Best Chicken in Atlanta for the Money?
Decatur Metro | September 19, 2013
I think we’re well overdue for a new “for the money” thread, no? What better way to revive the franchise than with the world’s most popular bird?
Now, feel free to take this thread in a few different directions. Some may want to talk fried or roasted chicken. Others may want to discuss where to buy the best raw chicken. Others may want to discuss backyard chicken farming. It’s up to you!
Photo courtesy of DecaturWineandFoodDude’s blog
Best Chicken Salad Sandwich: Highland Bakery
Las Brasas for the win
This!!!
Yuuuuuup.
Damn skippy, now shush.
Harold’s on Edgewood.
Whole Foods’ Sonoma chicken salad gets a thumbs up, but not for the money.
In terms of plain old raw chicken, Bell & Evans (YDFM) is pretty good — vastly superior to supermarket meat — and cheap.
Would love to try one of those blue-footed chickens, but have no idea where to get one, and imagine they are $$$.
You can get the black ones at Super H, but I know that’s hardly the same thing. My question: What is the best carryout roast chicken? Kroger’s is greasy (but cheap), Publix’s is dried out (and overpriced). Does anyone do it right, or is any bird that sits under the heat lamps doomed to mediocrity?
We’re big fans of the costco rotisserie chickens. They are much bigger than the grocery store ones and always juicy!
I’d say doomed to mediocrity. Best bet is to roast ‘em yourself. I like to butterfly the chicken, crisp the skin, then finish by roasting in a pan over some veggies.
The rotisserie chickens at Your DeKalb Farmers Market are very good, believe they use the Bell & Evans chickens they sell in the meat section.
+1
My house- I can put a mean scald on some yard bird.
What a great picture of Big Tex’s fried Chicken
For fried: i do like Big Tex, but One Eared Stag’s is Killer (Monday night only).
Otherwise, I agree with Ted, I’m a big fan of Las Brasas. for grabbing a quick, tasty chicken on the run, they can’t be beat.
I don’t think I could bring myself to order fried chicken at One Eared Stag unless the ghost of Deacon Burton was cooking it.
Thanks JT for mentioning Deacon Burton’s, and the fried chicken across the street at Ma Hull’s Boarding House was pretty darn good too. Watershed had a great reputation but much too expensive for this good old Decatur boy. But they all had one thing in common and that was to be great fried chicken, it has to be slow cooked in a cast-iron skillet and turned by a two hundred year old Southerner. Hard to find nowadays.
In Decatur? Tex Cantina is good but their wings, the Best In Decatur, usually satisfies my chicken urge. But these are great suggestions, especially Los Brassas and Colonnade. Thanks DM Friends!
the smoked chicken wings at Fox Bros are righteous
Aren’t they the same at Big Tex and Fox Bros?
good point—they prolly are.
Las Brasas, although one family member prefer’s Church’s.
My mom has never charged me a thing. She’s in Gainesville, but it’s worth the drive.
If you were really proud of her, you’d share her coordinates and let us know what day she’s liable to make it.
South City Kitchen Midtown
Las Brasas.
I don’t eat it anymore and it’s a bit of a drive, but I used to crave the fried chicken at Greenwood’s in Roswell. Far better (and less expensive) than Watershed’s ever was. But for the money the best fried chicken is Popeye’s.
+1. Can’t believe it took 20+ entries to get to Popeye’s!
Colonnade fried chicken with tomato aspic, Marian salad, and yeast rolls; Las Brasas is excellent; and Costco has the best store-bought rotisserie chicken.
Even though it’s mostly a seafood place, Harbour Bar has FANTASTIC fried chicken.
Good to know!
Oh, thought of another one – the smoked chickens at Spotted Trotter are fantastic!
And for raw, though I don’t like that you can’t get ‘em fresh, Darby Farms is really, really good.
I have got to get over there. But I have a hard time justifying the extra driving time b/c Pine Street Market is so close. But please, PSM (thread jack here) start planning your curing process a little better. It seems as though you are ALWAYS out of prosciutto and speck, and I really hate that.
Just thought of another one. Seven Hens has very good schnitzel (thin chicken). Friendly environment with local, fresh ingredients. Really great place.
Oooh, +1 on this. LOVE their Indian spiced birdwich!
Fried = Bantam & Biddy (danged good mac & cheese, too)
Roast = Las Brasas
Chicken Salad = Oak Grove Market (the one on LaVista; the one in Oakhurst’s chicken salad is very, very different, and me no likey)
That is all.
Bantam & Biddy’s delicious fried chicken tenders have a gluten free crust. Desserts are scrumptious, too.
Was not aware of that! Good to know…
For the money????
POPEYE’S LOUISIANA FRIED!!
Las Brasas for roast
Duck’s Kitchen for chicken salad
Also love Gio’s–Amalfi coast style chicken, nice salad too. More expensive though.
+1 for Gio’s. We keep going over there intending to try the pizza, and we always end up with chicken. Now they have gelato too!
Gio’s? Where? What?
Gio’s Chicken Amalfitano is part of the Antico Pizza empire on Hemphill Avenue on the west side.
Carvers
Busy Bee
I was waiting for someone to throw Carver’s out there. Delicious, super cheap, and enough to feed a family of four. I know the long-time owners recently sold the place, but I heard it was going to be reopened just down the road on Marietta Street.
The Dolly Parton breast.
I think the initial plans to reopen “soon” got scuttled when Sharon had her hip replacement surgery. Of course, it’ll never be the same without Robert Sr there but, if they do reopen, we should plan a lunch pilgrimage to the westside.
Las Brasas for rotisserie
The Shed at Glenwood on Wednesday for fried
A friend has been after me to get to One Eared Stag some Monday night.
mention of chick-fil-a nuggets strangely missing
#snobs
Way. Too. Salty. But the kiddies like it strangely enough. Also, the company position on gay rights, marriage are off-putting.
food before politics, AHID
word has it Idi Amin used to make a divine lemon icebox pie.
Colonnade for the fried chicken…is there really an argument. Best taste and for the price…cant be beat!
Popeye’s
As for chicken salad, my absolute favorite is Pastries a Go Go’s.
+1
Dekalb Farmer’s market for Rotissere AND Fried Chicken! Always cheap, fresh, and delicious.
I also like their chicken salads: one has golden raisins and sliced almonds, and another is a chicken curry salad with pecans, dried cranberries, and apples.
I love Whole Foods Sonoma Chicken salad, but it’s expensive and inconsistent. Now I just make it myself from leftover chicken.
These are great tips, I am going to try some of the other favorites listed here.
Dumb question from a YDFM regular, but where are the rotisserie chickens?
Rotisseries are back in the cafe/restaurant area, in a case facing the dining tables, unless they have moved them recently. And now for my question: Where is the fried chicken at YDFM? Or are you referring to when they have it on the buffet line?
Double vote for Las Brasas: After you’ve eaten all you can off the bird, make stock from the carcass. It’s already seasoned.
The cooked stuff is in the buffet line at YDFM. That said, they also have the best raw chicken for cooking at home. Air chilled totally makes a difference, and cheaper (and fresher) than whole foods.
I’d skip the rotisseries at costco and other places…those things are pumped full of briney nastiness to make them look good under the heat lamp. See how one tastes two days later (and looks) and you’ll see it doesn’t keep well for a reason.
For raw chicken to cook yourself, the answer is the same as for most any other meat product: Patak Meats in Austell. I don’t know if their chicken is “free range” or “organic” or whatever label is the current must-have but I do know that a few months ago when I needed a few pounds of chicken breast, the lady said “We just sold out of the cut chicken breasts. How many do you need and can you wait 20 minutes?” I said I could. 15 minutes later a guy came out of the back carrying a pan with about 10 huge, freshly cut double chicken breasts. I’m pretty sure they’d been clucking that morning.
I must admit to a bit of sticker shock this past week when I found out that their boneless, skinless (hey, gotta be healthy sometimes!) chicken breast had gone up in price to $2.99 a pound. It had been $2.59 for a long while. But considering that the cheapest Kroger ever has Tyson or Perdue for is $1.99/pound, and when it’s not on sale even that crap is over $3/pound, Patak still wins “for the price”. Better yet, it’s fresher and tastier than the Publix GreenWise or the Bell & Evans at YDFM, which are usually about $4.50/pound.
Most people think I’m freaking nuts to drive all the way to Austell for meat. And they’re probably right. But everyone who has taken my advice and driven out there has become a believer. Just remember to bring a cooler if you go there because you’re going to end up filling it with all sorts of cheap goodness.
Patak is outstanding, and well worth the drive.