I went to Monell’s in Nashville and it was ok. People said it was the best fried chicken (and best all you can eat southern family style restaurant). I’ve come to believe Houston food is dang good. As a baseline, lots of places fall short.
I almost tried Monell's somewhere out there, but ended up skipping it for no other reason than there were other places on my list, too. I went to a BBQ place in Germantown once to try it out on the way back from a trip to Kentucky/Tennessee. It had great reviews, and I think it may have been somewhat new at the time. I said, wth - let's try it. I got some ribs that were swimming in bbq sauce. I was basically trying to eat bone soup. Bleh. I think as far as what food is good, it depends on what you've eaten all your life as being the baseline. Like I thought all my life Popeye's was the best fried chicken ever until I ate fried chicken in Nashville. I thought Dickey's and Spring Creek BBQ were pretty damn good until I discovered BBQ around the Austin area. As a kid I thought CiCi's, Pizza Inn/Hut buffets, Double Dave's, etc. were the bomb until... well, hell anything afterwards. I thought I had eaten some really good desserts/pies until I tried Miss Mary's Pies (R.I.P.) in DeVall's Bluff, Arkansas. That was a piece of heaven. I thought I had eaten great fried catfish at various places in the DFW and Houston area until I went up to Oklahoma and Arkansas. In a nutshell, I think there's some damn good food hidden in out of the way spots everywhere.
It really is mainly because Perdue farms are on the eastern shore. The eastern shore and Annapolis is where it’s most popular. However, Prince Georges county and Baltimore have great chicken too On the Eastern Shore, crab cakes and fried chicken is a popular dish.
In fact, Wendy’s in Maryland served fried chicken for years. I don’t think they did anywhere else. Or at least not many places. Marylanders love their fried chicken
Best fried chicken in the world is a place called Double Front in Missoula, Montana. I was in Nashville a few weeks ago and we went to Hattie B’s. I think it was called and it was pretty good.
I posted this in another thread but I’d deserved to be here I’ve had these Hmong stuffed and fried chicken wings and they are very good.
As everyone knows Cane's is quality chicken but bland but their calling card is their sauce. The chicken tenders are really good minus flavor. It's funny, they were founded in Baton Rouge and the source kicks them up to Louisiana standards
Hattie B's and Prince's are awesome out there. Prince's is where hot chicken started. Pepperfire used to be pretty good, too, thanks to their spices, but they moved locations, so I don't know if everything's the same after that since I haven't been since the move.
Their chicken tenders are good, and yeah, the chicken is bland as hell, but I still don't understand the love for the sauce. When I look at it, it seems like it should taste good, but all I get is some over-salted sauce. I generally just chunk it. They need some gravy in that place.
I've been known to take hotsauce to certain restaurants (especially the ones where Tabasco is their only option)
Eat Local, channel 2's food show is currently featuring Lalucha' s fried chicken, a local upscale restaurant. It looks delicious. They just interviewed Mrs Creuzot, matriarch of Frenchy's. One thing about Frenchy's is the Greens and red beans and rice tastes and feels like homemade for real which the founder's grandson was talking about They are also doing Barbecue Inn on Crosstimbers. I've seen maybe the Chronicle list this as the city's best Fried chicken
