Oct 20, 2022

14 of Our Favorite Fried Chicken Spots in DFW

Fried chicken. Hot chicken. DFW's food scene is clearly for the birds, y'all. With so many options for truly great chicken scattered all across town, it can be hard to keep up! Use this list to guide you on your journey for some of the best chicken in town — we promise you won't be disappointed!

1. brick and bones

They're not winging it when it comes to chicken at Brick and Bones in Deep Ellum. Whether you're ordering by the bucket, as tenders or with a fluffy waffle, the bird is always remarkably crisp and impossibly juicy at B&B. It's more than affordable, too, with one of our favorite dishes — the Sexy Chicken — clucking in at just $11.

Babe's Chicken dinner house

It's a family-style feast at any of Babe's 10 area locations, and the fried chicken still takes center stage. These days each of those locations features varying menu selections, but we're old enough to still believe it's somewhat sacrilegious to order anything other than their tried-and-true fried chicken. Today you can enjoy the down-home delight of Babe's as far east as Garland and as far southwest as Granbury.

3. Slow bone

This renowned West Dallas barbecue joint is one-of-a-kind for so many reasons, one of which is that it also serves up some of the best fried chicken in town. While you can always order by portion (one piece, four piece or whole bird), keep in mind that they also feature a chicken tenders special on Wednesdays.

4. super chix

They celebrate the chicken sandwich at Super Chix in a way even other bird-focused eateries just can't replicate. From The Simple to the superb Nashville Hot completely over-the-top Cheesy Barbecue, the best part of every sandwich on the Super Chix menu is the deliciously tender and juicy chicken. And then there are the tenders. We bet we could probably put away about 20 of them if they let us.

5. palmer's

The Dallas Observer crowned Palmer's Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich as the Best in Dallas for 2021, so they must be doing something right over there on East Mockingbird, right?Their bird is magically fried or oven roasted with a choice of different level of heats from Palmer's and Mills' time-tested recipe, so you can dial in the perfect flavor for you, every time.

6. lucky's nashville hot chicken

Lucky's Nashville Hot Chicken is not to be undersold, and it is not to be missed. With four different levels of heat on the menu, we would warn novices not to touch the "Best of Luck — We Warned You" top level until you've tried Lucky's once or twice. What's great about this place is that the flavor itself is not negatively affected by adding or subtracting heat. They currently have locations in East Dallas and on Forest Lane, but soon, the rest of DFW will get a taste, with locations coming soon in Oak Lawn, Richardson, Pleasant Grove and Grand Prairie coming soon, according to their website.

7. Mike's chicken

The chicken at this venerated Dallas staple features distinctive spice blend that includes sage, turmeric, lemon, and ghost peppers. And as good as everything is at Mike's, the price is right, too. You can still get a meal for around $10 at both locations: at the original on Maple and the newer location on Forest Lane.

8. smackbird hot chicken

Smackbird is the hot chicken-based "ghost kitchen" concept run by the folks at Cowboy Chicken, so if you don't know, now you know. If you're in their delivery area, Smackbird is a real treat. You choose tenders or sandwich, then decide on your heat level (No Smack - Hard Smack), then wait for your chicken to materialize at your front door. Can't beat that.

9. whistle britches

Photo: @whistlebritcheschicken

They serve their bird in just about any format you could dream up at Whistle Britches' three locations in Plano, Dallas and Southlake. Even breakfast chicken! It's so crispy-delicious, whichever way you choose it, you really can't go wrong. The chicken is pickle-brined to give it that unique, delicious Whistle Britches flavor. It's one of those places where it's extremely tempting to fill up on their amazing fresh buttermilk biscuits, but do your best to just have one.

10. Hattie B's hot chicken

Hattie B's is one of the OG Nashville Hot Chicken destinations, so put some respect on its name. They chose Deep Ellum for their first Texas location and opened in February 2022, changing the game for Hot Chicken in Dallas. Choose from bone-in, tenders or a sandwich and select heat level from "Southern (no heat)" to "Shut the Cluck Up (burn notice)" if you're feeling brave.

11. bbbop seoul kitchen

Photo: @bbbopseoul

For fried chicken of the Korean persuasion, you can't do much better than BBBop Seoul Kitchen in Oak Cliff. Order super crispy K Wings or half a bird coated in your choice of spicy ginger or soy ginger sauce. People who say "chicken is chicken" have clearly never tried Korean fried chicken from BBBop Seoul Kitchen.

12. streets fine chicken

Folks in Dallas are clucking loud about Street's Fine Chicken. With two locations, on Cedar Springs and Forest Lane, a crispy-fried lunch or dinner is as accessible as ever. We're tempted to get the chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken every time we visit, and the jalapeño cream gravy has EVERYTHING to do with that. They also have a hot chicken sandwich ($13) option that rivals any of the places on this list as well.

13. ricky's nashville hot chicken

Get your Ricky's fix in the burbs, either in Richardson or in Arlington. Ricky became obsessed with Nashville hot after the first time he ate it and started his business from his own garage before his two brick-and-mortar locations went up. Their chicken is Halal-friendly as well as peanut- and dairy-free, so feel free to get your grub on despite your dietary restrictions.

14. celebration

Photo: @celebrationrestaurant

We'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate (see what we did there?) a venerated Dallas home-cooking haunt that has been serving up some of the best chicken fried chicken and chicken fried steaks in town for MORE THAN 50 years! Celebration Restaurant on West Lovers Lane has been doing fried chicken in Dallas since 1971, and one of the things that makes this place unique is that seconds are available on most entrees, at just $3.95 per full portion! Check out this Old Dallas classic if you haven't had the chance yet.