Bon Ton Mini Mart is something of a legend around Roadfood, so my review isn't exactly earth-shattering news: the fried chicken is delectable! Based on other reviews describing the chicken as "spicy" with the emphasis on the cayenne pepper, I thought it might be hot, but it wasn't, so don't shy away if your palate doesn't appreciate hot food. It's the combination of spices that give this chicken it's verve.
I ordered chocolate pie for dessert and was surprised to get chocolate meringue, not chocolate cream. The chocolate is milder than the chocolate pudding-style you get in cream, but has a slight caramel-y flavor and altogether with the meringue makes a very nice pie. I was less impressed with the fries (crinkle cut, probably frozen) and the cole slaw (too sweet) that came with the chicken. Still, as we all know by now, the chicken is worth the trip.
Still in its same bland building with a barely readable sign, it can be a challenge to find, but it's right at an intersection of two state highways (41 and 136), so if you're at the crossroads, you're in the right place.
The Washington Post had a long-running restaurant feature called "Crummy, but Good" and this fits the bill: mismatched old vinyl kitchen chairs, zero decor, a TV, and a view of the back storage make this place pretty divey on the style side. Bon Ton is open for dinner only during the week -- the sign when I was there said 7pm M-Th. Other days they close earlier, so plan lunch or an earlyish dinner. Everything can be had to-go, and fried chicken still takes 20 minutes.
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The building is beyond nondescript. It literally blends into the landscape. Blink and you'll miss it! And if you miss it you'll miss perhaps the best fried chicken you'll ever taste. Incredible... better than you remember your grandma's. My grandma couldn't cook, but the point is that I've polished off a farm's worth of birds in my day so I know that this place is fried chicken nirvana!
How do they get that barest of crunchy crust to stick to it? How do they get the slight heat of cayenne infused INTO the meat? "Flavored to the bone" is absolutely right, and I'd fight my cat over the bones...
First off, it's chicken only. Straight into the trash with the lousy frozen crinkle-cut fries, toast, and coleslaw they serve with it. The pieces are small, so if you don't order the "half-chicken" dinner, you'll be sorry. Or ordering seconds.
Finally, "it takes 20 minutes" (22 actually) which the polite help will tell you repeatedly, as if to make sure you're really a serious chicken lover. Sit back, enjoy the "ambiance," and then take off with your stash to Audubon State Park and enjoy. Life, and fried chicken, rarely gets better than this!
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If you are remotely close to Henderson KY, you must stop by Bon Ton Mini Mart for what a sign inside the restaurant proclaims is "the best fried chicken in the solar system." After a recent visit, my wife and I agree 100% with their assessment!
After the standard 20-minute wait, our fried chicken dinners arrived piping hot. I was so eager to try it, I burnt my tongue a little, so be patient. The chicken is indescribably crispy, like a hard shell which perfectly entombs the extra-juicy chicken. This chicken doesn't get its crunch from excessive amounts of flour coatings; quite the opposite. It appears the skin is transformed into a crispy exterior with help from the slightest dusting of flour. The white meat pieces are just as juicy as the dark meat. The flavor has a hint of spice, but it is not overwhelming (and I can't handle much spiciness). But the flavor is not just in the skin; it permeates the meat all the way to the bone.
With our meal we ordered biscuits, which were not as good as we had hoped for. Ours may have been left over from breakfast (we arrived about 11:15 AM). Other side dishes include black-eyed peas, potato salad (quite good), and buttery stewed potatoes (excellent).
Curiously, we noticed that none of the dozen locals had ordered fried chicken for lunch, so maybe next time we should sample something other than chicken to see what the locals know that we don’t.
Although we were stuffed, we decided to sample the desserts. Unfortunately, the banana pudding was not on the menu the day we visited, so we settled for coconut cream pie, Kool-Aid pie, and chess pie. The texture of the Kool-Aid pie is silky smooth with a tangy-yet-sweet flavor that complements the graham cracker crust. The chess pie is disappointing, but the coconut cream pie more than makes up for it. The crust is light and flaky, the meringue is slightly firm, and the filling is bursting with coconut flavor yet is not excessively sweet or rich. My wife and I both think it is the best coconut cream pie we've ever tasted.
As we ate, the owner stopped by our table to chat. He is a very friendly guy, and we asked him about the “for sale” sign out in front of the building. He said he leases the building, and but the landlord was looking to sell the land. But he let us know he would find a new location if necessary. I sure hope so. It would be a shame for a place like this to cease operation.
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