Fried Chicken?

An email from a reader recently asked me about the best fried chicken in Texas. My favorite is Frenchy's in Houston (followed by Bar-B-que Inn in Houston) buy I want to hear what you all think. Leave comments below.




This certainly reminds me that there are more chicken fried items than just steak. This is fortuitous because the State Fair is just around the corner....!

The Hanging Tree - Goliad, TX

Indulging our summer wanderlust, Chicken Fried Father and I hit the road to explore the culinary bounty of south and east Texas. This summer, we took Highway 59 north and south - Laredo to Texarkana.

Our love of Texas history matches our love for Texas vittles, so we stopped in Goliad for a lesson in Texas history. Nestled in a wonderful town square, we took lunch at The Hanging Tree, named for the actual tree where those found guilty of capital crimes outside the courthouse, which is across the street from the restaurant.

I had the chicken fried ribeye and it didn't disappoint. Pounded thin and packed with flavor, the CF'R' was tender (almost fork tender) and coated with a unique thin crust. The crust was more crispy than crunchy, a perfect compliment to the tender steak, anything more dense would upset the balance of textures. The broccoli was terrific - fresh and flavorful. The mashed potato, covered in the same gravy as the CFR, had great potato flavor and was well seasoned.

Although an unconventional choice, try the $3 upgrade to the chicken fried ribeye. There is more to 'chicken frying' than top round.

(Excuse any errors! I'm testing a new blogging by phone app.)

T-Bone Tom's -- Kemah, TX

Let it be understood as a rule that any restaurant that has a giant sirloin outside it is likely to be a winner. T-Bone Tom’s doesn’t disappoint on this score (or any I could find).

The CFS is a hard-fried southern style that makes for a nice crunch, just about the consistency (and taste) of fried chicken. The sirloin (hence her giant friend outside) is nicely cooked and juicy. The surrounding gravy was a dense cream with a nice rich flavor. My impression was that it needed a little salt and a hint of pepper – adding a dash of each improved the balance of flavor.

I branched out and had the grilled tomato (standing in for my usual mashed potato) and it was worth it. It was a bit over salted but the tomato was so full of flavor that it packed a mean punch. The fried okra was a brilliant green, meaning the fried exterior wasn’t too dense as to mask the okra flavor. Combining the tomato and fried okra made for a terrific flavor, negating the slightly too salty tomatoes.

If you walk up and down the Kemah boardwalk 1,504 times afterwards, you can work off the meal. That will also give you time to figure out an excuse to find your way back to T-Bone Toms.

The Original Fried Pie Shop - Buffalo, Texas

Fried. Pies. Even one of those two words should easily convince you to travel a few hours to Buffalo to partake.

Attached to a Mobil gas station, the Original Fried Pie Shop has lovely homemade pielets (you can see them rolling out the dough) which you can fill with savory or sweet (even options without sugar) options.

We chose the full octane sugar apple and lemon flavors. The pies were moist and perfectly flaky. This makes them wonderful but hard to eat in the car. The filling was flavorful but not overly sweet so that it obscured the fruit flavor. They stayed warm in their little packet for the 10 minutes we navigated traffic (and could manage to pretend like we didn't want to eat them right away).

Gordon Ramsey's "Fried Chicken Steak" Nightmare.

On a recent episode of Kitchen Nightmares with rage-chef Gordon Ramsey, he sampled a CFS from Zeke's in Louisiana. I'm not sure he knows exactly what it is since he calls it "fried chicken steak" -- taken out of order, the words of the dish mean something different. Maybe it is a British thing.


Even so, it doesn't take a fancy culinary degree and and armfull of Michelin stars to see that this CFS was not going to be good. Chef Ramsey commented that is looked like a giraffe's tongue (which are technically blue, but whatever).

Sadly, the larger point is that this kind of CFS dish seems to be more the norm than the exception. We've all eaten this kind of tough, overcooked, flavorless and generally disappointing CFS. Maybe the art of making a simple and delicious CFS is a dying art as prices of food rise and standards fall; the kinds of places that make a CFS well are becoming fewer and rarer.

The CFS disappointment comes at about 9:40.

Beaver’s Ice House ― Houston, Texas

Unique chicken fried steak is hard to come by, especially because the iconic dish remains tied to tradition and people are rooted in the CFS their grandmother made or the first time they ate a delightful plate of crispy, creamy goodness.

But, the eclectic Beaver’s Ice House does a terrific job at refining a very rustic dish. The “CFNYStrip” ($15) is a New York strip steak pounded to the texture of traditional sirloin. The texture was good, although the connective tissue often made for a chewy bite.

The mesh of flavors was excellent. The bacon mushroom gravy added an earthy and salty finish to an excellent bite. Perched on a cabbage and onion sauté, the dish jumps off the plate. The cabbage brought unctuous and sour notes to the dish that I wasn’t sure would work at first but jelled nicely with the rest of the dish.

Plus, the ability to add an egg the dish for a dollar brings the continuous potential for innovation. Sometimes, traditions need to be updated.

(Also, aside from the outstanding CFS, the fried “beaver balls” are a must have for any visit: fried brownie cakes with ice cream balls on top. Need I say more?)

Ken Martin’s Safari Grill ― Bryan, Texas

About a year ago, I visited Ken Martin’s Safari Grill and had a bad experience. A thoughtful comment from Ken Martin (the owner) in the comments section cordially invited me back:

Dear friend, I'm sorry you were disappointed with our chicken fried steak and homemade gray. This is my 40th year serving folks in the Brazos Valley and am grateful they have been more pleased than you. Our cutlets are fresh from Ruffino Meats and hand breaded every day and our gravy made from scratch, making our own rue and using chicken base and seasonings. You didn't mention it but I hope you got one of our hot, homemade rolls to sop up the gravy with; most folks really enjoy these! Nonetheless, I am sorry for your disappointment but glad you got good service; we work hard on that, too. Please come in again. Feel free to ask for me or my manager, Joe Ruiz, who has been with me 38 years. Sincerely, ken martin.

Returning to Ken Martin’s, I was curious to see if I would have the same experience. Patterning my trip the same as the first, I arrived for an early lunch, ordered the same dish (yellow gravy with a side of okra and mashed potatoes).

The dish was better! The CFS arrived steaming hot and the texture was great. Plus, the mashed potatoes and fried okra were excellent. The waitstaff were friendly and efficient, as with the first visit.

But, I still didn’t care for the gravy. I’m not beholden to traditional white gravy but the yellow gravy didn’t do it for me. It needed a touch more salt and a bit more pepper. It needed to be more savory and stand up against the saltiness of the CFS.

The upside is that I’d go back. There was much to like and it’s certainly my kind of place.