Rene G wrote:Here are a few additional photos from Our Day of Poultry. A fun time was had by all. Thanks to Jim for organizing it. Go to Rip's for chicken and mushrooms, to Lanuti's for drinks and atmosphere, to Smitty's for chicken and tenderloin.

The tourists from Chicago were mighty impressed by the sights of Ladd, also known as Chicken City USA.



The ordering system at Rip's is interesting. The woman who takes orders from those waiting in line fills out little slips of paper that get impaled on an ancient nail board in the kitchen. I wouldn't be surprised if that board is from the early days of the business (the fourth generation is now running the place).



After two visits to Lanuti's I have to admit the food is disappointing but it remains one of my favorite places in Illinois to have a drink. It's a beautiful old tavern in remarkably good condition. John and Dena, recently retired after many years, really took care of the place.





Here's part of our group entering Smitty's.



As Shirley remarked, Smitty's Prize Tenderloin (hand-pounded in the kitchen; $5.50) could serve a family of four.



And that wasn't the only poultry action of the day. Before eating we admired G&G Poultry in Ladd, presumably the suppliers for many of the restaurants in and around Chicken City USA.



Earlier in the day Cathy and I visited the Ho-Ka Turkey Farm in Waterman (unfortunately closed on Saturday). Now I know where the name Ho-Ka comes from. We saw the turkey roosts but no turkeys roosting.

it was a pleasure meeting you, and the pics, and commentary you added are spot on, and appreciated.

slainte,

jim

Rene G wrote: Now I know where the name Ho-Ka comes from. We saw the turkey roosts but no turkeys roosting.

If you've ever purchased one of their turkeys, you'd see Mr. Kaufman's name proudly emblazoned on the label. Until I picked up my first Ho-Ka turkey sometime i the 80's, I thought the name derived from some sort of Native American connection.

As I am finally emerging from my fried chicken induced food coma, I wanted to thank Jim for acting as organizer and tour guide. Also, the company of Rene G, Cathy, Hammer, Sarah, and Jim was as enjoyable as the chicken and quite a bit less salty.

Just a few notes worth mentioning about the trip, which I hope we do again to try a few new places and cap it off at Ron's with some Pecan pie.

I was in the minority but enjoyed Rips the most of the three stops. The chicken was salty, but the $1 Sprechers in frosted mugs were fantastic, and I thought the chicken had the best crust while being fantastically juicy. Hammer and Sarah took home leftovers of the crispies to try as an ice cream topping, I hope they post on how that works out.

Lanuti's chicken was a disappointment, completely lacking flavor. I agree with Rene G, that as a bar it has a definite old school charm (like somebody froze 1974). The turtle was interesting, to me it had an almost beefy quality and was reminiscent of oxtails. Having said that, it was also a novelty that I probably wouldn't order again.

Smitty's was very good too, also very salty, and the service was gracious. The tenderloin was monstrous as it fed the 6 of us and still leftovers remained.

The common thread was that in each of the places, the bird was expertly fried, being crisp without drying out the white meat. I look forward to trying some of the other places in the area. As far as flavor, salt seemed to be the main flavoring, whereas I prefer a peppery crust. All in all, it was a great day trip that I hope we repeat some time.

Glenn

Really sorry I couldn't be there for this one. It sounds and looks wonderful.

stevez wrote:

Rene G wrote: Now I know where the name Ho-Ka comes from. We saw the turkey roosts but no turkeys roosting.

If you've ever purchased one of their turkeys, you'd see Mr. Kaufman's name proudly emblazoned on the label. Until I picked up my first Ho-Ka turkey sometime i the 80's, I thought the name derived from some sort of Native American connection.

I haved learned from my butcher, who carries these turkeys, that they are pushing the pronunciation of the brand as ho-kay, as in okay, rather than ho-kah, which does sound vaguely Native American. Perhaps it's just my upbringing but Howard Kaufman just doesn't sound very exotic to me.

=R=

Hi,

In addition to the turkey roosts, there were also poultry buildings on the property very similar to those seen in Food Inc. I guess to get a better idea of their operation, check the place out when the turkeys are live and present.

If you do want to visit on a Saturday, it is by appointment only. Otherwise they keep regular business hours Monday through Friday.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

In addition to the turkey roosts, there were also poultry buildings on the property very similar to those seen in Food Inc. I guess to get a better idea of their operation, check the place out when the turkeys are live and present.

If you do want to visit on a Saturday, it is by appointment only. Otherwise they keep regular business hours Monday through Friday.

Regards,

That's an interesting observation. I've argued (if that is the right word) before that one of the big advantages of local food is the ability to actually assess the operations.

Beyond on that, it seemed like an amazingly fun day that I'd hope there'll be another chance to duplicate. Thanks for the pics to aid in the vicarious thrills.

Hi,

Those buildings may not be in use. They may be a practical solution to housing the birds, especially in bad weather or when they are young. The pastoral picture of the outdoor roosts was simply one element to this working farm.

Regards,

I just got a phone call from friends telling me that they are in town to headline Pitchfork and the only time they can visit is tomorrow.

Might this be former Long John Silvers employee of the month May 1987, Wayne Coyne?

Well worth the 900+ mile trek, for both the chicken and the company! Who knew there could be so many differences with fried chicken?

I thought starting our adventure at Rip's was the perfect way to satiate our anticipation because it certainly was a scene. I loved the atmposphere at Lanuti's, even if the food was unremarkable... I loved that there was nothing artificially 'retro' about the place, rather it is a place that has just aged gracefully and beautifully.

While Smitty's was my personal favorite, I finished the day craving something vegetal or sweet.

Here are a few poems my friend, Sarah, and I wrote to commemorate the occasion:

I can't wait to have some fried chicken
And my fingers, I hope to be lickin'
All the way to LaSalle County
I hope to find a great bounty
Hope there are no slim pickings!


Chicken is best done fried
We’re takin’ a nice long ride
Where the chicken is nice and crispy
My eyes are gettin’ a little misty
Oh no, I just can’t wait
Nothing can slow my gait
With one piece I can’t abide
(Although I worry for my backside!)

Shirley,

Sorry I missed you this time around.

I Do It Daily wrote:

I just got a phone call from friends telling me that they are in town to headline Pitchfork and the only time they can visit is tomorrow.

Might this be former Long John Silvers employee of the month May 1987, Wayne Coyne?

This looks like it was really a lot of fun, thanks everyone for the detailed posts and photos. I'll make it out there someday!

Seething with Jealousy that I couldn't join fellow LTHer's in the chicken crawl last weekend I convinced a friend to come with me for a couple of days hiking in Starved Rock state park and to do our own taste testing.

We started on Wednesday after a six mile hike to get us in shape for all things fried. We decided to start with Rip's as Jim said Wednesday was an all you could eat night at Smitty's and we thought it would be crowded. We saw the line out the door of Rips at 7:00 pm and realized we really should have been there when it opened, but went to Lanuti's for a cocktail and to see if the line got shorter. A very nice bartender made us a great martini and manhattan in the kind of glasses my parents used, not the half gallon size so often used now days. We watched the line get shorter and decided to go across the street and get in it. When we got in the door we couldn't even see the bar, let alone the dining room. After 30 minutes of no movement in the line we decided to regroup and try elsewhere. Lanuti's or Smitty's? We decided on Smitty's as we only had two nights to try chicken and based on your reporting we wanted to go with the best.

Thank God for GPS as we would never have found Smitty's on our own. We got there just after 8:30 and they were clearly closing down the kitchen, but were very gracious and took our order for onion rings, 1/4 dark and the pork tenderloin sandwich. The onion rings were amazing, every bite crisp and the batter was not overwhelming. The chicken was moist and flavorful and lived up to the praise. The pork tenderloin was crispy and moist, but bland I really thought it needed seasoning. I had a few comments from people at the bar when they saw I could only manage 1/3 of of the sandwich, but it was gentle ribbing. They kindly wrapped it up and gave us directions back to the lodge.

Day two started with more hiking to justify more chicken and this time we made sure to be at Rip's early. We sat at the bar and watched the very end of Mark Buehrle's perfect game. As a die hard Cubs fan even I was cheering him on. We decided to eat at the bar and the girl explained the ordering process. We went with the mushrooms which were the best I've ever had bar none and two 1/4 dark's. The chicken was was really moist and flavorful and I loved the batter, but it was surprisingly salty. We couldn't decide if it was the batter or if the chicken was brined too much, we're leaning towards the batter.

Next time I'd like to try Lanuti's for dinner and for the ice cream grasshoppers they were making while we were there. Shades of the 60's! Thanks for all the good advice, I'm just sorry we couldn't join you on the original crawl.

Dang! I had heard about this during the BBQ and had a strong desire to attend!

Missed the thread and had things happening last weekend anyway.

I will have to plan a private testing and maybe with a few friends now that we know where to go and what to order.

Thanks for the research and for setting these crawls up!

mbh,

sounds like a nice couple of days, glad you tried Ripps, and Smitty's, as I mentioned above I found Smitty's chicken salty this last visit as well. Not typical based on my previous visits.

I enjoyed this event alot, and it got me thinking to do something along this lines again this year if there is interest.

This time perhaps a different format. I was thinking of a kind of head to head fried chicken picnic @ Starved Rock State Park(a central location to the 5 chicken places). Kind of a showdown of the fried chicken heavyweights(these are the fried chicken heavyweights in Chicagoland and Northern Illinois, trust me). None of the locations are further than 17 miles from Starved Rock which has ample picnic space for such and event. An upcoming Saturday in July would be ideal for me, perhaps the 24th or 31st.

I was thinking of 5 places that would be fun to compare their chicken bite for bite against each other. The 5 spots are:

Cherry Supper Club - Cherry, IL.
Rip's - Ladd, IL.
John's North Star - La Salle, IL.
Smitty's - Leonore, IL.
Hank's Farm - Ottawa, IL.

At a minimum we would need 5 "teams" to go out and gather the chicken to meet back @ Starved Rock for the tasting. Most places will allow you to call in a carry-out order to be ready for a quick turnaround. Also many of the places do not open until after 4:00 p.m., so this would mean we would be meeting back at Starved Rock around 5:00 p.m. to taste the bounty.

I'll piggy back this idea on this thread to start, and see if there is any interest to do this and start a new thread.

I'd be interested.

stevez wrote:I'd be interested.

thats great,

I am thinking this version would work out better than a crawl like last time(there was just too much distance between places to hit enough of them). Plus I think fried chicken travels pretty well, or at least for the 20-30 mins involved here.

One of the very first LTH events that I can remember was the Evanston Fried Chicken Taste-Off. This was a great day! We should try for the same format.

stevez wrote:One of the very first LTH events that I can remember was the Evanston Fried Chicken Taste-Off. This was a great day! We should try for the same format.

great thread, and exactly what I was picturing.

I'd be in, depending on the timing.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'd be in, depending on the timing.

=R=

I am thinking the 24th or 31st of July, is one better than the other for you this far out?

jimswside wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I'd be in, depending on the timing.

=R=

I am thinking the 24th or 31st of July, is one better than the other for you this far out?

The 24th is definitely out for me but since I'm not 100% definite for 7/31, best to choose the date that works for the most people, even if it ends up being 7/24.

Thanks,

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:The 24th is definitely out for me but since I'm not 100% definite for 7/31, best to choose the date that works for the most people, even if it ends up being 7/24.

Thanks,

=R=

right on,

ill see if there is any other interest in the next few days/week, and go from there.

Hi,

On the 31st, I'll be at the Ohio State Fair judging heirloom recipes on behalf of Greater Midwest Foodways.

I could do July 24th.

I personally did not mind driving to the various locations. I really do like checking the ambiance from place to place. Reading the menu for things I don't know.

At Starved Rock, will there be shelters? In Cherry Hill, there is a nice large park and it is closely situated to Ladd, too.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

On the 31st, I'll be at the Ohio State Fair judging heirloom recipes on behalf of Greater Midwest Foodways.

I could do July 24th.

I personally did not mind driving to the various locations. I really do like checking the ambiance from place to place. Reading the menu for things I don't know.

At Starved Rock, will there be shelters? In Cherry Hill, there is a nice large park and it is closely situated to Ladd, too.

Regards,

the shelters are first come first serve and cannot be reserved. Im am hoping by 5:00 p.m. a party or two may have cleared out.

I will look at some different options as far as parks in the area.

My Bride and I would love to participate!

She has to work on the 31st (but she has given me permission to attend solo) so we would lean towards the 24th.

Also the Pierogi Fest is on the weekend of the 23-25th and this might affect attendance (we are planning to visit the fest on the 25th).

Thanks for setting this up! Sounds like fun!

Map

Panther in the Den wrote:My Bride and I would love to participate!

She has to work on the 31st (but she has given me permission to attend solo) so we would lean towards the 24th.

Also the Pierogi Fest is on the weekend of the 23-25th and this might affect attendance (we are planning to visit the fest on the 25th).

Thanks for setting this up! Sounds like fun!

Map

nice map you did on google,

good info on Pierogi fest as well. ill look to set a date with all the input soon.

Jim,

I really enjoyed the last one, and while I can't commit 100% yet, I am definitely interested!

Glenn

Would LOVE to do this --my only concern is All Stars. I'm much more likely to be able to make the 31st than the 24th but couldn't commit to either now so make a plan and I'll definitely try to join you if I can.

great.

it looks like there is enough interest, after the 4th of July weekend ill post a date for later in the month.