The Best Fried Chicken in Chicagoland?

I like Del Rhea's Chicken basket, they are in Willowbrook, IL. Great fried chicken, corn fritters, and they are usually on restaraunt.com at 50% off! Any other picks? Hecky's is also good.

Hi,

Using our forum's search function for 'fried chicken' searching for both terms, I found some chicken gold:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=13961#13961

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=14372#14372

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=16751#16751

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=14278#14278

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=8944#8944

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=9401#9401

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=4619#4619

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=2432#2432

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=5645#5645

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=181#181

I hope this will inspire to dig around to find more cool stuff.

Hi everyone!

I'm in search of the best fried chicken place in Chicagoland! I've tried Harold's Fried Chicken and it's pretty good. Here's hoping you guys have other recommendations. Anyway, is El Pollo Loco a fried chicken place or just flame-grilled?

Thanks!

This might be helpful:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4487

Beyond those excellent choices, you also have a few cross-cultural options:
Thai fried chicken at Spoon or TAC (both excellent) and a very good fried chicken at Laschet's

Best,
Michael

Where's the best southern fried chicken joint in chicago?

I've been to Dixie Kitchen - but it wasn't quite what i was looking for.

If you're craving some creamed corn, mashed potatoes and some southern fried chicken where are you headed to?

dave

I don't know about southern style but, a lot of people like Harold's Chicken Shacks, I prefer Feed on Chicago Ave. I am sure there are many other joints around the Chicagoland area.

There are a lot of reasons to like Feed, but fried chicken isn't one of them, is it? They do roasted chicken, not fried.

If you do the google search trick (type "fried chicken" site:lthforum.com into google's search bar), you come up with this and many, many other fried chicken threads.

Reading this made me hungry for fried chicken. That means a 15 minute drive down to Evanston Chicken Shack:

http://www.evanstonchickenshack.com

It's even better cold the next day yay leftovers!

I have to admit, if I really really wanted fried chicken, I'd be tempted to come up with however many other reasons it would take to justify a road trip here:



(If you're about to ask where it is, follow the link on the word "here.")

If an entire southern style fried chicken dinner in the city is what you're looking for, you might try Lux Bar or Stanleys.

Mike G wrote:I have to admit, if I really really wanted fried chicken, I'd be tempted to come up with however many other reasons it would take to justify a road trip here:



(If you're about to ask where it is, follow the link on the word "here.")

Mike, if you had not posted this, I would have. Folks, just face it that there is no truly excellent fried chicken in Chicago. Sure, there are OK versions sold at Harolds and a few others; OK for a snack, but it's all deep fried, which is a major compromise. Deep frying sorta works, because they coat the chicken in about a 1/4 inch of breading, but there is no subtlety in this, and it shows in the final product. Good fried chicken = pan-fried chicken, lightly coated in flour (not thick breading), turned by hand until done. It is very labor-intensive. Chicago does not have a fried chicken culture that supports the proper preparation of the dish because there is no real demand for it from commercial kitchens here (I am sure there are plenty of households making excellent, pan-fried chicken throughout Chicagoland; just not for sale in a restaurant). Why is this? Maybe because so few in this area seem to know what it is they are missing. It's as if everyone just said, "McDonald's makes an OK hamburger; a Quarter Pounder goes down pretty easy, so why do we need a place like Kuma's or Kewpies?" Go to Indianapolis (The Northernmost City of the South®) and find fried chicken made right. Also, have a couple of biscuits.

Priscilla's Ultimate Soul Food is a GNR winner on this site and one of my favorites.

Fast food Fried Chicken:
Evanston Chicken Shack
Hecky's in Evanston (Not the Chicago location)

Full on Soul Food Fried Chicken:
Pearl's Place
Edna's
MacArthur's
Priscilla's

I just had great fried chicken at MacArthur's. Hard to envision getting great fried chicken off a cafeteria style line, but the place is busy (at 2 on a Friday afternoon they had a line half-way back the restaurant the whole time we were there) and the fried chicken is constantly being replenished. I like this style much better than the crunchier style of Harold's or most other local fried chicken places. .

(Shown with sweet potatoes and collards--both highly recommended as well. And to keep it honest, there's vinegar on the tables for the greens).




MacArthur's Restaurant
5412 W. Madison
Chicago
(773) 261-2316

Cash only so if you're planning on treating the whole office be sure to raid the petty cash box before you go.

Go to West Town Tavern on Monday nights -- the fried chicken (Monday nights only), with biscuits, greens and mashed potatoes are really excellent.

West Town Tavern*
1329 W. Chicago
Chicago, IL 60622

*If it matters to some, the chef is from Indianapolis.

I have recently been to Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket and reallly enjoyed my meal. The breading wasn't too thick and the chicken was very juicy. The cornbread muffins were tasty and the green beans w/bacon was Mmmm.

Thread

645 Joliet Road
On Old Route 66
Willowbrook IL

Thanks for the replies.

I did head over to Feed becuase it was the closest to my home. Loved it. The salsa served on the side was bliss.

I'll definately be heading out to these other places mentioned.

So many places - so little time.

It's Puerto Rican (not "southern") fried chicken, but it's the best I've had in this city. Think: rice and beans instead of mashed potatoes and collards. And it's BYO.

Borinquen
1720 N California Ave # 1
(773) 227-6038

FWIW, I didn't think West Town Tavern's Fried Chicken Monday was worth going back for. Tiny pieces of chicken. Tiny gourmet "biscuit". It was all a bit too precious...and not so great.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:
...Folks, just face it that there is no truly excellent fried chicken in Chicago. ... (I am sure there are plenty of households making excellent, pan-fried chicken throughout Chicagoland; just not for sale in a restaurant). Why is this? Maybe because so few in this area seem to know what it is they are missing.

There are approximately 65,000 restaurants in Chicagoland (give or take a hundred thou) and none of them make an excellent fried chicken?

Edited to change "decent" to "excellent"

imsscott wrote:

JimInLoganSquare wrote:
...Folks, just face it that there is no truly excellent fried chicken in Chicago. ... (I am sure there are plenty of households making excellent, pan-fried chicken throughout Chicagoland; just not for sale in a restaurant). Why is this? Maybe because so few in this area seem to know what it is they are missing.

There are approximately 65,000 restaurants in Chicagoland (give or take a hundred thou) and none of them make a decent fried chicken?

That's just Jim. Read the other posts.

I should point out that it also is a misquote. I never said there is no "decent" fried chicken hereabouts, only no "truly excellent" fried chicken. That's a pretty wide margin. I'll stand by what I wrote. There's plenty of decent fried chicken served here. I very much enjoy the fast-food style and also the soul food style, although both are a different animal from what I would call the ideal fried chicken. Of course, I have not tried every fried chicken served in every restaurant in Chicagoland; but the fact that nobody on this board has found the real deal; that Mike G feels compelled to post about Hollyhock Hill in Indianapolis in response to a query for good fried chicken in the vicinity of Chicago; all of this adds up to a good indicator (not proof) that the likelihood of finding excellent, pan-fried, southern-style (or Hoosier farm style) is probably quite low. Every post that makes mention of a possibility like West Town Tavern (with a real Indianapolitan chef, no less!) seems to get shot down by another (although hope springs eternal).

Panther in the Den wrote:I have recently been to Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket and reallly enjoyed my meal. The breading wasn't too thick and the chicken was very juicy. The cornbread muffins were tasty and the green beans w/bacon was Mmmm.

Thread

645 Joliet Road
On Old Route 66
Willowbrook IL

Maybe this is what you are looking for?

It is good! But then again I like 'Low Food'.

I have eaten at Dell Rhea's, and it is good. They serve a fine version of "Illinois Fried Chicken." And I don't mean that in some pejorative, "tallest mountain in Kansas" sense; the Illinois style of fried chicken is a legitimate variation on fried chicken and has its charms, especially when served in a charming roadhouse like Dell Rhea's. But it is not great fried chicken (judged on the world stage of fried chicken). It's deep fried, and the breading is made with breadcrumbs, which is not the same. It's easier to make, which is why people make so much of it. I know that sounds absurd -- unless you (like Mike G and the others who made the Indianapolathon
) had tried the real deal. Sorry!

Ja. It is true.

The furthest south I have been and had chicken is Carbondale where at the Pioneer Cabin and Giant City Lodge have some really good chicken served family style (all you can eat). I think Dell Rhea's was better... Juicier. That is what won me over there.

I remember once having a visiting a family and having a pan fried chicken dinner in South Dakota. Soaked in a brine and then buttermilk for days.

After all of their hard work it was hard to think that the meat had lost too much texture and was somewhat mealy.

I too have never found the kind of pan-fried (and might I add, "pan-fried in a cast-iron skillet") chicken JiLS mentions within Chicago's city limits, altho if there is such a place, other than my own kitchen, I, too, would like to hear about it. This is a chicken that's neither covered with breading nor drowned in hot oil/fat. In the meantime, the best that I've had--also somewhat far afield--is the inimitable Stroud's in KC. That, for me, is the standard:

http://www.stroudsrestaurant.com/

I have to second the vote above for Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket in Willowbrook. A photo is worth...(you know the rest).



Of course I always refer to Dell's as my second choice for fried chicken. Once a year I get out to Phoenix and always make a trip to the Horny Toad in Cave Creek, AZ. I'm not expert enough to know exactly how they prepare it but their fried chicken is the best in the U.S., in my opinion. Sorry, I don't have a photo from the Toad.

Is there anyone else that has to have jalapenos with thier fried chicken? If I can't have the chicken with the japs I usually just pass.

The Missus and I went to The Evanston Chicken Shack for the first time last night. Grabbed a white meat dinner and a hot link dinner and headed over to the lakefront on the Northwestern campus. The chicken was absolutely delicious (as proclaimed by my wife who is the maven of all things fried). The links were good, although I like the ones from Hecky's somewhat better. Fries aren't bad and both the bbq and hot sauce were pretty good (I'm assuming they were commercial sauces).
And yes, I ate 5 of the jalapeno's, which in my mind complete the meal...