Of the three choices given, it's not even close : Popeye's. But the best fried chicken I've ever had was the "hot chicken" at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in the Nashville hoods. Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken in Memphis was probably the 2nd best. If you're ever in Nashville and love spicy chicken, but think Popeye's is not spicy enough, try Prince's. Prince's tries to kill you with their hottest chicken, though. I can't remember if I had mild or hot but it was pretty hot. I was sitting outside in 45 degree weather sweating while eating it. I wasn't going to risk their extra-hot since I had to drive back from Tennessee to Texas and my hotel was in Little Rock, Ar. :grin: http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Review/4613-4581/princes-hot-chicken-shack A documentary on Prince's : <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/72xXxV9qIPg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Man v. Food visited Prince's (around the 1:53 mark) : <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IcNUza1r2dI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Popeyes is the best. Spicy is the only way. Frenchy's is disgustingly oily and salty. It's all salt, no flavor. Has anyone ever tried Korean fried chicken? That stuff is great. The only place I know of is the food court in H-Mart off Blalock and I-10, but it is amazing.
I think there's about 10 "El Pollo Loco" restaurants in every major city and they're all unrelated. lol. Not sure about that one, but there was one here near Downtown Dallas that had some of the best flame/rotisserie chicken. I ate at a chain (I think) by that name in California that wasn't anything great, too.
I'm surprised that we're four pages in and no mention of the fried chicken wings at the Breakfast klub. DoD has me wanting to go to Nashville real bad. Other than the well known places in New Orleans, I really like the fried chicken at the praline connection.........I especially like being able to choose which greens I get (mustard, please).
I was surprised when I came to the US and there wasn't spicy KFC. I swear I ate spicy KFC in Saudi for 10 years.
I grew up on BBQ inn fried chicken so I love good fried chicken. My wife fry's up a mean batch. Those of you who live in or travel to Austin should try Lucy's fried chicken. Best fried chicken I've ever had.
International versions of our chains are all different depending on the country. For the most part, signature items are the same but they may have regional specialties for their tastes. When I was in Australia, the KFC there was much better than KFC I had in the States. I ordered popcorn chicken and to my surprise, it was all meat with light batter instead of all batter no meat in the US.
The food prep/process at KFC seems pretty horrific; you get some weird, broken or mushy pieces coming out of there that you don't at Popeyes. Popeyes staffers are some of the most dreadful people I've ever known; at the one by U of H, if they saw you walking up 15 minutes before close, they would sprint to the door and lock it.
Church's = Hartz = Bush's to me. They're all similar, which is not that great. I wonder if Popeye's didn't have the spicy option, would they be as beloved? It's not that hard to add some spice to your food. Take it home and sprinkle some Tony's on there, if that's all that does it for you. KFC original recipe is great, but as has been mentioned, the portions are a joke. Popeye's has the best sides, and it's not even close. I've had good luck at Chinese restaurants, ordering fried chicken wings as an appetizer. Great portion size and the batter/crust is usually better than fast food chains also.
Popeye's- best sides and I like their spicy chicken Church's- not bad except it's very greasy KFC - For some reason, I don't really like their family meals but their individual meals are pretty good (sandwiches, bowls, pot pie)
I always overlook the food courts, apparently, i'm missing out will have to check it out next time i stop by
Good call! My grandmother made the best fried chicken ever created, but Lucy's is simply outstanding. -
Buck Turgidson introduced me to a cajun joint in Marble Falls that had some pretty killer fried chicken.
