Edna's Fried Chicken [Pictures]

LTH,

One of the very nice things about LTHForum is someone, CrazyC in this case, posts a short notice invite for lunch and not only do you get a great lunch, but pleasant company, good conversation and a story or two to tell.

First the food.

Lunch for ~4~.



Edna's fried chicken is good, very good, almost, but not quite, OT's on Division hot out of the fryer good. Crisp nicely flavored crust, juicy and full of flavor, though slightly marred, at least to my taste, by just a wee bit too much salt in the coating. I'm not talking over the top, thirsty for a week salt like Halal Fried Chicken on Devon, but a noticeable hit of salt when you bite in the chicken.



Steve Z's short ribs, at least the taste I had, were very tender and flavorful



and the oxtail special of the day we split for the table was delicious. Though, curiously, I enjoyed the tender simmered carrots and celery almost as much, if not more, then the oxtail itself. I always forget just how delicious braised or roasted veggies can be.



Edna's does sides well, rich mac and cheese, greens that make you want to kiss yer mama and damn good biscuits.


Add constantly refilled sweet tea, coffee and coke and you have a lunch combo that's hard to beat. Our waitress Alice was quite friendly as well. Steve Z (L) Alice (M) Harry V (R)


But the topper for conviviality, pure hostess with the mostest goes to Edna herself.


Not only did Edna give us free peach cobbler, a discount for voting, tell us about being on Oprah, pose for pictures, but Edna also gave individually autographed copies of a cool-as-hell chef photo book by Skrebneski, Steve Z knew of Skrebneski and was duly impressed, with Edna, J Joho, S Stegner to name a few.

Edna's also does a mean breakfast, I particularly like the hot links with eggs and biscuits, and the daily specials rotate through the week. Edna's also has a comfortable looking party room.


Enjoyable lunch, good service, friendly proprietress, I'll be back soon.

Enjoy,
Gary


Edna's
3175 W Madison
Chicago, IL
773-638-7079

O.T.'s Soul Food Place and Catering
4817 W. Division
Chicago, IL
773-378-3555
OT's Fried Chicken, Greens and Mac & Cheese.

G Wiv wrote:LTH,

One of the very nice things about LTHForum is someone, CrazyC in this case, posts a short notice invite for lunch and not only do you get a great lunch, but pleasant company, good conversation and a story or two to tell.

[snip]

and the oxtail special of the day we split for the table was delicious.

Who can not be proud to part of our community...I mean who else splits an oxtail special, "for the table".

Rob

Utlimate One,

Killer post and pix.

The only time I've been to Edna's was during the VI-instigated 24-Hour Chowathon, when we stopped in to watch Seth eat more brains. The party room was closed at the time, but it looks fun. You know, we've talked about an all-LTHForum type event -- maybe we should have one at Edna's party room...

Hammond

I enjoyed my lunch at Edna's very much, but of all the things we had, I thought there were better versions available elsewhere (despite the claim for the best biscuits on earth). Not to say that Edna's wasn't good. I perfer the chicken from several other places (Evanston Chicken Shack). My shortribs, while very delicious, were no match for Manny's Wednesday version. Ditto for the oxtails. Still, it was a very enjoyable lunch and there is no way I will rule out further visits to Edna's. The table next to us ordered breakfast, which looked stellar. My next meal at Edna's will definately be breakfast.

David Hammond wrote:You know, we've talked about an all-LTHForum type event -- maybe we should have one at Edna's party room...

Hammond,

That exact thought crossed my mind.

Enjoy,
Gary

stevez wrote:I enjoyed my lunch at Edna's very much, but of all the things we had, I thought there were better versions available elsewhere (despite the claim for the best biscuits on earth). Not to say that Edna's wasn't good.

Steve,

I don't look at Edna's as a direct comparison to Evanston Chicken Shack or, for that matter Manny's. I tend to think in categories, for example, Edna's, OT's, Army and Lou's, Mrs. Johnston's, Priscilla's and Macarthur's for sit down Soul Food. ECS, Harrold's, Popeye's, KFC for fast food take out Chicken and Manny's in a class by it's self.

That said, I agree with you that one can find comparable, or even slightly better, than the dishes we had at Edna's yesterday for lunch, but as a complete package Edna's is difficult to beat.

Enjoy,
Gary

Fried chicken... pics... awesome. Thank you.

G Wiv wrote:That said, I agree with you that one can find comparable, or even slightly better, than the dishes we had at Edna's yesterday for lunch, but as a complete package Edna's is difficult to beat.

Enjoy,
Gary

I'm not trying to bad rap Edna's. I just want to be clear on that. I thouroughly enjoyed my lunch. I can't wait for a breakfast trip to Edna's, where I think the place will really shine.

Hi,

I have had lunch at Edna's party room. Service was buffet, but I think we would rather have family style, which is really the format of most of our dinners anyway.

Edna serves breakfast rather late, like 7 AM. If anyone wants to go, then please advise as I would like to go as well.

Cathy2 wrote:Edna serves breakfast rather late, like 7 AM. If anyone wants to go, then please advise as I would like to go as well.

Vital Information wrote:

If you are questioning my use of the word late, it is by dead early breakfast standards. What I like about those really early breakfasts, getting into the city is a breeze at 5 AM. I do encounter heavier traffic going back, though I am home by 8 AM or earlier to get started on my day.

I was just hoping if there was a pick-up breakfast to Edna's, I'd be included. Of course, I can arbitrarily toss a date and time on the Events board ... when could you make it Rob?

Yes, I might be interested, and sorry for not understanding at all what you were getting at.

I actually very much admire your early morning project as there is something so divine about being out and about at that time of day, but between my job, (mostly) the kidz, and a lot of other stuff, I can never manage to join.

Rob

Cathy2 wrote:
Edna serves breakfast rather late, like 7 AM. If anyone wants to go, then please advise as I would like to go as well.

In fact, I'm pretty sure the waitress said that they open at 6:30. I know you call that late, but it's more than early enough for me.

Hi,

Maybe they informally open at 6:30 AM, though I did call them just last week when they advised 7 AM. I found a lot of breakfast places have posted hours, though if you come slightly earlier the door is already open and regulars are there. So I would suggest both of our information is correct!

Regards,
Cathy2

This morning, they were open at 6am when we got there. We were the first ones there, but soon after we arrived, others started stopping by, particularly to pick up phoned in orders.

I heard that Edna's is closing this Saturday