Pollard's Chicken at Tidewater (Norfolk)

Pollard's Chicken has fried chicken across Hampton Roads since 1967, a family operation the Virginian-Pilot profiled decades ago for founder Johnny Pollard's approach and pure-oil frying. The Norfolk location keeps the same Southern-plate lineup that made the name. Order a box of the fried chicken with the Southern vegetable sides and a roll, and treat it as the takeout it was built to be. A local institution that predates most of its competition.

Picks from VEER Magazine, Coastal Virginia Magazine, and The Virginian-Pilot

The Virginian-Pilot profiled Pollard's Chicken, the Hampton Roads mini-chain that Johnny Pollard's family founded in 1967 and has fried in pure vegetable oil since. This entry is the current Norfolk location on Tidewater Drive. Order the fried chicken with the sides that have kept generations of locals coming back. A homegrown institution, not a national chain, and a fixture of the metro's fried-chicken habit.

Picks from Coastal Virginia Magazine and The Virginian-Pilot