List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America...............

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (MetroplexJim)

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:33:44 GMT

deepfryerdan

What about KFC?! haha i'm hilarious!

Actually ... back in the day it was spectacular. I recall a road trip with my grandparents that took us through pre-interstate Kentucy in 1959. We stopped at a full-service restaurant that featured "Col. Sanders' Famous Recipe Frid Chicken"; I had a 1/2 chicken dinner that was 10X wonderful. Even the mashed potatos and gravy were fantastic; I ordered seconds. Aside from the food I remember that we Pittsburghers had trouble understanding the Southern drawl of the waitress.

A decade later I encountered Col. Sanders at the University Cafeteria in Charlottesville and told him about that dinner. He laughed and said "Those days are gone. The only thing I recognize these days is the cole slaw. I'm glad you had a chance to enjoy my cookin' ".

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (MetroplexJim)

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:12:15 GMT

New Best fried for me: Rick's Chophouse in McKinney, TX. Marinated in buttermilk, lightly breaded, and pan fried in lard. Just the way grandma used to do it before her unfortunate CVA. And a totally unexpected item on a chophouse menu. Insanely good.

http://www.rickschophouse.com/

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (DetectDave)

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 07:01:13 GMT

Three of my faves:
Jays Fried Chicken in Sikeston, MO
Bottoms Up Tavern in Jacob, IL ($5 for a whole chicken on Wed eves)
Hodaks in St. Louis, MO

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (doel81)

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 06:56:12 GMT

KFC???? delicious enough........

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (deepfryerdan)

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:59:03 GMT

What about KFC?! haha i'm hilarious!

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (MetroplexJim)

Sat, 21 May 2011 12:01:52 GMT

Best I've had:

Top rank - no particular order

Babes Chicken Dinner House, DFW locations
Flavors Soul Food, Falls Church, VA
Prince's Hot Chicken, Nashville
Breezy Heights Tavern, Avella, PA (outside Pgh.)

Really good - no particular order

Loveless Cafe, Nashville
Most Broasted Chichen (www.broaster.com )
Popeye's Spicy, circa 1984 (before they de-spiced it)!

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (johnb)

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:04 GMT

I looked through part, not all, of this thread, but with that disclosure I am shocked that (I saw) no mention was made of Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville. Now that is really good fried chicken. Better than Bon Ton IMO.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (chickenplucker)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:10:26 GMT

rumaki

MiamiDon:

Some people call it the "pulley bone" (or "pully bone"). You cut a whole, bone-in chicken breast into two pieces cross-wise rather than splitting it lengthwise (as almost all restaurants do nowadays, and the way poultry distributors, at least in this part of the world, invariably cut it when raw chicken is sold "cut up.")

This link explains how to cut it up that way (scroll down to "How to cut up chicken with a pulley bone"):

This is the way my mother, who grew up in Southern Illinois, cut up a whole chicken. Hollyhock Hill is the only place I've found it.

That is one way to remove the pully bone. I prefer to leave the ribs attached and cut down into the breast just past the point of the wishbone. With a good sharp knife you will feel the keel bone. When you feel it turn the knife and cut horizontally along the keel and ribs and you will have 3 nice pieces . One pulley bone and 2 side breasts which still contain the tenders. Those ribs hold so much flavor and extra coating.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (jackd418)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:40:38 GMT

Mama Dips in Chapel Hill N.C. is really good.I'm no expert but I know what I like.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (rumaki)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:39:18 GMT

MiamiDon:

Some people call it the "pulley bone" (or "pully bone"). You cut a whole, bone-in chicken breast into two pieces cross-wise rather than splitting it lengthwise (as almost all restaurants do nowadays, and the way poultry distributors, at least in this part of the world, invariably cut it when raw chicken is sold "cut up.")

This link explains how to cut it up that way (scroll down to "How to cut up chicken with a pulley bone"):
http://labellecuisine.com/archives/surprise/The%20Immortality%20of%20Fried%20Chicken.htm

This is the way my mother, who grew up in Southern Illinois, cut up a whole chicken. Hollyhock Hill is the only place I've found it.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (Penn German Chef)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:24:19 GMT

Does anyone have any suggestions for Fried Chicken up here in the Northern Nevada region. KFC and Popeyes do not count being national chains in addition to being over priced and over rated by the common consumer. I am even willing to go over the hill to Sacramento or the the Bay Area. Perhaps a road trip to the wilds of Utah or Idaho.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (wanderingjew)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:15:10 GMT

ayersian

The best fried chicken I've ever had was from Shingles (R.I.P.) in Tallahassee. I've spent two decades searching for better chicken but have come up short! Chris

Well they say the best case of Chicken Pox usually results in Shingles!

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (MiamiDon)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:13:24 GMT

Wishbone?

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (ayersian)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:59:39 GMT

The best fried chicken I've ever had was from Shingles (R.I.P.) in Tallahassee. I've spent two decades searching for better chicken but have come up short! Chris

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (chickenplucker)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:29:40 GMT

My top 10 currently are the last 5 places and the next 5 places I visit. I am a fried chicken nut!!!!

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (rumaki)

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:24:26 GMT

Update on Hollyhock Hill (Indianapolis) and Gray Bros. (Mooresville) in Indiana

This past weekend I ate at Gray Bros (Friday) and MCL (a chain) and Hollyhock Hill (Saturday).

I went to Gray Bros. about 2 p.m. on Friday, straight from the airport. I had fried chicken (white meat), green beans with potatoes, a portion of "five cup" salad, and cherry pie, with iced tea.   The 5 cup salad used to be one of my very favorites at the old Laughners cafeteria (now out of business). This 5 cup salad tasted OK, but they add nuts (which I don't care for) to the mandarin oranges, pineapple and coconut, and consistency was very dense and gummy. The fried chicken was delicious -- much better than I recall from previous visits. They serve it in quarters; I prefer my chicken disjointed. But this was very tasty (high quality chicken used, I think). But if you want spicy or "hot" chicken, that's not what this is. I prefer my green beans without small redskin potatoes, but the beans themselves were very good -- nicely seasoned and properly cooked "done." The cherry pie was excellent -- not a huge piece, but what was there, was good -- nice, slightly sour cherries and a flaky crust. Good iced tea, and one of the staff in the dining area brought me a fresh glass when I'd only finished about 1/3 of my initial one.

Saturday I went to the MCL on West 86th Street just as they opened for a late breakfast-type lunch. I had "light" meat fried chicken (breast and wing), green beans, and cherry pie, with a regular Pepsi. (They serve Lipton tea for their iced tea and I don't like Lipton tea.) The chicken was OK, though the  breast was rather tough. Again, salt and pepper seemed to be the only seasoning, but that's fine with me. The green beans were properly slow-cooked and had some pork in them. The cherry pie was better than "acceptable,"
but not nearly as good as Gray Bros. The Pepsi was perfectly blended -- just the right mix of syrup and carbonated water.

Later on I went to Hollyhock Hill to meet a friend for lunch (yes, two lunches in one day). Hollyhock Hill is open for lunch on Sundays, but Tuesday to Saturday they only serve lunch to smaller parties on the days they are hosting private parties (showers and so forth). We were seated in the back dining room, which is my favorite as it looks out on the garden. We opted for the "plated lunch" (we usually have the full "dinner"), which is smaller and less expensive than the full dinner. We were served pickled beets and lettuce with the signature sweet and sour dressing "family style." Lunch was on individual plates containing two pieces of chicken (apparently "cook's choice" -- next time I'll ask if you can choose your pieces) and vegetables. I got a leg and a wishbone (which is my favorite piece) and my companion a wishbone and a breast. Also on the plate was a serving of mashed potatoes and a serving of green beans. Gravy came in a separate bowl, and we also were served a basket (3) of biscuits.

The luncheon doesn't include tomato juice, cottage cheese, relish tray, or corn.

The pickled beets and lettuce salad were the same as ever, and very good. The chicken was also delicious -- I really love HH's chicken, which I think is fried in lard. The mashed potatoes were what they've been serving for years -- I suspect instant -- but they were fine for what they were, as was the gravy. The green beans were a weird hybrid -- sort of like steamed, but with some seasoning. But they were chewy and that distinctive bright green and nowhere near as good as they used to be, at least to my taste. The biscuits were very disappointing. They used to be homemade, but now they appear to be out of a vacuum can. And they weren't very hot.

Dessert was the usual vanilla ice cream with three sauces. The ice cream portion seemed smaller than I remembered it, but maybe that was because it was lunchtime. The quality was fine.

Attentive, but not intrusive, service, and they didn't seem to mind that we lingered, even though they were getting ready for a wedding reception in the front dining room.

Synopsis: Gray Bros. impressed me with their chicken, pie and iced tea.   MCL was OK, but I wouldn't rush to go back unless for some reason I couldn't make it to Gray Bros. or Hollyhock Hill.   Hollyhock Hill appears to be cutting a few corners (again, I don't mean the quantity, because I didn't expect to have as much food at lunch as at dinner), at least as far as the green beans and bread are concerned.  (I'd still go back for the fabulous chicken, but I was disappointed with the green beans and bread.)

In short, claracamille, I agree with your HH assessment. Did they ever respond to your message?

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (dinedelish)

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:01:42 GMT

Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA.

They have really good fried chicken, and fresh out of the oven biscuits. You gata have the biscuits.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (ijoe619)

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:23:21 GMT

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (Davwud)

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:07:29 GMT

southpaw

I look forward to the day when I have ten favorite fied chicken restaurants.

I'll start with 3
Jestine's Kitchen in Charleston SC
Price's Chicken Coop in Charlotte NC
The Homeplace in Catawba VA

I've heard nothing but raves about The Homeplace. I've got to get there.

DT

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (claracamille)

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:46:17 GMT

rumaki

I love Hollyhock Hill, but they have had had problems with the bread for years!

When I was a little girl, my family used to go there for special occasions. In those days (late 50's, early 60s), Hollyhock Hill served a fabulous loaf of sliced homemade white bread to each table. It was dense and flavorful. I loved it.

Sometime in the mid to late 60s, they shifted to some kind of commercial "ready to bake" loaf. It was the "pull apart" kind, and I found it to be edible, barely.

I moved away to go to college and law school in the 1970s, and then relocated for various jobs, so I was able to go only sporadically. At some point, they shifted to dinner rolls, which were undistinguished. Then a few years ago, they started serving biscuits. They were great, and tasted homemade.

I am sorry to hear that they've apparently reverted to the commercial-type rolls. It's probably a cost-saving measure, and I suppose most people don't care that much about the bread, but for me, it's part of the Hollyhock Hill experience.

I am really sorry to hear about the green beans. I was last at Hollyhock Hill in April 2010, and everything was "normal" then.

But as long as they leave the chicken, salads, relishes, and gravy alone, I can tolerate it, I guess.

Rumaki,
I can safely say the chicken, salads, relishes, and gravy are all just as good as ever. I also emailed Hollyhock Hill to advise them about the rolls & green beans.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (Sfreader)

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:01:48 GMT

The previous three times I have been there (twice eatting in, once to go) have all been very slow. My wife had a similar experience there with her brother in August.

It is iis almost worth the wait.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (rumaki)

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:57:54 GMT

I went to the Fairway, KS location last April when I was in Kansas City for a conference. (It's open for lunch on Fridays, too.) I arrived between the lunch and dinner rush hours (about 3 p.m.) and was seated immediately and served promptly. All the food was terrific.
But perhaps things have changed since then. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if it took a while on Sunday at lunchtime.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (Sfreader)

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:40:08 GMT

The waiting time for food at Stoud's Fairway, Kansas location continues to get longer and longer. We decided on Stroud's chicken for lunch yesterday and I called a to go order in about 12:30. I arrived 20 minutes later.

It is a good thing that I had brought a book, the fried chicken and fried gizzard's meals took another 25 minutes (total of 45). And they weren't that busy - becuase of the Chief's gmae, they were only about half full.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (rumaki)

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:16:30 GMT

I love Hollyhock Hill, but they have had had problems with the bread for years!

When I was a little girl, my family used to go there for special occasions. In those days (late 50's, early 60s), Hollyhock Hill served a fabulous loaf of sliced homemade white bread to each table. It was dense and flavorful. I loved it.

Sometime in the mid to late 60s, they shifted to some kind of commercial "ready to bake" loaf. It was the "pull apart" kind, and I found it to be edible, barely.

I moved away to go to college and law school in the 1970s, and then relocated for various jobs, so I was able to go only sporadically. At some point, they shifted to dinner rolls, which were undistinguished. Then a few years ago, they started serving biscuits. They were great, and tasted homemade.

I am sorry to hear that they've apparently reverted to the commercial-type rolls. It's probably a cost-saving measure, and I suppose most people don't care that much about the bread, but for me, it's part of the Hollyhock Hill experience.

I am really sorry to hear about the green beans. I was last at Hollyhock Hill in April 2010, and everything was "normal" then.

But as long as they leave the chicken, salads, relishes, and gravy alone, I can tolerate it, I guess.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (claracamille)

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 12:04:22 GMT

Recent report on Hollyhock Hill:
I visited Hollyhock Hill in December & for once I have a slightly negative report:
The chicken, salad, pickled beets, tomato rice soup, mashed potatoes & gravy, ice cream dessert are all still excellent.
But, two items on the menus have gone downhill:
Green beans- previously the green beans have been prepared in what I call the southern method- slow cooked with bacon or salt pork, a little bit on onion, very flavorful. On this last visit the green beans appeared to be frozen, just warmed up, no evidence of any porky flavoring, no onions, bright green in color, no flavor.
Rolls- small, dry, just your run of the mill grocery rolls.
I will continue to come back, still a great fried chicken place, but will email Hollyhock Hill my comments.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (dimmie2)

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:25:32 GMT

I have to agree, Popeye's does have the best spicy chicken and Aunt Kizzy's here in the marina is very good.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (ann peeples)

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:10:09 GMT

I discoverd Bojangles on my many visits to N.C. Darn good for a fast food place!

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (NC Cheesehead)

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:30:03 GMT

Price's Chicken Coop here in Charlotte and Jestine's in Charleston SC. For fast food Chicken, Bojangle's based here in Charlotte is decent if it has not been sitting around too long.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (senor boogie woogie)

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:01:47 GMT

I said this before, but the best fried chicken I have ever eaten was at the Primmadonna Hotel on I-15 on the Nevada/California line. Get it from the coffee shop. I was an employee there in the early 1990's and they would occasionally have some in the break room.

The Primmadonna was an awful place to work who treated staff lower than dogs and I would never spend a nickel in the place and hopefully the skinflint fascist owner is dead and in hell. But that chicken is worth the $2 or so.

Re:List The Top 10 Fried Chicken Restaurants in America............... (wheregreggeats.com)

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:56:40 GMT

I just saw a KFC commercial claiming that they were named Zagat's best. If it's true, I'm sure glad we have Jane and Michael.