Tucson, AZFried Chicken

Chef Brian Hill cooks comfort food on South Sixth Avenue. Writing for This is Tucson, Jamie Donnelly watched him flour and batter his chicken and fry it golden brown without a timer, and quotes his reasoning: no need to re-invent the wheel, we already invented it. The chicken shows up two ways worth ordering. Get the Saturday Afternoon Chicken Sammy, which stacks it with pepper jack, leafy greens, paprika-herb mayo, cooked pineapple and onions on toasted Texas toast, or the chicken and waffles with blueberries.

Andi Berlin's This is Tucson review describes chicken marinated in spices with cut-up carrots, ginger and garlic, then battered in buttermilk much like Southern fried chicken, carrying a decent layer of spicy shichimi pepper blend. The spicy sandwich sets that crunchy breast against pickles, housemade mayo and a buttered bun. Ramen broth comes from pork and chicken bones simmered overnight, across seven varieties. Berlin reviewed the Alvernon shop, which closed in 2025; this Fort Lowell room is the longest-running of the two still open. Order the spicy chicken sandwich and a bowl of spicy miso ramen.

Sar Oum and Sue Kan run this counter out west in Tucson Estates, and Jamie Donnelly's This is Tucson piece on shops that pair doughnuts with fried chicken credits them with perfectly baked doughnuts and juicy chicken. The chicken is Broaster, pressure-fried in a sealed cooker, which is what gives it a crisp exterior and a juicy interior with less grease than an open fryer. Donnelly notes regulars pair a buttermilk bar with it. Order a chicken combination with a buttermilk bar, or an apple fritter.

Dollie Pearce and her husband opened this East 22nd Street room after moving to Tucson in 2016 and finding no Caribbean cooking here. Tucson Foodie's Isabela Gamez reports the signature plate is East Coast style wings with house-made waffles whose flavor rotates by the day, peach cobbler one day, banana pudding, caramel crunch or red velvet another. Pearce cooks soul food without pork, subbing smoked turkey into the collard greens, black-eyed peas and a mac and cheese built on real cheese. Order the chicken and waffles.

Korean fried chicken in the Park Place food court, where chef and co-owner Myungjin Choi spent two years on the recipe with ingredients shipped from Korea and marinations that can run days. This is Tucson's Ellice Lueders found the result perfectly crunchy, crispy without being tough, and liked the supporting cast: fries custardy inside and crisp outside, and a pickle inundated with flavor. Sauces run honey, garlic soy dip, hot chili, and a gochujang sweet chili she calls more flavor-spicy than hot. Order the tenders with sweet chili, and add tteokbokki.