20-25 years ago, Bojangles eclipsed Popeye’s in NYC for best fried chicken chain. However I probably haven’t been in 20 years, and I’ve heard that quality took a nose dive. They don’t even appear to be in the region any longer.
Popeyes story:
When I was going to school at Boston U and living more or less across a big intersection from Fenway, news hit that Popeyes was “coming back” to the Fenway area (there’d been one there a decade or two prior, as I understood it).
Having grown up w/ family in Louisiana, this wasn’t especially momentous to me, but people in Boston were flipping their shit. When that thing finally opened in the most awkward, tiny half-basement spot on the corner of Beacon and Brookline, the line went out the door, down the street, and wrapped around the corner for days on end. I don’t know that during my time there I ever had less than a 5 minute-wait to just give my order.
I guess Red Sox fans and BU students just really loved fuckin’ Popeyes, man.
That Popeyes was a novelty in the busy Kenmore square area, so not surprising it was busy when it opened. I tried it once, wasn’t hugely impressed. But I see the shop is still there on Brookline avenue, so they must be doing something right as it’s been quite a while now.
Popeyes doesn’t have a presence in my area although they were north of here. I have had it before though and enjoyed the texture. It seemed like Popeyes had better quality chicken and just prepared it better… but I love KFC spice.
Step daughter works at Popeyes. So there is often free chicken around. Maybe even tonight.
In DC Popeyes is king. I used to live across the street from one in a predominantly black neighborhood in southeast DC. Popeyes is fried chicken, yes, but it’s much more a southern style soul food chain that features chicken. Their chicken is not bad, but all the sides are where it’s at. Don’t they even have collard greens? There must be hundreds of soul good places in DC (including Marvin’s, which is a trendy place named after Marvin Gaye, with a big portrait of him in those big silver boots on an entire wall) and I’ve eaten at many. All of them have fried chicken. There are so many Frank Underwood haunts it’s silly. But got-damn, some of their food is good. So buttery, so rich. I could just sip the liquid runoff from a good collards greens all day.
Damn, now I miss real soul food. Incidentally, I’d suprisingly take Popeyes over this fake ass Roscoe Chicken and waffles out here. That stuff is … ok. Popeyes is the chain soul good place.
Re, buttermilk, etc. for frying. I learned years ago (during a brief stint as assistant district manager for a chain of Sonic restaurants across north Texas), that the best frying, for fried pickles, fried green tomatoes, fried onion rings, etc., and probably for fried chicken as well, though that wasn’t on the menu:
dip the object in buttermilk;
roll in your flour (I personally use whole wheat flour these days). I assume you’d mix the KFC recipe to this flour;
dip a second time in buttermilk;
roll liberally in Panko (or cracker meal if you prefer, but the Panko make for a much more Asian-style breading, imo. Thicker and holds the flavor better.
Made it on Sunday. Deep-fry at 350 in peanut oil.
It was very good, much better than the stand-by Alton Brown recipe I have only used, but also very salty.
The reheated leftovers the next day tasted exactly like KFC. And less salty(?)
I’ve had another bird in buttermilk the last 24 hours. Will try it with less celery salt and replacing garlic salt with garlic powder.
Made this the other night. (Caveat: Pan fried rather than deep fried.) Very, very good. Intended to make enough there’d be some leftovers to reheat the next day. There were no leftovers.
Wow, so happy to hear that it works!
Well it’s fried chicken, of course it was delicious, the question was whether it tasted specifically like KFC.
This was a mistake. I guess next time I’ll use slightly less salt salt or wait until after fried to sprinkle on salt.
Too much garlic, maybe? “Garlic salt” is basically one part garlic powder and three parts salt. If you used 2 full tablespoons of garlic powder instead, that would be pretty pungent.
This looks really promising. I’m going to get a bird and some buttermilk for the weekend.
Anyone have any thoughts on an egg dip before breading? I’m thinking yes.
My fiance works with a Popeye’s conveniently on the way home.
Probably bad for our health, but… for fast food, it is some damn fine chicken.
The closest KFC to us was awful as well. Two times, count 'em, two times, when I went there … THEY WERE OUT OF CHICKEN. Jesus, people, the word is in the title of your store. How can that even happen? How is such a thing possible?
I noticed last week that store is closed up now. Good riddance.
I just want to know how they get the extra crispy breading to stick. I tried making some at home once and 70% of the extra breading was at the bottom of the fryer.
Thin flour coat on your brined chicken, then multiple egg/breading dipping cycles.
Also, definitely consider adding some wet ingredient to the dry breading component and mixing it in thoroughly to achieve a crumbly texture. The crumbles will achieve extra crispness when fried.
Oh, and also rest the breaded chicken before frying… Or even consider freezing it! Bon Appetit recommends that IIRC.
Same for us as well. The KFC from the 70’s was leagues better than what we get now.
Totally agree it used to be better.
I stopped there tonight because the kid was craving fried chicken and the menu has to be the worst designed and most confusing of any fast food place. (“The Tyranny of Choice” personified.) And darn hard to get most things without them being in a meal. (Didn’t want sodas.)
Got it home and would have been better off getting the grocery store fried chicken. Blech.