Dallas–Fort Worth, TXFried Chicken

Vietnamese immigrants Son and Tram Dao started selling fried chicken from a Maple Avenue laundromat before opening a North Dallas storefront on Forest Lane. Everything is hand cut and fried to order, so waits of twenty to thirty minutes are normal. The tenders carry a spice blend of sage, turmeric, lemon, and ghost pepper, fried in refined peanut oil, with honey-glazed biscuits alongside.

Cliff Edgar opened this Deep Ellum bar in 2015, naming it for the exposed brick walls and the chicken bones on the plate. The dark meat is brined for twenty-four hours before frying, and the menu runs from buckets to tenders to waffles, plus Mexican-inspired sides like habanero bacon mac and cheese and poblano mashed potatoes. It fries late, until 2 a.m.

Top Chef alum Tiffany Derry built this Farmers Branch dining room around her duck fat fried chicken, served family style with drop biscuits, watermelon rind preserves, and house-made sauces, alongside gumbo and cast-iron cornbread. The duck fat lends the crust a rich depth without leaving it greasy.

Gene Street, who co-founded the Black Eyed Pea chain, built this Cedar Springs spot around a peppery, French-inspired crust. The chicken is brined and fried to order, which can mean a twenty to thirty minute wait, and the biscuits and deviled eggs draw nearly as much attention as the bird.

This family-style chicken house opened in Roanoke in 1993 and grew into a small DFW-only group of about nine locations. The plate arrives with fried or chicken-fried steak options and a full spread of down-home sides, served boarding-house style at long tables. It is a regional institution, and the Roanoke original is where it started.