Fried Chicken that is worth a road trip... (Austin, Manor: how much, home)

[calel]

Bush's is pretty good and it has never been bland to me, but I like Popeye's sides better. If the latter wasn't so darn dirty in Cedar Park, I'd probably pick them over the competition more often.

[mickey65]

I vote KFC also. Love their original recipe!

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by OpenD

That's pretty much how they do it at Stroud's, in Kansas City, Mo., est. 1933. Best chicken dinner I ever ate.* Peeking in the kitchen you can see the long rows of individual cast iron skillets they use to cook the dinners in. They have more than a dozen going at one time when they're busy.

Best of all is their motto, proudly adorning the staff t-shirts, that hearkens back to their Depression era beginnings, when live chickens were kept in cages out back until somebody placed an order:
<b>

"We choke our own chickens!"

</b>
Calvin Trillin was so taken by the food there he wrote a 7 page article on it for Gourmet magazine.

Now that we've got multiple reliable sources for top-shelf BBQ, I'd like to see someone here in Austin take up the cause of producing top-shelf fried chicken.

Here's the "secret recipe" Stroud's uses, which they've never kept secret, to get someone started on the quest:

Kansas City restaurant reveals method for perfect fried chicken » Lifestyles » The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Welcome to Stroud's

*KFC is not even on the same page. I mean, seriously!

I don't know anyone who is willing to drive that far for a chicken dinner, so not much point in talking about something in Kansas City. Here in Austin I have not found anyplace that can beat KFC Original Recipe. But I'm willing to sample anything within a reasonable driving distance.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by calel

Bush's is pretty good and it has never been bland to me, but I like Popeye's sides better. If the latter wasn't so darn dirty in Cedar Park, I'd probably pick them over the competition more often.

Originally Posted by mickey65

I vote KFC also. Love their original recipe!

Sorry, but you guys missed the point. Those are all large chain fast-food joints. You might like the chicken ok, sure, but would you really take a special road trip just to eat their factory food amid the bright lights and formica? I wouldn't.

Would I drive 50 miles out of my way to eat at Stroud's, or another slow-food place like it? I have and I would, but that's because it's in another class entirely. For starters, the chicken is ridiculously good. At least part of that is because the meat is ridiculously fresh. And another part is that it is cooked to order by expert cooks, not to schedule by automation and formulas.

Another part is the excellence of the sides, like the real mashed potatoes, mashed from real potatoes, and the creamy pan gravy, and the hand-cut biscuits, and the homemade pie. Real food from scratch, not warmed up packaged food.

And another is the warm and inviting service. You are told in advance to get comfortable because cooking your dinner to order takes a while. Then the wait-person checks back regularly to make sure your iced tea is topped up and that you're still having a good time. And after you're done eating, you know you've had an experience, and you start calculating when you might be able to make another such a pilgrimage.

I have not yet found a chicken place of that caliber in Austin, but I'm absolutely open to it, and I dearly hope one of the suggestions posted here pans out for me. No offense, but it will not be anyplace called Church's or Bush's or Popeye's or KFC.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Sorry, but you guys missed the point. Those are all large chain fast-food joints.

Sorry, but you missed the point. This forum is about Austin. I'm willing to drive across town to find some decent fried chicken, but I'm not going to drive 12 hours to Kansas City. Chain or not, I have not found a slow cooked place yet that has chicken as good as KFC. But I'm looking forward to trying Lucy's!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Chain or not, I have not found a slow cooked place yet that has chicken as good as KFC. But I'm looking forward to trying Lucy's!

Granted, the chicken is OK at KFC, but their business has been slumping badly across the country, and they are closing locations, and I say it's because of the low quality of everything else they sell, as well as the poor overall experience one can have eating there.

The texture of their mashed potatoes, for instance, is dreadful, and I don't ever see anybody in the back peeling potatoes, so I assume they are made from dehydrated potato flakes. The gravy has a chemical taste to me. And from there it goes downhill.

My point in mentioning Stroud's was to create a reference point worth aspiring to. And it's hard for me to believe that in a city as Foody oriented as Austin is, that there isn't a chicken place of equal caliber. At least, not that I've found yet.

One can hope.

[G Grasshopper]

OK, we just got back from dinner at Lucy's. We liked it. Very good chicken, a great plate of fire roasted vegies, luscious lime pie, nice casual atmosphere. What's not to like? We will go there again.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Granted, the chicken is OK at KFC, but their business has been slumping badly across the country, and they are closing locations, and I say it's because of the low quality of everything else they sell, as well as the poor overall experience one can have eating there.

The texture of their mashed potatoes, for instance, is dreadful, and I don't ever see anybody in the back peeling potatoes, so I assume they are made from dehydrated potato flakes. The gravy has a chemical taste to me. And from there it goes downhill.

Interesting that America's Test Kitchen chose KFC's potato wedges as the benchmark for their own recipe.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Interesting that America's Test Kitchen chose KFC's potato wedges as the benchmark for their own recipe.

Great. For me mashed potatoes are a benchmark for a restaurant's quality.

They're simple, they're basic, they're foundational, they're soul-affirming, they're comforting... when they're done well they can lift a whole meal but when they're done poorly they drag everything down.

KFC's mashed potatoes suck.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Great. For me mashed potatoes are a benchmark for a restaurant's quality.

They're simple, they're basic, they're foundational, they're soul-affirming, they're comforting... when they're done well they can lift a whole meal but when they're done poorly they drag everything down.

KFC's mashed potatoes suck.

My Darling and I don't even agree on the style of mashed potatoes that is best...she prefers whipped and fluffy while I enjoy skin-on smashed potatoes. The problem for me is the gravy or butter that I SO enjoy on mashed potatoes. I haven't had KFC's mashed potatoes in quite a while, usually opting for the wedges and cole slaw.

If Lucy's is open for Saturday lunch, I might have to run by there after the morning Mellow Johnny's bike ride.