This is for all the fried chicken lovers

If you read some of my previous articles, you know that I recently visited the United States. I had high expectations towards food (the country of fast food) and even though I didn’t love it as much as expected, I still had pleasant surprises. You have to know that my boyfriend is a huge fried chicken lover, especially wings. On our way back from New Orleans to Miami, we had a layover in Atlanta for a couple of hours. We decided that it would be nice to go downtown to visit a bit and grab some lunch at the same time before going back to the airport. We didn’t have a clue where to go and were in the middle of the city looking lost, and that’s when a guy talked to us. This guy asked us if we were looking for something and when we said we wanted a good place to have lunch, he asked us if we liked fried chicken. Obviously, with this offer we followed him to a place called Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. We wanted to have something local and flavorful, and we got it.

The history of this iconic business

We discovered that this place has several locations in the US and is pretty famous in the country. And it is not new! It started in 1973 (even though the recipe was already watering mouths since 1953) and was always a family business. Created by the Bonner family, the restaurant was renamed by the son Vernon “Gus” Bonner, who inherited the restaurant and great recipe. Even though we loved the one in Atlanta, it all started in Mason, Tennessee. After you tried it, don’t even think about getting the recipe. As Gus once said “This is a dead man’s recipe [and] I ain’t telling”.

The menu

On the menu, you can find a traditional range of fried chicken and sides that goes well together. You can find tenders, dark and white pieces of chicken, but also legs or thighs. If you can’t choose between all of this, you can order a plate with one of each for the biggest appetites (or to share). Everything is hand-battered and made to order, as we saw ourselves when we were there. For other fried items, you can also find pickles, okra and green tomatoes as a snack or a side.

You can find different types of plates with all of the fried chicken said above. Served with it, you will find baked beans and a fresh coleslaw, as well as a piece of white bread under the chicken. I remember wondering why I put this piece of white bread and seeing that not a lot of people actually eat it. My boyfriend’s guess was that the white bread was supposed to soak a bit of the fat that you have on the chicken. After some research on the official website, I saw that this is actually a tribute to the start of the business, when the Bonner were selling the original chicken sandwiches.

If you’re not a big fan of baked beans or/and coleslaw, you can change that for a small fee. The beans and coleslaw are the traditional sides that you will find with the chicken plates, but you can choose other sides. You have the choice between mac and cheese, some fries, a fresh potato salad and some collard greens (a type of green cabbage cooked with bacon).

If you still have some space for something sweet, there are always some dessert options. It’s mostly pies, all homemade (obviously) that you can enjoy warm and even with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For the flavors, you have the choice between sweet potato, coconut, pecan and chocolate. If you want something other than pie, you have the possibility to order an IBC float. If you have no idea what this is (just like me), it consists of a root beer combined with some vanilla ice cream. Tempting, right?

What I tried at Gus's World Famous Chicken

We came for the fried chicken, and we were not disappointed. Personally, I decided to go for a plate of 3 tenders. I am a big fan of fried chicken but pieces with bones usually disgusts me a bit and tenders are definitely the way to go for me to enjoy fully. As said earlier, you have the traditional two sides of coleslaw and baked beans. I decided to change that because, first of all, in New Orleans we tried a lot of meals with beans, and secondly, I tried my first Mac and Cheese at Applebee’s and was hugely disappointed. So I decided to change the beans with mac and cheese that looked absolutely delicious. With that, I chose a big glass of Coca cola.

The batter of the chicken was beyond words. I don’t think I’ve ever had a chicken so flavorful. The chicken itself was very juicy and fresh. As said before, they make it fresh on demand for you and you can definitely taste it. Even though 3 pieces of tenders is already very generous, you almost want to go for more because it’s very addictive. For the side dish, I can’t say how happy I am that I changed. I finally got the experience of a delicious mac and cheese. I understand the hype after tasting this one. You have to forget pasta al dente and every Italian dish you tried to fully enjoy it. It is something very different but at Gus’s, absolutely delicious and creamy. My only regret would be that I didn’t get to try the pies. At the time, I didn’t realize it was an option, and honestly, I was already so full after the meal that a pie would have not been interesting.

My conclusion on this fried chicken experience

Even though this place is in different locations and seems like a chain, I would 100% recommend you to try it if you have the occasion. I would like to know if this business is also very popular among the locals, but remembering the vibe in the restaurant, it seems like it is. This is probably one of the best fried chicken I had in my life. In Europe, we don’t have lots of options and it’s not as big as you can see in the US. If you crave some fried chicken in Berlin, you have a few places that serve some but they have been a disappointment for me. In terms of fast food, you can find KFC that serves good fried chicken but compared to the options in the US (Popeyes, Raising Cane’s, Jollibee, Chick-fil-A…) there’s not really any competition.

If you want to discover this gem in Atlanta, you can find it there