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fried chicken has become a religion in America
at this point every US city has their own beloved
local spot but some places are legendary and
stand out above the rest but today I want to
find the best i asked you to name America's top
fried chicken cities in the absolute best spots
in each one thousands of votes later we have our
contenders we're hitting five cities trying our
top three picks in each to finally crown the fried
chicken champion starting in Nashville our number
one most voted for city so we're at Hattie Bees on
Broadway this was the number one most voted for in
Nashville it makes sense i've been to Hattie Bees
before but I'm going to be honest it's been a few
years that said it's a change it's grown a lot
so is it still good since the last time I came
here wherever available we'll try to taste the
same pieces everywhere thigh breast leg cheers
immediately brought me back the first time I came
here that's why this place is such an institution
it's seasoned pretty nicely i remember there being
a little bit more to the flavor of it but it's
still really delicious the breading itself crisp
i'm kind of surprised Hatty Bees with the amount
of locations usually quality tends to go down the
chicken's cooked well the skin I will say for some
reason it's a little under rendered so therefore
kind of chewy i don't hate it tastes great rating
wise flavor I'm going to give it like a 7.5 out of
10 i think it's lacking a little bit like overall
it tastes good and then texture I give it a solid
8.5 but the question is with the popularization
of hot chicken this is not the only place has had
bees fallen behind moving on listen up america's
fried chicken scene isn't made up because it's
America it's because America is a melting pot of
multiple cultures all across the globe that have
come here to make the greatest fried chicken ever
so don't expect to just see American style fried
chicken because we are at SS Guy where we've got
Thai fried chicken you might think "Well Josh the
number one fried chicken place in Nashville must
be hot right nashville hot." No it's actually
this place it's been rated number one in all
fried chicken spots on Yelp so let's see how
it stacks up can you hear that the crunch is
phenomenal the seasoning dare I say perfect i mean
the salt levels are like exactly where I want them
the skin isn't chewy it's crisp but tender it
melts as you chew there's whole fried shallots
on here you get little bits and pieces of like
sweet shallot caramelized goodness let's just
get to the rating texture i'm going to give this
honestly considering the fact that everything is
cooked perfectly everything is tender the skin
is tender it's not under rendered the crunch
is present and it's not like dry in any part
i'm going to give a nine flavor I'm going to
be really harsh here the breading itself it's
very salty and there's a little sweetness to
it but I'm not picking up a ton of other layering
of flavors like garlic lemongrass or whatever you
would put in this that's the flavor is great it's
very chicken forward it's seasoned nicely the salt
levels being so good makes a big difference and I
can tell that there are other things in here like
the shallot comes through a little bit but if you
don't get a bite of that shallot you miss a big
part of the component of flavor so I'm still going
to give the flavor an 8.5 i mean we're getting
close to perfect scores this early on it's going
to take a real big dog to take this out moving on
we're at the original spot of the OG inventor of
Nashville hot chicken Princes now the fact that
we got this was a bit of a miracle literally
moments after they finished our chicken they
had a huge grease fire had to completely shut down
the restaurant so we were supposed to get the bone
in chicken thigh and the bone in chicken breast
those were lost in the fire but they still had
wings for us to fry fresh and honestly I think
those are just as good if not the best option
cuz they're the fattiest and they're easiest to
make delicious again the crunch really well done
the cook a little too much i'm chewing a lot and
even for the wing being that overcooked that's
hard to do I will say but this place way spicier
than the previous two by far they do natural hot
chicken the hottest that said the flavor is
a little underwhelming it's missing salt it's
like maybe 70% where I want it to be the wings
which are fattier kind of overcooked so texture I
think a 6.8 flavor it's very much just cayenne
there's not a lot of depth to it it's missing
salt probably also a six i think they're OG and I
think this is a must try spot it's just not doing
it for me nashville done and dusted and Thai Fried
Chicken at SS Sky surprisingly leads with a 17.5
but that could change very soon new Orleans is
up next with two absolute classic spots and one
you'd never expect first up Willie Maze now we
were supposed to go to the Scotch House which
unfortunately is recovering from a fire but they
do have a location Willie Maze Nola supposedly
stated by Anthony Bourdain to be the greatest
fried chicken restaurant in the world is it
true i don't know it's also been recognized by
James Beard with the American Classic Award so
it's at least going to be good but the question is
does it live up to the standard that it did when
Anthony Bourdain tasted it i've got the same
order we've had everywhere else a leg a thigh
a breast first we'll start with the thigh yeah
that's that's crispy this is totally different
than any fried chicken we've had it's clearly
battered rather than dredged in dry flour you
can tell by this sort of almost like tempura
exterior super crisp wispy crunch i have mixed
feelings cuz it's seasoned really nicely the
salt levels are really nice the seasoning isn't
really like crazy but I kind of like that again
they're focusing on the chickeny flavor there's
a little bit of spiciness in there that I do like
though texture-wise the crunch is really wonderful
it's a little bit different of a crunch than
I normally want let's try the breast is it dry
it's perfectly cooked that is juicy we're having
a little bit of a problem where the breading is
just so oily it's really ruining the experience
cuz the crispiness is beautiful the chicken is
cooked nicely it's seasoned nicely but it is
so oily i can barely get past it like I don't
want another bite flavor-wise I think it's
deserving of a nine texture crunch is there
it's cooked nicely but it's so oily that it's
bringing down the rest of the whole experience
i think it's like a 7.9 that said moving on we are
at a historical marker not just for chicken for
America dookie Chase i'm going to go for the thigh
first cuz my favorite piece classic flour dredge
it's not a batter i mean it's crisp the seasoning
is really nice but there's a little bit of heat
from the black pepperc corn but some kicking pants
from cayenne not too much just enough to make it
nice but the flavor of the chicken is prominent
it's not overwhelmed by the spice next up the
breast this is incredibly dry and comparatively
underseasoned the chicken thigh it's almost like
they were breaded completely separately like the
chicken thigh is salty it's got umami and somehow
the breast is like completely missing in salt it's
like these were two different people made this
texture the crunch is decent it's not crazy it's
clearly like quite dry only good one was the thigh
i'm going to give it a 6.9 out of 10 flavor-wise
I think I'm also going to give it a 6.8 i would
say it's worth hitting for a historical POV
but you're not getting anything above average
you're getting an average plate of fried chicken
now here's the thing our next spot is unexpected
and it all starts at a place that also sells bongs
a gas station i don't understand how or why this
happened the third most voted for place in all
of New Orleans keys this place is iconic they're
known to have supposedly the best fried chicken
in New Orleans and you know what i'm actually
a big fan of places like this because it always
feels like a secret thing and honestly it's one
of the better looking chickens we've got holy this
is phenomenal what the it's seasoned perfectly
dude i'll go for the thigh real quick just to
make sure it's consistent dude the crisp on the
chicken is excellent the skin is a little flaccid
in some parts but generally speaking overall it's
like relatively very crispy salt level is maxed
out the seasoning the spices are nice it's not
overwhelming cuz I still get that deep chickeny
flavor i don't like when I get a fried chicken
that has so many spices on it all you taste are
the spices i want to taste the spices working
with the chicken marrying the chicken loving the
chicken this is the true test if this breast is
moist we could no joke have a winner on our hands
guys it's moist as it's cooked perfectly honestly
the upfront flavor I'm getting is just tons
of chickeny umami but then you have all this
other fragrance from like garlic black pepper a
little bit of paprika but again it's not overly
seasoned i taste the true flavor of the chicken
and that is the most remarkable thing to me here
i think the flavor is a nine the only thing
that would make this higher than a nine would
be higher quality chicken texture the parts that
were crunchy were absolutely perfect the parts
that were not were still had the fat rendered out
of the skin i think I'm going to give the texture
an 8.5 if this gas station was near me I would go
to it all the time and a gas station is now tied
for the lead for best fried chicken in America
this is insane but with three cities to go this
proves anything can happen next up Chicago with
a good friend Christopher Mr beef the man himself
at what some might call the best fried chicken in
Chicago honey butter fried chicken we applied the
namesake honey butter to our chicken and dug in
it was very average to me i grew up with some of
the best fried chicken in the world made by my mom
herself and I'm not using that as a bias i'm just
saying I know where the bar is if I'm being honest
I'm just not feeling this place like it's good for
a middle of the ground chicken you're going to eat
this and you'll be able to finish it you're not
going to go frankly the honey butter also didn't
really help at all there's just a lack of crunch
and seasoning overall the salt levels are almost
there they're like 80% of what I want them to be
seasoning i'm tasting some paprika some garlic
but it's just not prominent for me personally
my man Josh is an honest dude and that's why I
love him i actually thought it was not too bad
he's got a higher bar see Chicago fried chicken is
different than South Fried Chicken if I had this
it wouldn't disappoint that's for sure all things
considered flavor I'm going to give a 6.5 slightly
above average texture I think it's deserving of
also a 6.5 both slightly above average what's
fine is fine but ultimately we're looking for the
best in America i'm going to take this seriously
so I'm rating this a little harshly moving on up
next is a legendary showdown number three Uncle
Remis takes on Chicago's number one vote getter
Heralds both of which are known for a special
sauce now we're not necessarily just going to
be judging this by the sauce of course this
is all about the chicken but the sauces do come
into play here just like they do with Nashville
hot but not in a way that it can get a leg up cuz
at the end of the day only great chicken can win
here so let's kick off with Uncle Remis this is a
variation of mouth sauce though her has their own
mouth sauce which is pretty much like the staple
mouth sauce theirs taste totally different you're
only going to get this sauce at Uncle Remis this
is outstanding i believe my wife for this this
is Honestly I was iffy going into this because of
the sauce when I see sauce covering fried chicken
my first thought is that's going to be soggy
whatever was going on that was once nice about
that is gone but this it's a non-issue like at
all this is the real Chicago Westside food this
is almost like the American version of Korean
fried chicken cuz Korean fried chicken is the
only chicken I've ever known to have a shitload of
sauce on it and still be crispy but the breading's
nice the crunch is beautiful the chicken's cooked
perfectly it's juicy it's not dry and stringy the
skin is rendered out it's really sweet it's a
little too sweet for me but it's balanced by
the saltiness of the chicken i wish there was a
little bit more going on with the sauce but all
in all pretty good texture i'm going to give 88
eight flavor i think I'm going to give an eight
it's worth being nervous on theing stoplight to
go and get it's worth it heralds you're up against
something cuz I got clean bones good luck finally
the number one vote getter in Chicago Harolds can
it beat its mild sauce rival Uncle Remis can you
taste the difference in the sauce it's similar but
this one's way less sweet it's more acidic which
I like a lot what I will say looking back is that
Uncle Remis' like your sugar diabetes almost in
a bottle but listen they're both huge staples in
this city that said the saucier is better i think
you're absolutely right about that it's got really
good acidity to balance out the sweetness it's not
just like here's a bunch of sugar you You get that
acidity you get that depth it cuts the richness
of the chicken so so so well flavor-wise I wish
there was like a tiny bit more salt 5 to 10% more
i like the seasoning of Uncle Remis just a little
bit more flavor okay so let me explain myself the
sauce is better but the seasoning is not for me
so I would say 75 texture i wish there was a bit
more crispiness but at the same time it's cooked
really nicely the last one was more chewy and this
was like more like cooked through and like tender
so I'm also going to give the texture an eight
still crisp succulent tender both great chicken
spots moving on so Uncle Remis steals the Chicago
chicken crown but still stands behind our current
leaders SS guy and New Orleans gas station we now
move on to our next city Los Angeles where we're
kicking things off at our number three most voted
for spot Honey's Kettle i've heard this place is
great i've never been this is not a breading this
is another battered one let's start with the thigh
it's so oily dude let's try the breast the breast
is super dry you saw dripping there was actually
not juice it was oil just to be clear but you know
the flavor isn't bad like the flavor it's really
honestly very chicken forward which I really like
salt levels are just about where I want them to be
i would say they're 99% of the way there maybe 100
but there's not much like seasoning going on it's
just kind of like salty chicken which I don't hate
so flavor-wise I'm pretty happy with it texturally
like it's okay chicken's a little slimy honestly
this is the same problem as Willie Mays when you
batter it it's in there for so long that batter
really soaks up oil quite a lot texture is good
but it's being drawn way down by that oiliness
and by that sliminess so all things considered
I'm going to give the flavor deserves an eight
it tastes pretty good texture seven the crunch is
phenomenal but that oiliness I don't want to know
any more of this and by the way by my standard
still quite high but not a winner moving on we
are at possibly one of the most famous American
fried chicken spots in the world rosco's Chicken
and Waffles i think everyone somehow has heard
this name and we're at the original location Los
Angeles Long Beach a lot of people on Reddit have
said this has fallen off and honestly looking at
this waffle I am concerned dude i'm going to try
everything individually and then if the chicken is
good I will try it with combinations it's pretty
good seasoning is really nice for comparison
let's try this leg no breading on the drumstick
at all from a breading standpoint it's like a
2 out of 10 for the drumstick but the thigh is
almost perfectly breaded it's a little bit kind
of wonky but like it's crispy it's crunchy the
salt level is perfect if I were to just rate salt
I might give it a 10 out of 10 seasoning's nice i
The flavor of the chicken really shines they're
not overwhelming it with seasoning the classic
like garlic powder paprika there's nothing too
special in there that's really making it stand
out flavor-wise other than it's just like pure
salty good chicken i'll try it with everything
on it at this point take a piece of chicken out
put a little syrup on there you put a little hot
sauce on it and make kind of a sandwich honestly
it made it worse completely took away from the
chicken all I taste just is maple syrup and hot
sauce on a cinnamon waffle and the chicken's not
crunchy anymore now it's chewy this is by far
one of the worst waffles I've ever had but the
chicken's pretty damn good but we aren't rating
it for the waffles now are we time to rate the
chicken so texture it's extremely inconsistent
i'm going to give the texture like a a 7 out of
10 flavor really quite nice honestly I am left
desiring more and I don't want to finish it so
I think I'm going to give it a 7.9 just almost
an eight still good i would come back just for
the chicken i would not come back for the waffles
unfortunately moving on we're at Howland Rays the
number one voted for spot for fried chicken in
all of Los Angeles i know the chef here he's a
friend of mine he's absolutely incredible said
he worked under Gordon Ramsay and this guy is
a beast he's basically the one that brought real
legit Nashville hot chicken to Los Angeles i still
have to be honest we have two of their chicken
their country which is just plain fried chicken
what they're known for is their hot we'll try both
whatever we prefer is what we'll vote on cheers
this is insane that skin is like melts in your
mouth it's super chickeny seasoned perfectly with
salt okay hot chicken oh my god dude i smell the
heat on this god damn that is spicy as But it's so
good though you have that immediate crispy crust
that skin is properly fully rendered it's just
crispy delicious melts into nothingness it's juicy
it's salted really nicely it's a little spicier
than I want it to be personally for me this thing
was spicy vicram didn't believe me and try to bite
wow oh man see what I mean yeah you're going to
poop your pants now i'm going to have the hot
chicken be the one that enters this competition
i like it a little bit more than the country
just cuz it has that extra bit of excitement
the underside of the crust does get a little
soggy sitting on that bread i'm really looking for
intense crunch i think 8.4 is fair if you level
that out flavor my mouth is atomic bombed right
now but right out the gate though in comparison
to Hattie Bees the flavor of this massive margin
better number one salt levels i don't want any
more i don't want any less it is exactly where
I want it to be the flavor of the spices the
cayenne the paprika that peppery that rich just
anxious deep red chili flavor is so present in
this it's like perfuming your whole mouth and
your nasal passage that said I'm going to give
it a solid nine i might even give it higher
than a nine if it was so [ __ ] spicy moving on
howen Rays just misses the three-way tie for first
place we now have four cities wrapped and we still
have a tie for the lead as we arrive to our very
final city Atlanta for some classic southern fried
chicken right well yes and no actually now you
come to Atlanta and you're probably thinking
like southern style fried chicken buttermilk
OG right but this is getting a ton of buzz on
Reddit so we're here for Peruvian chicken basto
it looks great i mean I'm not going to lie i think
this might be the crispiest chicken we've had so
far and it's got acidity to it too how juicy the
meat is is going to determine how I feel about the
overall texture so first we'll go for the easiest
one which is the leg and thigh the thigh is juicy
it's cooked nicely i will say like this is clearly
fried longer to make it crispier maybe even double
fried but look at this the meat gets a little bit
crispy too which I don't hate but it is adding
some chewiness that I don't know if I love this
is going to be the real test chicken breast it's
a little dry oh man and you know what the second
you get into the meat that seasoning goes this
is missing a lot of salt on the insides if this
was seasoned properly this could be a genuine
contender the outside of this chicken almost a
perfect score flavor crunch texture and like it's
salty i think it's cuz they straight up put tahin
on the outside which is genius it goes super
good with this chicken but then as soon as you
get into the meat like all that salt and flavor
is gone there's just no flavor in the meat at all
the breast is a little dry the thigh and the leg
are great overall flavor I'm still going to give
a 7 out of 10 cuz it's just it is delicious it is
really good i would finish this texture the crunch
is like a 10 out of 10 i [ __ ] you not this is
like as about as perfectly crispy as I've ever
had chicken in my life but as soon as you get in
there that meat's a little overcooked across the
board that's the hard thing about fried chicken is
you want to achieve the crisp without losing the
moisture on the inside and they lost a little bit
of the moisture so I'll give it a seven and a half
out of 10 cuz it's so beautifully crunchy moving
on next up one of the most known fried chicken
spots in America Gus's it was a high vote getter
for almost every city this originated in Memphis
but it didn't get any votes in Memphis matter of
fact it was number two on our highest voted for
Atlanta and I've actually never had it somehow
I've managed to avoid it everyone's told me "You
got to go to Gus's." Question is is it really as
good as everybody says it is i will say it looks
a little clapped like it's not a very flaky fried
chicken but I guess that's because it's a batter
you're going to get a different look it's juicy
as it's cooked nicely the skin's rendered so you
don't have that chewy skin the crunchiness is
there it's seasoned really well it's a little
spicy it's got umami it's salted nicely this is
one of the first chickens I'm like tasting the
spice in it and by spice I mean spicy i mean
like the paprika the garlic the black pepper
notes texture is great but how did they do on
the chicken breast for a chain not bad i will
say it is kind of dry there is a juiciness to it
too it's not all dry yeah I've definitely had far
drier that said crunch it's definitely crunchy
it's definitely crispy it's losing a little
bit on the dryness factor i think the texture is
deserving of an eight it's pretty good flavor it's
up there salt levels are perfect it doesn't need
any more or less salt seasoning is nice i love
the spice level honestly I think flavor I'm going
to give an 8 seven not bad Gus not bad it doesn't
put you in a first place hold but if you have a
Gus near you can maybe go check it out that said
not a winner moving on with one spot remaining
we still have a tie for first place between two
unlikely contenders new school tie fried chicken
in Nashville and chicken from a literal gas
station in New Orleans either we're going to end
up seeing a gas station take the greatest fried
chicken crown in America or we're going to have
a big upset today we were in the parking lot of
probably the most iconic fried chicken spot in
America mlk has been here it is the number one
voted for in Atlanta as well busy be I got to
say it does look pretty good i'm going to start
with the thigh phenomenal i will say as you chew
it's missing a little flavor but then boom then
the flavor starts to kick in a little bit you get
a little bit of that MSG the umami the richness
of the spices and honestly it's not super pepper
forward it's a little bit more like garlic some of
the fried chickens we've had have been like more
paprika more peppery more cayenne this is more
like black pepperc corn garlic flavor-wise top
tier texture- wise I wish it was a bit more crunch
i'm not mad let me try the breast is the breast
moist crazy moist when you go to a fried chicken
spot the first thing you'll commonly notice is
it's easy to make the legs and thighs succulent
and delicious and not dry but the breast has no
fat so it goes dry real fast this is moist it's
literally perfectly cooked i got to say I'm kind
of shocked with how long this place has been here
it's crazy that they've maintained the standard
most places could not do that it all comes down to
this 15 chicken spots across five cities and the
best of the best voted by you the audience will
this spot take the crown flavor-wise honestly
I think it's a nine texture Bizzy Bee needs an
8.6 or higher on texture to win it everything
is cooked perfectly if the crunch were better
I would give it a nine because the crunch is kind
of missing a little i'm going to give the texture
an 8.8 and that's a 17.8 which means Atlanta's
Bizzy B is the best fried chicken in America i
wish I had come here sooner i would even argue
eating this right away my first thought is this
is exactly what embodies a perfect American
fried chicken it's breaded nicely it's crispy
it's crunchy it's anxious umami rich but it's not
overpowering and it's this unassuming building you
would never realize you could drive right by this
and have no idea you're driving past the greatest
fried chicken in America hey wow that's the end of
the video please subscribe we got some crazy stuff
coming uh some of the craziest stuff I've ever
done in my life love you so much all right [Music]
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