#SummerTravel The BEST Fried Chicken in America

From Nashville hot to Pacific Rim panko-crusted, there’s one thing we can agree on when it comes to fried chicken: we want it — now.

So does Food Network South Beach and New York City Wine & Food Festival founder Lee Brian Schrager. Last June he took his “Cluck Team” (writer Adeena Sussman, photographer Evan Sung, trusty right hand “wing” CJ Tropp) on the ultimate comfort food road trip to search out America’s best fried chicken and side dishes. They sampled more than 150 recipes in 13 different cities along the way, compiling the results into Fried & True (Clarkson Potter).

“A fried chicken road trip may not be the healthiest journey,” says Schrager, but damn if it isn’t “one of the tastiest.”

What he discovered is that there’s no more Southern ghetto for this crispy bird. From both hole-in-the-wall restaurants and white table-cloth establishments, chefs and consumers have embraced this dish’s humble roots while also managing to bring all sorts of ethnicities and regional specialties to bear.

Today, fried chicken can hold its own in any state and any style of the union. Here are 10 of Schrager’s favorites to prove it.

Cochon - New Orleans, Louisiana

What: Sunday Night Fried Chicken and Lake Charles Dirty Rice. Prepared just the way that chef Donald Link’s granny used to make it, this chicken-in-rice stunner is a recipe from Link’s Real Cajun cookbook and makes an appearance now and then as a special at his famed New Orleans restaurant. The open kitchen at Cochon boasts an enviable collection of cast iron vessels, used nightly to prepare Link’s modern-traditional take on Cajun cooking.

Arnold’s Country Kitchen - Nashville, Tennessee

What: Chicken Livers, Braised Turnip Greens, and Fried Green Tomatoes. A line forms outside the long, narrow brick “meat-and-three” mainstay—customers choose a meat main with three sides—long before Arnold’s Country Kitchen opens its doors at 10:30 a.m. daily. Arnold’s fried chicken, served with braised turnip greens and fried green tomatoes, is to die for. There is no reason food this simple should taste this good.

Holeman & Finch - Atlanta, Georgia

What: “Naked” Fried Chicken and Old-Fashioned Coleslaw. Chef Linton Hopkins declares that fried chicken is the food of memory, history and family. His “naked” fried chicken is served with a chaser of ice-cold Cruze buttermilk, which cuts through the richness of the chicken, cleansing our palates for the next bite.

Charles Country Pan-Fried Chicken - New York City

What: Country Pan-Fried Chicken and Candied Yams. It’s hard to believe that some of the very best Southern fried chicken can be found smack in the middle of Harlem, but it’s true. Charles Gabriel’s Country Pan-Fried Chicken, prepared in a long-handled coal black cast iron skillet, is the true definition of “slow food” without the posturing.

Honey’s Kettle Restaurant and Bakery - Culver City, California

What: Honey’s Kettle Home-Style Smashed Garlic Fried Chicken. Chef/owner Vincent Williams has concocted one of the most original and delicious recipes I’ve tasted to date. Marinated in a thick paste of spices, battered in a seasoned slurry, and then passed through a heavily seasoned flour before skillet frying, Honey’s Kettle’s Home-Style Smashed Garlic Fried Chicken reminds me that fried chicken is open to constant renovation.

Federal Donuts - Philadelphia

What: Federal Donuts Fried Chicken and Sauce. James Beard award-winning chef Michael Solomonov’s Korean-style fried chicken has pretty much bested Philly competition since day one. In a whimsical take on chicken and waffles, this dish is served with Chef Solomonov’s house-made cake donuts. They’re fried chicken sells out fast, so arrive early.

Blackberry Farm - Walland, Tennessee

What: Sweet Tea-Brined Fried Chicken. A two-hour drive from my parents’ summer home in Asheville, NC, Blackberry Farm is a bucolic paradise set at the foot of the Smoky Mountains. Their Sweet Tea-Brined Fried Chicken with its masa harina coating (typically the main ingredient in Mexican tortillas), makes perfect sense. After all, what could be more Southern than corn?

Ma’ono Fried Chicken and Whisky - Seattle

What: Ma’ono’s Hawaiian Fried Chicken and Sesame Roasted Carrots with Tamarind Goat’s-Milk Yogurt. Seattle chef Mark Fuller takes a page from the Proustian playbook — in a recipe passed on from his Hawaiian grandmother — adding soy sauce powder to several elements to create a densely crispy, mahogany brown chicken that literally makes your mouth water.

Husk - Charleston, South Carolina

What: Husk’s Southern Fried Chicken Skins with Hot Sauce and Honey. Chef Sean Brock says that his fried chicken skins are a guilty pleasure that you can only eat once in a while. A gentle buttermilk bath tenderizes the chicken while leaving just enough of the skin’s distinct flavors intact. Served with a crazy hybrid of potato chips and pork rinds, Husk’s Southern Fried Chicken Skins are the perfect combination of sweet and spicy.

Seven Sows Bourbon & Larder - Asheville, North Carolina

What: Seven Sows Fried Chicken with Egg and Giblet Gravy, and Macaroni and Cheese. Despite opening a restaurant with a pig in the name, Chef Mike Moore proudly boasts that his Fried Chicken with Egg Giblet Gravy and Macaroni and Cheese is the most popular dish on the menu, and I know why.

Lee Brian Schrager is the founder of the Food Network South Beach and New York City Wine & Food Festivals. He is also the vice president of corporate communications and national events at Southern Wine & Spirits of America and the author of The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he lives in Miami and New York City.