place in Morongo Valley, CA, a hole in the wall, that had some of the BEST chicken around. Zman bought 16 pieces, I thought he was deranged. I polished off the last piece in Washington state somewhere.

Roy Rogers in Newington on the Berlin Tpke had really great fried chicken. It has since become an Arby's, however they still have a store in Manchester, CT just off 84, and another one in Sturbridge, MA just off the Mass Pike.
Prices are decent, and you can get biscuits,burgers, roast beef sandwhiches, fries, baked beans, mashed potatoes, coleslaw too. Not to mention salads, ice cream, their Strawberry Shortcake made with a buttermilk biscuit......just to name a few.
They are sit down and drive-thru, and in time they will probably all be bought out, as the owner wishes to retire. I hear that they want to keep the one in Manchester as a Roy Rogers.
The food is great, and they have many die-hard long time customers.
If you go during lunch/dinner, you may have to wait while they cook more chicken, as they can run out, but when it's fresh, it's deliciouis!

other than my wife's fried chicken,i love jim dandy's in springfield,ma. their located on st.james ave.from the mass pike,x#6,291w to x#5.straight off the ramp,turn right onto st.james ave.follow about 1 mile,they are on the right across from the big y.jim dandy was a chain started by friendly ice cream 20 some odd year's ago.this location is the last one surviving.the chicken is huge compared to national chain's.brought my daughter there (she's a kfc fan)& she LOVED it.of cource the old man had to prod her @ first..........LOL.I can't say enough about this place,if you're in the springfield area,DO stop in there.also there's a bbq joint right there whose name escape's me @ the moment also worth trying,a 2fer for you.

We ate chicken tenders at Puritan Backroom in Manchester, NH last night. Their "famous" tenders are interesting, in that the breading is very light and the chicken pieces are irregularly shaped planks, as if the chef tore chunks off the breast before frying. They come with a duck sauce for dipping, which was good but not necessary.

I don't consider chicken bites or tenders or fingers for that matter, fried chicken.
Fried Chicken is served on the bone and Never skinless. those other items are just bar snacks or appetizers.
As Stephen said the Agusta Mkt. in Billerica hsd some very good chicken selections, I really enjoy their chicken parmesan sub, a small one is more than enough for me. Chow Jim

The long gone, local chain "Chicken Delite" was good. As has been mentioned, a lot of "Chinese" buffets do it fairly well too, but generally only wings and drumsticks. As has been also mentioned, KFC seems to have a lock on the market up here. I'll admit to going to KFC now and then. A few pizza places make a trademarked pressure fried product the name of which slips my mind, but it has been mentioned here as well.......

I guess they've gone a bit "upscale" since I was last in town but check out bob the chef in Roxbury..
http://www.bobssouthernbistro.com/


great chicken and ribs!!