Freddy J's BBQ is my favorite fried chicken joint for lunch. For under ten dollars, the meal comes with a chicken leg with 2 sides and a salad. I love the seasoning and marinade on the chicken. I also love the fact that it's cooked for a couple of hours in the oven and then battered and fried to order.  Because of this, the meat falls right off the bone. The chicken gets a very light layer of batter, so the flavor is purely from the seasoning and the skin of the chicken; whereas some places season the batter and do not treat the chicken with anything special. As long as there's dedication to a single method, I don't really have a preference for one over the other. I really love the cornbread and the mac and cheese here.  For more on Freddy J's BBQ, see this article. 

Fat Bob's Smokehouse has an awesome Southern Fried Chicken meal. Diners receive half a chicken, separated into three pieces, a side of sausage gravy and a choice of two sides. I like that there's a mixture of dark and white meat. The chicken is deep fried, bone in, for 25 minutes--this preparation adds a lot of flavor. The skin and the batter is very thick and crispy.

For my side choices, I always get the hand-cut sweet potato wedges and the mac and cheese. The wedges are served with honey and the sweetness really complements the salty, fried flavors from the chicken and the penne pasta mac and cheese. I think the chicken and all the side dishes make the Southern Fried Chicken a great meal. Although this Southern Fried Chicken is very yummy, there is a reason why the restaurant is called Fat Bobs. It's definitely a guilty pleasure.  

The fried chicken at Shango is called Buttermilk Fried Free-Range Chicken. The fried chicken here is definitely my nearly guilt-free choice. It's served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and Andouille sausage gravy. The two free-range chicken breasts are soaked overnight in buttermilk, battered and fried. The skin and batter turns out very crispy. The chicken is very lightly seasoned and it draws a lot of flavors from the other parts of the dish, like the Andouille sausage gravy and the light garlic flavor of the mashed potatoes. The green beans add beautiful color and a different crunch and texture to the dish.  

For now, my fried chicken quest continues.  Leave a comment and let me know where you go for fried chicken.