Tastemakers Awards

These 10 restaurants make the list for best fried chicken in Dallas

Max's Wine Dive fried chicken with champagne in background

Which fried chicken will rule the roost?

We're only a week away from the 2017 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, our annual event honoring the best in local food and drink. As part of our run-up, we've elected nominees in all categories of food and beverage, from best chefs to the best restaurant in Dallas-Fort Worth.

We'll toast them at a party on April 20 from 7-10 pm at Sixty Five Hundred, with tastings and awards, emceed by Texas celebrity chef Tim Love. Tickets are on sale now.

We've profiled the candidates for Rising Star Chef, Best Neighborhood Restaurant, Best Bars, Best Bartenders, best wine program, and the top pastry chefs.

Now we take a look at the contenders in one of the hottest cuisines in Dallas right now: fried chicken. Here are the nominees:

Babe's Chicken Dinner House
Local chain featuring fried chicken was founded in 1981 and now has nine branches. The menu has expanded from its original focus to include some of the area's best fried chicken, along with chicken-fried steak, smoked chicken, fried catfish, and family-style sides such as mashed potatoes, corn, and green beans.

bbbop Seoul Kitchen
In addition to the popular bibimbap rice dish, this Korean fusion mini-chain has been serving its rendition of Korean fried chicken on the side. The chicken is brined and battered with an extra-crunchy crust, then drenched in a sweet, spicy chili sauce. Its chicken is such a thing that the owners just opened Chicken Moto, a chicken-centric place in Richardson.

Brick & Bones
Casual Deep Ellum bar has a small menu that specializes in fried chicken. The chicken gets immersed first in a brine infused with chiles, giving it a spicy undertone. The crust has a shaggy, corn-flake crispness while still staying clung to the meat. There's also a Nashville-style "hot" chicken drizzled with hot sauce that adds smoky heat.

Farmbyrd Rotisserie & Fry
Plano spot is from Ryan Carbery (Bailey's, Patrizio) and Tim McLaughlin, pitmaster from Lockhart Barbecue. They submerge their chicken in a buttermilk brine and coat it in a crunchy crust. It comes with sauces such as sweet molasses, jerk, and green goddess. A condiments bar includes pickles and other add-ons.

Fearing's Restaurant
Ritz-Carlton restaurant is hardly a fried chicken joint but chef Dean Fearing's paper-bag shook fried chicken, served only at Sunday brunch, has amassed fans including Bon Appétit, who ranked it one of the world’s top 10 fried chicken experiences; who are we to argue with Bon Appétit? The chicken is fried in a cast-iron skillet, producing a tender chicken with a gentle crust.

Max's Wine Dive
This Houston-based chain shows its priorities with its mantra, "Fried Chicken and Champagne?...Why the Hell Not?!" That pairing manages not only to convey a devil-may-care attitude, it also subtly elevates fried chicken. Max's fried chicken is marinated in jalapeño buttermilk, then fried, with the result being greaseless and lightly crunchy.

Quincy's Chicken Shack
The latest concept from the Twisted Root burger chain folk serves chicken rotisserie-style and fried. They've devised a clever technique to cook fried chicken successfully: The chicken gets rotisserie'd first, then a quick-fry when someone places an order, to get it to the right temperature and right crust.

Sissy's Southern Kitchen & Bar
Owner Lisa Garza-Selcer was ahead of the 2017 chicken curve when she opened Sissy's in 2012. Her technique is novel: The chicken gets brined for 24 hours, then cooked in a pressure fryer, resulting in an extra moist chicken with a crunchy crust. The retro-Southern menu also includes deviled eggs, gumbo, and fried green tomatoes.

Street's Fine Chicken
Latest concept from Black Eyed Pea founder Gene Street and his family obsesses over chicken, with fried, roasted, and grilled. As for the fried, it gets brined for 24 hours, as has become common, and has a peppery crust. But its French-inspired seasoning mix, consisting of herbes de Provence, mixed into the brine, is unique and flavorful.

The Slow Bone
You wouldn't expect fried chicken at a barbecue place, but Slow Bone is full of surprises, including having a chef — Jeffery Hobbs — behind the line. The chicken gets brined, but he gives it a barbecue twist by smoking the water first, to imbue it with an appropriately smoky taste.

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new roots

L.A. celebrity favorite The Ivy plants Dallas branch near Katy Trail

Photo courtesy of The Ivy/Facebook

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A Los Angeles restaurant famous for celebrity sightings on its bright floral patios is opening a branch in Dallas: The Ivy will debut in fall 2027 at 4205 Buena Vista St. inside The Terminal at Katy Trail.

“This will be the first Ivy outside of Southern California,” says India Wolfe, the restaurant founders' daughter, in a release. "I felt a strong calling to bring The Ivy somewhere new and to plant roots there with our family.”

India’s parents opened The Ivy on Robertson Boulevard in 1980, followed by Ivy at the Shore in Santa Monica five years later.

While her father, chef Richard Irving, and mother, Lynn von Kersting, remain in LA, Wolfe and her husband, Ernest Wolfe IV, will move to Dallas in February with their two children and dogs, to operate The Ivy. The restaurant will be located inside a luxury apartment tower overlooking the Katy Trail.

India started working as a teen at the family's third branch in Santa Monica and learned everything "from greeting guests and waiting tables to staging events, filming viral social media, and modernizing the business for a new generation," says the release.

Both she and her husband spent time in other professions but were drawn to the dining field. Ernest helped his in-laws so often at The Ivy that they finally employed him full-time.

“I love working with him," India says, "and we complement each other’s skills really well, not unlike my mom and dad.”

The Ivy The family behind The Ivy.Courtesy photo

The Wolfes say they want the Dallas restaurant to retain The Ivy’s familiar cooking, warmth and character, while making it feel like home in a new city.

“I love the idea of people taking a walk on the Katy Trail and then meeting friends for brunch at The Ivy,” India says.

Her parents are assisting with the design and menu; India wants a contemporary vibe but doesn’t plan to change what works so well.

“I don’t want to make it too different because I think the reason that people from Dallas come to The Ivy is because they love The Ivy,” she says. “That said, this new restaurant will certainly stand on its own two feet.”

Unlike the original, the Dallas Ivy will have a bar, an idea India dreamed up. While restaurant bars are nothing unusual, India actually envisioned what her family jokingly calls “the D Bar" (so named for Dallas), where guests can clink glasses and share good energy around a curved, D-shaped counter.

Her interest in art and flowers will result in a space well-appointed with roses, a family tradition, and local blooms like zinnias and snapdragons.

The Ivy serves upscale American comfort food and Californian cuisine with influences from Italian, French, Cajun, and Mexican cooking. Dishes are made with seasonal ingredients, so the menus evolve throughout the year.

While the Dallas menu is being developed, the restaurant's Southern California winter menus, for example, include starters such as crab cakes, Caesar salad, and grilled-vegetable salad. Pasta options include lobster ravioli with Ivy pink sauce and lobster tagliatelle. Wood- or stone-fired pizzas include margherita and Cajun shrimp pies, while house-baked breads, old-fashioned red velvet cake, coconut cake, and chocolate chip cookies round out the menu.

The Ivy has always been at the center of family life, India notes. Now she and Ernest are bringing that way of life to Dallas.

She adds, “I am confident it will be a great home for The Ivy and for our family.”

openings katy trail