The Best Fried Chicken In Houston

Houstonians love fried chicken. Perhaps it’s because we were all raised on Luby’s, fast food takeout buckets, or soul food staples from a young age. This makes sense because there are more versions of this dish here—including Korean galbi, masala-marinated Pakistani chicken, and straight-up Southern—than almost anywhere else. Whether it’s from a strip center or a fancy sit-down spot, this guide will give you even more fried chicken to love.

THE SPOTS

Jūn

Every meal at Jūn in The Heights should include fried chicken. If Jūn is the restaurant version of a warm, comforting hug, then the fried chicken is that extra little squeeze telling you just how appreciated you are. Marinated in shrimp paste and served extra crispy with herbs and sticky-sweet chili sauce, this nonstop flavor party ranks as one of Houston’s best fried chicken dishes. The breading always arrives crispy with moist chicken and a tangy spice that makes it impossible to resist . When in doubt, get extra for the table unless you enjoy fist-fighting with loved ones.

Bar Bludorn

Bar Bludorn is a capital-R restaurant where everything from the food to the service is prim and proper, even the fried chicken. Despite tasting like straight Luby’s childhood nostalgia, this Memorial-area restaurant’s fried chicken and sides arrive in gleaming copper dishes, as though being presented to royalty. The fried chicken skin is crispy but not crunchy, with puffed-up, airy breading over moist, juicy chicken. Plus, the tender meat falls apart so easily it’s impossible not to utter a contented sigh. We suggest dredging each piece of chicken through the silken mashed potatoes and taking bites of the bristling, vinegar-steeped smoky greens between bites.

Al Aseel

Everything at this Palestinian restaurant in the Mid-West neighborhood is worth waiting for, especially the chicken. The service here can be inconsistent, but that doesn’t matter when the za’atar-spiced, extra-crispy fried chicken arrives. Plated over a bed of fluffy rice and fresh cucumber salad, this chicken will make you question why you aren’t always eating fried chicken this way. Especially if you order the mixed mezze with nutty hummus, tangy labneh, and baba ghanoush, each of which only makes the chicken taste that much better.

Gatlin's Fins & Feathers

While Gatlin’s does a delicious chicken sandwich , the fried chicken is where you should focus your energy. The Garden Oaks restaurant takes the crunch of the sandwich and multiplies it so that biting into the wings can be heard at least a table away. Underneath the skin are pillowy pieces of chicken, fully marinated in a generous coating of spices. Order it with a side of mac and cheese, and grab every rogue piece of skin that has fallen onto your tray.

Himalaya Restaurant

Unlike most other birds on this list, the one at the Pakistani restaurant Himalaya is prepared and fried sans skin. And while that means a slight sacrifice in the crispiness department, there’s no lack of flavor intensity. Cumin-packed garam masala coats every square centimeter of chicken, from the tender meat to the crunchy batter, so while the first few bites might not taste spicy, each one builds and builds until you're gulping the dregs of mango lassi. Make sure to ask for extra spicy mustard on the side. It’s got an earthy tang and slow-burn spice that lingers for what feels like days.

One Shot Pocha

We’re just as likely to head to One Shot Pocha in Spring Branch for a 10-piece of wings as we are for an opportunity to sing a power ballad in their karaoke rooms. Each order is glazed with garlic soy or sweet and spicy sauce and comes with enough crispy skin to constitute its own meal. The flavors are delicious and worth the small mountain of napkins used while you finish the chicken.

The Breakfast Klub

It’s only fitting that chicken worth waiting in a line that stretches the block makes our guide. At The Breakfast Klub in Midtown , our favorite way to order the chicken is with a giant waffle that takes up 80% of the plate. The wings flanking the waffle always arrive at the table gleaming and still sizzling with oil from their trip to the deep fryer. And somehow, the wings always taste better with a light dusting of powdered sugar and warm maple syrup runoff from the waffle.

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken

Go to Gus’s World Famous in Sixth Ward when you want Southern fried chicken with a crunch that could break the sound barrier. Despite Gus’s pumping out enough chicken to fill Minute Maid Park daily, the crunchy and crispy quality never wavers. The batter here creates a thick and flaky chestnut-brown skin with an underlayer of just-hot-enough-spice surrounding juicy chicken bursting with even more flavor. Each piece tastes so flavorful that you might surprise yourself with how much chicken you can eat, especially when sides like country-style baked beans and spice-crusted macaroni and cheese support it.

Mico's Hot Chicken

Only order Mico’s at spice-level hot if you want to experience cosmic heat transcendence because this counter-service spot in The Heights makes the best hot chicken in town. Each thick patty and tender is packed with enough cumin to cover the I-10/610 interchange, with motherlode pockets of spice crammed into every crispy chicken nook and cranny. Even the dipping sauce has a ribbon of cumin swirled in. If it weren’t for the pickles, crunchy slaw, and buttery bun on Mico’s sandwich , one might faint from heat exposure. Go here to feel hot, get some sun—there’s no indoor seating at Mico’s—and drink your weight in fresh lemonade.

Frenchy's Chicken

You can’t mention the best fried chicken in the city without Frenchy’s entering the conversation. The Scott St. location in the Third Ward is usually down the block, and most folks are in line for the crackling chicken. Maybe the most quintessential fried chicken on the list, the drumsticks and wings at Frenchy’s are coated in spice making them worth the wait.

Max’s Wine Dive

The Southern fried chicken dinner is why you go to Max’s. The dive bar offers chicken on the pricier side (three-piece for $24), but it’s worth it. The balance between the crunch of the jalapeño-buttermilk fried drumstick skin and the spicy sweetness of the chipotle honey sauce makes for a priceless bite. Open until midnight on the weekends, this Washington Avenue spot is a perfect late-night comfort food choice, or grab your friends for brunch , and Max’s will throw fried chicken tenders on top of a belgian waffle.