I've never had CFS before today but always wanted to try it. Finding myself having lunch today at Chili's in Wheaton with my mom, I decided to try it. They serve a huge, CFS with the breaded crust like chicken would have with a whitish gravy, mashed potatoes and a cob of corn. I have no idea how it stacks up but it was very tender and tasty in my book. I substituted french fries for the mashed. After eating this I did not eat dinner as it was quite filling.

After having Chicken Fried Steak 4 times while in Oklahoma recently, I knew I'd be craving CFS again, so the other night I found myself at Chili's in Waukegan and had to order it. For a chain, they really do a decent version of the real thing (they call it country fried streak, but this is deep fried as opposed to pan fried, which makes it chicken fried steak). I add a lot more pepper to the cream gravy, but other than that it's pretty good, albeit a little salty (like everything on their menu).

Although there are a ton of variations on CFS and gravy, Red Eye Gravy (not sausage or "milk") is what I look for on CFS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eye_gravy

Red eye gravy on something breaded seems like a bad idea

Awfully good on biscuits, but I literally have never seen or heard of it on CFS, and I grew up down yonder.

JeffB wrote:Awfully good on biscuits, but I literally have never seen or heard of it on CFS, and I grew up down yonder.

I've seen the occasional red eye gravy CFS in Dallas, but more often it's served with cream/milk/sausage gravy.