Though intrinsically connected with Southern cuisine, you can nowadays find phenomenal
fried chicken at restaurants in pretty much any state.
From the many exceptional fried chicken eateries around the country, we've plucked out the
very best of the best.
Good luck deciding which one you're going to try first.
The Philly cheesesteak has long reigned as Philadelphia's top culinary artifact.
But thanks to one up-and-coming chain of Philadelphia restaurants, fried chicken is working its
way up the list.
Eater Chef of the Year Michael Solomonov, his business partner Steve Cook, and local
coffee shop owners Tom Henneman and Bobby Logue have been working to establish Philly
as a fried chicken Mecca since opening Federal Donuts in 2011.
The restaurant specializes in fried chicken, coffee, and donuts.
That's all they serve.
Henneman says,
"It's three comforts under one roof."
Inspired by Korean fried chicken, the birds at Federal Donuts are twice fried for a, quote,
"teeth-shattering" crispiness.
The chicken can be coated in a choice of dry seasoning: za'atar, coconut curry, or buttermilk
ranch.
Or there's a wet glaze of chili garlic, sweet soy garlic, or honey ginger.
Whether glazed, seasoned, or plain, the fried chicken is always served with a moist honey
donut.
As a slave's granddaughter growing up in rural poverty, Mildred Council, nicknamed "Mama
Dip," likely never imagined she'd one day serve her fried chicken to fans including
Michael Jordan and President Barack Obama.
But she did — thanks to some of the most delicious fried chicken ever.
Mama Dip learned to cook working alongside her mother-in-law in a tiny takeout kitchen
that quickly earned a reputation for serving the best homemade country dishes in town.
"Fried chicken is a form of… of love."
Since opening her own restaurant in 1976, Mama Dip has become a culinary icon.
Before farm-to-table cooking was in vogue, Mama Dip sourced all her ingredients from
local farmers.
Mama Dip's menu hasn't changed much over the years, focusing on Southern comfort staples
such as chitlins, smothered pork chops and fried chicken.
Her crispy, southern-style birds are paired with classic sides including collard greens
and fried green tomatoes.
Mama Dip passed away in the spring of 2018, but her culinary legacy lives on through her
fried chicken, which is still served at Mama Dip's Kitchen by her children and grandchildren.
Fuku, from chef David Chang's restaurant group Momofuku, began as a barebones chicken sandwich
eatery in the East Village that attracted lines around the block.
Fuku has since moved into locations in the Financial District, Battery Park City, Boston
Seaport, and beyond.
Menus vary slightly based on location, but fried chicken remains the heart.
Customers can chow down on Fuku fingers, bites, and wings in a five-spice dry rub or a sweet
and spicy wet glaze.
You can pair chicken with dipping sauces including mayo, ranch, honey mustard, or the iconic
Ssam sauce.
That's a tangy, spicy Korean-inspired chili dip.
You can even have your tasty fried chicken on a sandwich.
It's thigh meat, soaked in habanero and buttermilk, then fried and served on a steamed potato
bun with fermented chickpea butter and a pickle.
Atlanta has no shortage of places to eat fried chicken, but Busy Bee Cafe has been showing
them how it's done since 1947.
The secret to its success is not really a secret.
The menu states that the chicken is brined for 12 hours, hand-breaded in seasoned flour,
and sizzled in peanut oil.
The result is a golden brown bird with a tender, succulent interior.
"Not delicious, but BEE-licious."
"I love it.”
You can order Busy Bee's fried chicken by the half, two-piece, or six-wing dinner.
Or you could order it smothered in pan gravy and served over rice.
You can complement your yardbird with classic sides including candied yams, baked macaroni
and cheese, or fresh turnip greens.
Since Busy Bee opened more than a half century ago, it's been visited by Martin Luther King
Jr., Barack Obama, and Bernie Sanders.
The restaurant has also since expanded from its original location on Martin Luther King
Jr.
Drive to a second spot on Trinity Ave.
Nashville, Tennessee is the nation's capital for hot chicken.
Since the world-famous Nashville-style of chicken was introduced more than 70 years
ago, dozens of restaurants have started dishing out their own spin on the spicy specialty.
Of the many fantastic eateries, Arnold's Chicken Kitchen sets itself apart with its hot-sauce-brined,
double-battered bird.
The cafeteria-style eatery only serves fried chicken on Monday, when lines wrap around
the building as hungry hopefuls await their chance for a spicy drumstick or breast.
Fried chicken comes with a choice of sides, such as creamed corn, fried apples, or turnip
greens.
The fried chicken and other traditional entrees earned the restaurant the America's Classic
Award from the James Beard Foundation.
For a testament to the quality of fried chicken at Howlin' Ray's in downtown Los Angeles,
just glance at the long lines outside its door.
Diners wait at times it's not even considered socially acceptable to eat fried chicken,
like Wednesday mornings.
Howlin' Ray's serves up exquisite and authentic Nashville-style hot chicken.
Chef and owner Johnny Ray Zone ventured to Tennessee to gain an understanding of the
unique style of fried bird and Nashville culture to bring it all back to L.A.
Thanks to Zone's journey, you can now feast upon Nashville-style breasts, wings, legs,
thighs, and tenders in L.A.'s Chinatown.
The Howlin Ray's kitchen sizzles up chicken in a choice of six spice levels: country,
mild, medium, hot, x-hot, and howlin'.
For a blend of sweet and savory, go for the chicken & waffles, which comes with butter
and maple syrup, and a choice of dark meat, wings, or tenders.
Okarche, Oklahoma's claim to fame is fried chicken.
Particularly the fried chicken served at Eischen's Bar, the self-proclaimed oldest bar in Oklahoma.
The saloon was established in 1896 by a man named Peter Eischen before Oklahoma was even
a state, and reopened after prohibition by his son and grandson.
After being ravaged by a fire in 1993, the bar was returned to its former glory by Peter's
great grandson Ed Eischen within a year.
Hordes of diners truck into Okarche from all over Oklahoma and beyond for Eischen's fried
chicken.
The bird has been served the same way since the '60s: hot from the kitchen on butcher
paper with white bread, sweet pickles, dill pickles and onions.
The batter is a closely guarded recipe that combines cornmeal, wheat flour, paprika, sugar,
and other spices.
Eischen's goes through about 24,000 pieces of chicken per week.
"Our record now is 1,120 chickens in one day."
Those pieces often come with a bucket of fried okra and a frosty beer.
Oh, and bring cash.
Cards are not accepted.
"Run chicken, run," is the slogan at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar.
That's funny for a hungry diner, and terrifying for a chicken.
Helmed by founder and chef John Kunkel, the restaurateur pairs fried chicken and comfort
food with inspired bourbon cocktails.
At Yardbird, free-range, hormone-free birds are brined for 27 hours and coated in a blend
of spices and flour.
Then it's friend lovingly in a pressure fryer.
The signature dish, Lewellyn's Fine Fried Chicken, is a half chicken served in sweet-spicy
honey hot sauce.
Yardbird is also famous for brunches.
Heal from a hard night out with chicken and waffles with chilled spiced watermelon and
bourbon maple syrup.
Sop up the syrup with a honey-butter biscuit layered with housemade jam.
Due to popular demand, Yardbird's fried chicken has spread to locations in Los Angeles, Las
Vegas, and Singapore.
If a Mexican restaurant seems like an unlikely place to find some of the country's finest
fried chicken, get yourself to Birmingham, Alabama.
Little Donkey will change everything you knew about pollo frito.
Sure, the menu primarily focuses on creative Mexican cuisine.
But Little Donkey's fried chicken dinner has earned it a spot among the best fried chicken
joints in America time and time again.
The succulent star of the Little Donkey menu is brined overnight with a blend of three
chilies.
Before it's deep fried, the chicken is splashed with house-made vinegar infused with morita
and habanero for an extra fiery kick.
You can order Little Donkey's famous fried chicken by the quarter or half along with
a choice of sides including elote or chipotle slaw.
Wash it back with a classic margarita or their signature Donkey's Daddy cocktail with whiskey,
tequila, and housemade hibiscus syrup.
The ramshackle, pepto-pink exterior catches your eye.
The aroma of smoking pork neck calls you in.
But it's the fried chicken that brings people back to Martha Lou's Kitchen again and again.
Martha Lou Gadsden opened her restaurant in an abandoned service station by the railroad
tracks in 1983.
The unassuming spot garnered national attention thanks to a New York Times article back in
2011, and has since pulled in poultry pilgrims from far and wide.
At Martha Lou's Kitchen, southern comfort food is dished out on Styrofoam containers
that double as divided plates in a tiny dining room.
Depending on the day, the kitchen will dish out rotating specials and sides, but fried
chicken is always on the menu.
Gadsden's legendary chicken is fried to order with the help of her daughters and grandchildren.
It's served with traditional sides such as lowcountry cabbage, okra soup, and bread pudding,
along with some of the best sweet tea in Charleston.
"Give the people something that you'd eat at home and they can enjoy."
Willie Mae's Scotch House is a New Orleans institution that even Hurricane Katrina couldn't
knock down.
The restaurant was ravaged by the hurricane shortly after being named an American Classic
by the James Beard Foundation.
Following Katrina, Willie Mae Seaton, well into her '80s, returned to New Orleans and
rebuilt the restaurant with the swift, enthusiastic help of volunteers.
Seaton herself passed away in 2015, but her fried chicken recipe is safeguarded by her
great great granddaughter, Kerry Seaton Stewart, who currently runs the restaurant.
Today, the fried chicken remains as moist, crispy, and fresh as it was when Seaton first
served it in 1957.
As one regular customer described the chicken on NPR's Morning Edition,
"…it was that crust.
It was that fusion of skin and crust, the moment which they became one.
And when you bit into it, there was a burst of juice, there was a subtle heat.
It was beautiful."
The story of Gus's fried chicken began more than 60 years ago.
In a town called Mason, Tennessee, Napoleon "Na" Vanderbilt and his wife Maggie began
selling their fried chicken out of the back door of a local tavern.
The poultry proved so popular, locals rallied together and provided the couple with materials
to build their own restaurant, called "Maggie's Short Orders".
The restaurant was inherited by their son, Vernon "Gus" Bonner, who kept the family recipe
but changed the eatery's name to "Gus's World Famous Hot and Spicy Fried Chicken."
Thanks to glowing reviews from major press outlets, Gus's grew in popularity and soon
spread to locations beyond Tennessee.
Today, there are 27 Gus's Fried Chicken restaurants speckled across the U.S., from way down in
Austin, Texas, to up in Detroit, Michigan.
The fried chicken is the same: hot and spicy, hormone-free chicken fried in peanut oil according
to Bonner's closely guarded recipe.
The chicken packs a bit of a kick without being overwhelming.
The restaurant describes it as
"...the touch of an old friend."
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