Review: Good for Your Appetite, Bad for Your Health
I need to hit the gym tomorrow, swim a few miles in the pool and maybe run on the track to justify the fried chicken that my gastrointestinal track is currently breaking down. Fried chicken has that effect on me, and maybe this is why I eat it once every few months. Tonight I made an exception for Gus’s Fried Chicken, a restaurant whose fried chicken is supposedly world renowned (I can verify only its local reputation).
There are actually two Gus’s since the couple that started the place divorced. The original Gus’s is downtown (I think) but since that’s a 40 minute drive from my house, I went to the one in Collierville. From what I’ve heard, the one downtown is dirty and small (I’m fine with that since it’s just a chicken joint). If that’s really the case, the one in Collierville is completely opposite in design and very appropriate for the area.
A quaint, remodeled antebellum house — inside the floors are hardwood and original artwork adorns the wall — holds the fumes of chicken being fried away. Everything inside this house is so nice that it wouldn’t be out of character if the kitchen were sending out $25 plates of food. But that’s just it; the kitchen is actually sending out $8 plates of fried chicken on picnic plates with plastic forks wrapped in napkins.
Appetizer of fried pickles with ranch was, as it looks, excellent. The ranch was mild and did well to let the salty pickle and seasoned batter pull the punches.
Two breasts, a wing and two sides cost me about $9. As you can see, it’s a lot of food. Let me get to the point: the fried chicken was very good. Skin wasn’t too greasy, and once I got passed the fried skin, the inside was juicy and tender. Sides were nice.
Is this chicken worthy of world fame? I don’t think so. In fact, I prefer my mother’s fried chicken, when she had her restaurant. Her batter was crunchier and better seasoned (more pop). And don’t hate me when I say this but…I like Popeyes chicken better.
Kudos to Gus’s for baking their own pies, but this chess pie fell flat. I expected a LOT more sugar and less egg.
So I can see why people like Gus’s so much, but after hearing all the hype for so long I expected something more. The chicken is great, but to say that it’s world famous is a stretch. For the price though and the amount of food/experience you’re getting, it’s a good deal especially if you don’t live too far off.
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