d4v3 wrote:We really should do another Fried Chicken Showdown.

A long time ago I assembled the beginnings of a comprehensive challenge about fried chicken, something that could amount almost to beefathon proportions... should I dust it off and post it? Or are we just talking about settling the relative question of far north fried chicken options?

(For reference, the list was inspired by the Summer 2006 Reader restaurant focus on fried chicken, and ran the gamut far beyond chicken-shack type places...)

Yeah, I remember eating at a Harold's in Hyde Park 20+ years ago. I just thought the building in the picture looked too new to be the same one.

It's probably not. The previous HP Harold's was a corner location at 53rd and (I think) Dorchester or one of the other nearby streets. It moved from there into the Kimbark Plaza, but that still was at least 10 years ago, maybe even closer to 20. My memory is fading . . .

the Old HP harold's was at kenwood & 53rd (was the one I grew up eating), actually I thought it went slightly downhill when they moved to the plaza (mainly because one of the old ladies who worked here didn't make the move - you could always persuade here to really douse up your chicken with sauce, also because the move coincided from Harold's moving from chinet style plates to the little cardboard baskets) I've never believed that Harold's to be one of the stronger ones actually, when I was growing up in HP we often made the trek down to 67th and Stony (though that one, located next to the Shore 'Nuff Dance studio, is now out of business) I also have liked the one of 63rd and Cottage, across from the pool hall, but have found it to be more inconsistent.

zim wrote:the Old HP harold's was at kenwood & 53rd (was the one I grew up eating), actually I thought it went slightly downhill when they moved to the plaza (mainly because one of the old ladies who worked here didn't make the move - you could always persuade here to really douse up your chicken with sauce, also because the move coincided from Harold's moving from chinet style plates to the little cardboard baskets) I've never believed that Harold's to be one of the stronger ones actually, when I was growing up in HP we often made the trek down to 67th and Stony (though that one, located next to the Shore 'Nuff Dance studio, is now out of business) I also have liked the one of 63rd and Cottage, across from the pool hall, but have found it to be more inconsistent.

The tradeoff is that while the old location was more classic, in the plaza there are some booths to eat in. The old location was certainly a trip, and it was one of the very first places I'd eaten in Chicago---having spent my youth quite sheltered in Ohio suburbia. The old lady used to ask if you wanted hot sauce or mild, and if you ordered extra sauce, she called it back as "swimmin'".

Everry year tho we'd hear about someone getting shot at the Stony I location, so shied away from there...

they don't have the red velvet cake anymore at 44, i was told. i was steered towards the "lawd have mercy" banana pudding instead. yummmm. in a custardy artifical banana flavoring yummy nilla wafers comfort food kind of delish way,

A while back, Harold's #44 added hush-puppies to their menu. I am a big hush-puppy fan, and these ones are good. Crispy golden brown on the outside, steamy moist interior, slightly sweet with a hint of onion salt. I have had better, but not in Chicago. Previously, I had to satisfy my hush-puppy cravings at the Fish Keg. Their's are OK, but are often overcooked on the outside and underdone on the interior. I think the FK's oil is too hot for making good Pups. Anyhow, if anybody else has a favorite source for hush-puppies in town, I'd like to hear about it.

the name of this thread made me laugh. does anyone else think a 44th branch proclamation is kind of funny?

on a side note: i just drooled all over my computer looking at gary's photos.

Almost positive there are more than 50 Harold's across the city as we type.

Maybe even more than 60.

Saw a sign in #44's window as I drove past the other day- you can add 2 wings to any order for $1.49 in April, for customer appreciation month if I remember correctly.

Limner wrote:Saw a sign in #44's window as I drove past the other day- you can add 2 wings to any order for $1.49 in April, for customer appreciation month if I remember correctly.

That doesn't seem like much appreciation?

Does this branch have seating?

Ghazi wrote:Does this branch have seating?

Yes, 5 or 6 booths I think. They are often occupied by people waiting on chicken to go, but nobody seems to have a problem with sharing.

Correction: I was there last night, they only have 4 booths.

d4v3 wrote:. . . Anyhow, if anybody else has a favorite source for hush-puppies in town, I'd like to hear about it.

So, has anyone on the board found hush puppies elsewhere? And, if I were to make them at home, whose recipe should I use, and what kind of fat? And, can a Yankee like me make them successfully in any case, or is this one of those things you must be born to cook?

Josephine wrote:So, has anyone on the board found hush puppies elsewhere? And, if I were to make them at home, whose recipe should I use, and what kind of fat?

Not a classic recipe, but pretty tasty

I'm partial to peanut oil.